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Peter Scott (educationalist)

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For other people named Peter Scott, see Peter Scott (disambiguation).

Sir George Peter Scott FAcSS (born 1 August 1946)[1][2] is a British educationalist and the former Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University in Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. He was knighted in 2007 for "services to education".[3] In 2016 he was appointed the Fair Access Commissioner by the Scottish government, a role he held until 2023.[4]

Life and career

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Scott studied modern history as an undergraduate at Merton College, Oxford and was a visiting scholar and at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Public Policy under a Harkness Fellowship.[5] He then worked as a leader writer for The Times,[6] and began writing for the Times Higher Education Supplement in 1971. He went on to serve as its editor from 1976 until 1992 when he was appointed Professor of Education at the University of Leeds and Director the university's Centre for Policy Studies in Education.[7] He also served as the university's Pro Vice-Chancellor from 1995 to 1997. He concurrently served on the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct from 1994 to 2000, and later was the vice-chairman (and acting chairman during the interregnum between the resignation of Lord Steyn and the appointment of Lord Nicholls, both Law Lords).[8][7]

Scott was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University in 1997 and took up his post there in January of the following year.[9] He holds strong views about the need for administrators rather than academics to govern the activities of universities, calling administrators the "key profession" in higher education in his April 2009 speech to the annual conference of the Association of University Administrators.[10] In May of that same year the World Intellectual Property Organization rejected a complaint by Scott that an internet domain name—sirpeterscott.com—registered by a former Kingston University lecturer constituted a trademark owned by him (Scott) and that the lecturer did not have the right to use it.[11][12] The lecturer was subsequently convicted of harassing Scott via the website;[13] the conviction was later set aside, and he was acquitted in a re-trial.[14][15][16]

Scott stepped down as Vice-Chancellor of Kingston at the end of 2010 (six months before he was due to retire) to become Professor of Higher Education Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London.[17][8] He also writes on educational issues for The Guardian.[18]

He was appointed Fair Access Commissioner by the Scottish government in 2016. His role was to report on the implementation of the recommendations of A Blueprint for Fairness, the final report of the Commission for Widening Access.[19]

Honours

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Peter Scott was knighted in 2007 for "services to education".[3] He is a member of Academia Europaea[20] and the Academy of Social Sciences,[21] and has received the following honorary degrees:

References

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  1. ^ George, Martin (2 June 2010). "Sir Peter Scott to retire from Kingston University six months early". Kingston Guardian
  2. ^ "Birthdays". The Guardian. 1 August 2014. p. 41.
  3. ^ a b "New year honours awards handed to special people", Wimbledon Guardian, 4 January 2007
  4. ^ "Commissioner for Fair Access in Scotland". Fair Access Toolkit. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  5. ^ Higher Education Policy Institute. Professor Sir Peter Scott Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b Anglia Ruskin University (1998). Citation: Professor Sir Peter Scott Honorary Doctor of Philosophy, 1998
  7. ^ a b "Ex-editor to take over at Kingston", Times Higher Education, 21 February 1997
  8. ^ a b Kingston University, Office of the Vice-Chancellor Archived 10 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Ed-editor to take over at Kingston", Times Higher Education, 21 February 1997
  10. ^ John Gill, "Move over dons, administrators now rule, says v–c", Times Higher Education, 9 April 2009
  11. ^ Melanie Newman, "Not in my name: VC loses fight for his domain", Times Higher Education, 14 May 2009
  12. ^ WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (1 May 2009). Administrative Panel Decision, Sir Peter Scott v. Dr. Howard Fredrics, Case No. D2009-0276
  13. ^ Melanie Newman, "Academic to argue that conviction was unlawful". Times Higher Education, 9 March 2010
  14. ^ Melanie Newman, "Fresh twist in Fredrics v Scott case", Times Higher Education, 26 April 2010
  15. ^ "Fredrics cleared of harassment charge", Times Higher Education, 23 July 2010
  16. ^ Sarah Cunane, "Disgruntled ex-lecturer and his muse show stomach for a fight", Times Higher Education, 3 May 2012
  17. ^ Simon Baker, "Kingston v–c to step down in December", Times Higher Education, 28 May 2010
  18. ^ The Guardian. Profile: Peter Scott
  19. ^ "A Blueprint for Fairness: Final Report of the Commission on Widening Access". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  20. ^ Academia Europaea profile
  21. ^ Debrett's entry
  22. ^ University of Bath. Honorary Graduates 1989 to present Archived 17 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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