Research England Council member
Professor Mark E Smith CBE is a member of Research England’s Council.
He is currently the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton. He took up this role on 1 October 2019. Professor Smith was Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University from January 2012 until September 2019. He was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick.
In addition to his role as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, he has held a number of external appointments. These include Senior Independent Member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s (EPSRC) Council and board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, chairing their Research Wales Committee.
He also chaired UKRI’s Financial Sustainability of Research Group, and he is Chair of Advance HE.
He was the former Chair of the University and Colleges Employers Association from 2016 to 2022. He has also served on the boards of Jisc, The Higher Education Statistics Agency, and the Higher Education Careers Service Unit.
Mark was awarded a CBE for Services to Research and Higher Education in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Period of appointment: 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2026.
Last updated: 21 May 2025