It is often said that the role of the Chancellorship is purely ceremonial. In recent years, this has certainly been the case. The pattern was set by the long tenure of the Duke of Edinburgh as Chancellor from December 1976 Read more…
I am writing to ask for your support in the election of the next Chancellor of our University of Cambridge. Our University needs a Chancellor who will defend its founding purpose: to serve the public good through education, learning and Read more…
The Times interviewed Wyn Evans, who spoke of the difficulties faced by young scholars in the article. Sometimes young scholars can find access to research grants hindered. There are a number of ongoing Employment Tribunals in which young scholars are Read more…
The 21 Group contacted the other Chancellorship candidates asking them to respond to Prof Wyn Evans‘ suggestion of the creation of an independent Ombudsman to investigate serious malpractices, bullying or academic misconduct at Cambridge University. The Ombudsman would also be Read more…
The pressure group Alumni For Freedom of Speech (AFFS) circulated a set of questions to the candidates for the Cambridge Chancellorship. Broadly we are supportive of the aims of AFFS. Based on their replies and any other relevant publicly available Read more…
As reported first in the Times Higher Education , a letter is circulating in Cambridge University suggesting that academics use their single transferable vote judiciously to prevent the election of Lord Browne of Madingley as the new Chancellor. There is Read more…
On 30 June 2025, the Times Higher Education published an opinion piece from Professor Wyn Evans entitled “Ending bullying and precarity should be the Cambridge chancellor’s focus“. “In over 800 years, only once has a non-university candidate ever won the Read more…
Scottish politicians brutally exposed what has been happening at Dundee University. You can see the carnage here, as former Vice Chancellor Iain Gillespie appeared before the Select Committee at Holyrood. It’s like watching a tubby, slow-moving sloth trapped in a Read more…
This is a wonderful book from Prof Robert Foley, Emeritus Professor of Human Evolution at the University of Cambridge. The author punctures the managerialism that has overwhelmed UK universities with gentle wit. It’s cut from the same mine as many Read more…
The candidates for the Chancellorship of Cambridge University were sent a series of questions on academic freedom and freedom of speech by Alumni for Freedom of Speech. A summary of some of my answers is below. Are there problems with Read more…