Professor Michael Arthur

DM FRCP FMedSci

Michael Arthur, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, is internationally renowned for his contribution to education and medical research.

Since his appointment in 2004, he has galvanised the institution with the vision of a place in the world's top 50 universities by 2015. To achieve this, he has led the development of a new strategy which is strengthening learning, teaching and research across the whole University while revitalising the dissemination of knowledge to ensure its greatest impact on global society.

Professor Arthur has a significant national and international profile.  He is Chair of the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services (NHS) and he is also a member of the Council of the Medical Research Council.  He is a US/UK Fulbright Commissioner and Vice-Chair of the Worldwide Universities Network.  Until the end of August 2012 Professor Arthur was Chair of the Russell Group of Universities.

More locally, Professor Arthur is a board member of Opera North and a trustee of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. 

Born in 1954, Michael Arthur attended Burnt Mill Comprehensive in Harlow, Essex, before studying in Southampton, where he graduated in 1977, becoming a research fellow and lecturer in medicine in 1982. At the age of 37 he was appointed to the Chair of Medicine and was later named Head of the Medical School and then Dean of Southampton's Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences. His expertise in liver research is internationally acknowledged, his academic honours including a Fulbright distinguished scholar award in 2002-03.

His wife Liz is a consultant paediatrician and they have three children, Rachel, Sarah and James, all of whom have now graduated. Their Hampshire home is near the Solent, where Professor Arthur indulges a lifelong passion for sailing. He is also a keen amateur photographer.

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International roles:

• Worldwide Universities Network
  Board member (2004 - current)
  Chair (2007 - 2009)
  Vice-Chair (2009 - current)
  
• The US-UK Fulbright Commission
  Commissioner (2008 - current)
  

National roles:

Past roles in italics

• Higher Education Funding Council (England)
  Chair of the National Student Survey Steering Group (2005-2008)
  Research Assessment Exercise 2001 Unit of Assessment 3 Panel Member (June 1999 - December 2001)
  Strategic Research Committee (under the Chairmanship of Sir Gareth Roberts) April 2003 - 2005)
• Universities UK
  Member (2004 - current)
  Member of Research Policy Network (formerly Committee) (2006 - current)
  Member of Health and Social Care Policy Committee (2008 - 2009)
  Board member (2009 - 2012)
• Russell Group
  Member (2004 - current)
  Chair (2009 - 2012)
• Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE)
  Council member (2012 - current)
• Department for Education and Skills/Department for Children, Schools and Families
  Champion for 14-19 Reform Programme (2006-07)
  Expert advisory group on the new diplomas and the wider 14-19 reform programme (2007 - 2009)
• Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
  Board member (2007 - 2010)
• Medical Research Council
  Council Member (2008 - current)
• Department of Health
  Member of the Advisory Group on Hepatitis (AGH) (1998 - 2004)
  Chair of the Advisory Group on National Specialist Services (for the NHS) (2010 - current)
• British Association for the Study of the Liver
  President (2001 - 2003)
• British Liver Trust
  Chairman of the Board of Trustees (2003 - 2006)
  Vice-President (2008 - current)

Regional roles:

• Yorkshire Universities
  Board member (2004 - current)
  Chair (2007 - 2008)
  

• Yorkshire Forward (Regional Development Agency)
  Board member (2006 - 2011)
  

• White Rose University Consortium
  Board member (2004 - current)
  

• MyScience Ltd (National Science Learning Centre)
  Board member (2006 - current)
  Chair (2007 - 2008)
  

• Leeds Chamber of Commerce
  Board member (2006 - 2008)
  

• Opera North
  Board member (2006 - current)
  

• N8
  Board member (2007 - current)
  

• Enthuse Trust
  Trustee (2008 - current)
  

• Leeds Initiative
  Board member (2004 - current)
  

• Leeds International Pianoforte Competition
  Trustee (2010 - current)
  

Fellowships:

• Fogarty International Travelling Fellowship, University of California, San Francisco (1986 - 1988)

• Royal College of Physicians (1992)

• Academy of Medical Sciences (1998, founding fellow)

• Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (2006)

Other awards and honours:

• American Liver Foundation Research Prize (1987)

• Linacre Medal of the Royal College of Physicians, London (1994)

• Fulbright Distinguished Scholar award to study cell biology in New York (2002 - 2003)

• Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Southampton (2010)

Academic roles:

• Wellcome Trust cell and Molecular Panel (1998 - 2004), chair (2003 - 2004)