Vice-Chancellor
Professor Robin Baker CMG
Welcome to Canterbury Christ Church, one of the UK’s fastest growing universities. With 20,000 students, five campuses and a strong international student body, ours is a University confident in its values and the contribution we make to hundreds of thousands of people through our work.
Our graduates enjoy one of the best university employment records in the country * (3rd in England) with the majority staying in Kent and Medway after completing their studies.
Our University, and the students who study with us, also make an annual impact of £450 million on the South East economy ** , and help to create 5,060 full-time jobs.
We believe passionately in the power of higher education to transform the futures of individuals and societies. It is something we witness happening at Christ Church every day."
Background
Professor Robin Baker is Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Canterbury Christ Church University. He has a career that has moved between academia, cultural diplomacy, and promoting UK education and creative industries as exports. He is an authority on East European history, ethnic minorities and languages. He spent 21 years in the British Council, serving in London, South Africa, Hungary, Greece and Russia where he was Cultural Attaché at the British Embassy in Moscow. In his final post in the British Council - Deputy Director-General - Robin was responsible for the Council's global network of offices in over 100 countries and all its operational work - in education, science, the arts and creative industries. He was appointed Companion of Most Distinguished Order of St Michael & St George (CMG) in the 2005 New Year's Honours list.
He is a graduate of the University of London, was a Finnish Government Scholar at the University of Helsinki, took a PhD at the University of East Anglia, studied at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, was Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Kent from 2005 to 2007, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Chichester from 2007 to 2010 and is a Fellow of University College London.
Robin was a member of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) sub-panel for Russian, Slavonic and East European Studies in 2001 and 2008. He is a Board member of Canterbury Festival, the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion, the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, the Creative Foundation, the Finnish Institute and Million Plus.
Contact the Vice-Chancellor's Office
Anna Johns, Head of the Vice-Chancellor's Office
Direct line: 01227 782259
Email: anna.johns@canterbury.ac.uk|
Rooie Thomas, PA to the Vice-Chancellor
Direct line: 01227 782915
Email: rooie.thomas@canterbury.ac.uk|
* 94.3% of our UK-domiciled undergraduates were in employment or further study six months after completing their studies (according to the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2009/10)
** Statistics taken from “The Economic Impact of Canterbury Christ Church University”, Ursula Kelly and Iain McNicoll, Viewforth Consulting (August 2011)