University of Dundee principal to retire
Professor Sir Pete Downes will step down at the end of 2018.
The principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee has announced he will retire at the end of 2018.
Professor Sir Pete Downes took up the role in 2009 and has worked at the university since 1989, joining from the pharmaceutical industry.
Before his appointment as principal he served as vice-principal and Head of the College of Life Sciences.
Professor Downes said, “It has been a tremendous honour and a privilege to lead this great institution for what will have been almost ten years at the time I step down. Being Principal has been the latest and final chapter of my career in the University, which began in 1989.
“I have been here long enough to have received a Long Service Award last year. I wear my silver badge, denoting 25 plus years of service, with pride, along with the many staff who have shared the journey. Later this year I will turn 65 and this seems a natural time to consider the next stage of my life.
“There are crucial issues to be addressed by the University throughout the coming year and I will be devoting my energies to those in the coming months.
“September will also see the opening of V&A Dundee, a project I have been closely involved with since the time I became Principal. It is just one sign of the significant changes taking place in the city, many of them being driven or supported by the University.”
The process to appoint a new Principal will now begin and will include an extensive consultation across the University