John Hood (university administrator)

For the American Civil War General, see John Bell Hood. For the state representative, see John Hood (Tennessee).

John Hood
293rd
In office 5 October 2004 – present
Preceded by	Sir Colin Renshaw Lucas
Personal details
Born	2 January 1952 Napier, New Zealand
Salary	£197,000

Dr John Hood has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford since 5 October 2004. He is the first to be elected from outside Oxford's academic body; he was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland. Born on January 2, 1952 in Napier, New Zealand, he attended Westlake Boys' High School in Auckland and later the University of Auckland where he studied engineering, before going on to win a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford (Worcester College), where he studied management. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University in 1977[1]. He has held a number of directorships in prominent New Zealand companies and bodies, including Fonterra, Fletcher Challenge and the New Zealand Cricket review of 1995.

His Oxford predecessor was Sir Colin Renshaw Lucas. He is the first vice-chancellor of the 900-year-old university to have addressed the scholars' congregation via a webcast [2].

Controversy

Dr Hood's appointment to Oxford was controversial; his first year in office did little to lessen this, since his attempts to make reforms in Oxford's administrative and academic systems met with opposition [3], particularly due to concerns about the applicability of corporate models of governance in educational institutions. At the start of the 2006 academic year, there was controversy concerning his £197,000 salary and 31% pay increase [4]. More recently there have been accusations of cronyism in appointments to senior management positions such as the Registrar, Julie Maxton [5].

Comparisons have been drawn with Lawrence Summers, the 27th President of Harvard University, who announced his resignation on February 21 2006 following two motions of censure. Although individual academic staff have been critical of John Hood there has been no formal motion calling for his resignation. However, an informal letter of confidence organised by his supporters in February 2006 attracted around 50 signatories from Members of Congregation [6], a group numbering more than 3,000, and contested elections to the Council of the University by Congregation have resulted in the election of two leading critics of Dr Hood's proposals, namely Susan Cooper in 2005 and Nicholas Bamforth in 2006. A third critic Donald Fraser was subsequently elected unopposed. Within two weeks, a fourth critic of Dr. Hood's proposals Bernard Sufrin was elected unopposed to the University's Audit and Scrutiny Committee, as were Lawrence Whitehead, and Ron Daniel.

The proposed reforms were debated by Congregation on 14 November 2006 [7], and a vote was taken on a technical amendment. The amendment was passed by 657 votes to 502, and both supporters and opponents of Dr Hood claimed victory [8]. The principal vote on the reforms occurred on 28 November 2006, and the proposal was defeated by 730 to 456 votes [9]. A postal vote was called on 5 December, with voting running until 18 December [10].

See also

• List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford
• Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford University

References

"Cricinfo Cricket records". Retrieved 2006-12-13.

MacLeod, Donald (2006-02-22). "Oxford head begins web charm offensive". Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Henry, Julie. "Passion in the cloisters as dons battle for the future of Oxford". Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-12-13.

McDermott, Annie. "Tutors' anger at V-C Hood's pay". The Oxford Student. Retrieved 2006-12-13.

Evans, Gillian (2006-11-17). "'I swear I saw the vice-chancellor start to sweat'". Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

MacLeod, Donald (2006-11-15). "Oxford debate: both sides claim victory". Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Lightfoot, Liz. "Oxford dons reject plans for outside rule". Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-12-13.

Smith, Alexandra (2006-12-05). "Oxford reforms face postal vote". Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Oxford University Vice-Chancellor information
• Q and A to congregation