Sir Martin Best Harris, (born 28 June 1944) is a British academic and former university vice-chancellor.

Life and career

He was born at

Ruabon Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...

, Wales, the son of William Best Harris, afterwards City Librarian of Plymouth, and educated at

Devonport High School for Boys Devonport High School for Boys is an 11–18 boys grammar school and Academy (English school), academy in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has around 1,150 boys, and its catchment area (human geography), catchment area includes southwest Devon and s ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

and at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

. He began his academic career at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

in 1967, where he lectured in French Linguistics. He spent fifteen years at the University of Salford as a Senior Lecturer, Professor of Linguistics, Dean and, later, Pro-Vice-Chancellor. From 1984 to 1987 he was a member of the University Grants Committee. His first appointment as Vice-Chancellor was at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

in 1987, where he succeeded the founding Vice-Chancellor, Albert Sloman. His most prominent academic appointment was Vice-Chancellor of the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...

from 1992 until its dissolution in the formation of the new

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 2004. During his time in Manchester he also at various times Chairman of both the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (now UUK), and of its Health Committee, a member of the

Commission for Health Improvement The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom from 2001 until 2004, when its functions were subsumed by the Healthcare Commission. CHI was established b ...

and a member of the Department of Health – Department for Education and Skills Strategic Learning and Research Advisory Group: StLAR, and Chair of the Clinical Academic Staff Advisory Group of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association. Harris' appointments since retirement from the University of Manchester include Deputy Chairmanship of the North West Development Agency 2002–2008, Director of Fair Access at the

Office for Fair Access The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) was an independent public body in England that supported the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education in his or her work that was intended to safeguard and promote fair access to higher education in England, ...

(OFFA) 2004–2012, and

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

between 2005 and 2009. He became President of

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It was est ...

in 2008 and stepped down in 2013.

Books

*Martin Harris (1978) ''The Evolution of French Syntax. A Comparative Approach.'' London: Longman. *

Nigel Vincent Nigel Vincent (born 24 September 1947) is a British linguist. He is Professor Emeritus of General and Romance Linguistics at the University of Manchester. He is best known for his work on morphology, syntax, and historical linguistics, with parti ...

& Martin Harris (eds) (1982) ''Studies in the Romance Verb: Essays Offered to Joe Cremona on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday.'' London: Croom Helm. *Martin Harris &

(eds) (1988) ''The Romance Languages.'' London: Croom Helm. (2nd ed. London: Taylor & Francis, 1997).

Past positions

*Vice-Chancellor of the

from 1987 to 1992. *Vice-Chancellor of the

from 1992 until 2004. *Chairman of review of graduate education in England and Wales (the Harris Report) 1995-96. *Chairman of the Clinical Standards Advisory Group 1996. *Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), now

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

, from 1997 until 1999. *Founding Chair of the

North West Universities Association The North West Universities Association (NWUA) was a representative body in the North West of England, intended to advance the development of the thirteen higher education establishments. The Association ceased operation on the 30th June 2012. R ...

1999–2001. *Chairman of a review of university careers services for the Department for Education and Skills 2000. *Commissioner for Health Improvement 1999–2002. *Honorary President of the National Postgraduate Committee 2001–2004 *Deputy Chair of the North West Development Agency 2002–2008 *Director of Fair Access at the

(OFFA) 2004–2012 *Chairman of

Universities Superannuation Scheme The Universities Superannuation Scheme is a pension scheme in the United Kingdom with £89.6 billion under management as of August 2021 (up from £67 billion in 2019). It has over 400,000 members, made up of active and retired academic and aca ...

Limited 2006–2015 *President of

2008–2013

Present positions

*Honorary Fellow of

Honours

HM The Queen appointed Professor Harris

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1992 and

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in her New Year Honours List 2000 for services to higher education.Honours List, ''BBC News'', 31 December 1999
Accessed 29 August 2007 The ''Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama'' at the

is named in his honour.

References

External links

Sir Martin Harris installed as Chancellor of University of Salford
at Salford.ac.uk
Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama
the University of Manchester {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Martin 1944 births Living people People from Ruabon Academics of the University of Salford Vice-chancellors of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of the University of Leicester People associated with the University of Essex People associated with the University of Salford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Language education in the United Kingdom Linguists from the United Kingdom Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People educated at Devonport High School for Boys Chancellors of the University of Salford Presidents of Clare Hall, Cambridge Alumni of SOAS University of London