Chris Higgins (academic)
Christopher Francis Higgins | |
---|---|
Born | [1] | 24 June 1955
Residence | Durham, England |
Nationality | British |
Fields | Genetics |
Institutions | Durham University University of Oxford Imperial College London University of Dundee |
Alma mater | Royal College of Music Durham University |
Thesis | Peptide transport by embryos of germinating barley, Hordeum vulgare (1979) |
Doctoral advisor | John W. Payne[2][3][4] |
Notable awards | FRSE FMedSci EMBO member FRSA |
Children | Five |
Website www |
Christopher Francis Higgins FRSE FRSA FMedSci (born 24 June 1955) is a British molecular biologist, geneticist, academic and scientific advisor. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Durham University from 2007 to 2014. He took early retirement on the 30 September 2014, following a discussion at Senate on limiting the powers of the Vice Chancellor.[5] He was previously the director of the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Head of Division in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London.
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Early life
Higgins was born on 24 June 1955 in Cambridge, England.[1][6] He studied botany at Grey College, Durham University, graduating with a first class degree in 1976.[7] He was awarded a PhD in 1979 for his study of peptide transporters in the embryos of germinating Barley.[3][4][8] Working at University of Dundee, his focus turned to genetics and cell biology.
Career
Higgins was appointed Nuffield Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. He has published over 200 papers in leading scientific journals like Nature[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Science[22][23] and Cell.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]
In April 2007, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Durham University. He succeeded Sir Kenneth Calman and became the universities 23rd Vice-Chancellor.[8] He took early retirement on the 30 September 2014, following a discussion at Senate on limiting the powers of the Vice Chancellor.[5]
Higgins has been recognised by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) as a 'Most Highly Cited' author. Further awards have been the CIBA Medal, Fleming Prize, and a Howard Hughes International Scholarship [33] along with election to Fellow of the European Molecular Biology Organization, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Society of Arts and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Alongside his academic success, Professor Higgins has also served as a scientific advisor for the House of Lords Select Committee on Stem Cell Research and advisor to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology. At present Higgins is the chair of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, International Review Panel, DKFZ (German National Cancer Centre, Heidelberg) and a trustee of the Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology.
Personal life
Higgins is not currently married, although he has been married twice. He has five daughters, two from his first marriage and three from the second.[6]
References
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- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Durham welcomes new Vice Chancellor Durham University; 14-04-2007; accessed 23-04-2007
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- ↑ http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=707 Human Genetics Commission Website
Academic offices | ||
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Preceded by | Warden and Vice-Chancellor of Durham University 2007–September 2014 |
Succeeded by Stuart Corbridge |
- Pages containing links to subscription-only content
- 1955 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Durham University
- Alumni of the Royal College of Music
- English atheists
- English geneticists
- Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Vice-Chancellors and Wardens of Durham University
- Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization