City St George's, University of London appoints inaugural Chair of Council

City, University of London and St George's, University of London are delighted to confirm the appointment of Professor Ian Jacobs as the inaugural Chair of Council of City St George’s, University of London from Thursday 1 August 2024 – when the two institutions will  formally merge.

The process to appoint a Chair for City St George’s, to take office for three years (renewable for a further three years) from the date of the merger, was initiated once the Transfer Agreement between City and St George’s was signed on 22 February 2024.

The appointment process was jointly led by Adrienne Fresko, an independent member of City’s Council and Chair of City’s Corporate Governance & Nominations Committee (CGNC), and Gillian Norton, an independent member of the St George’s Council and the current Chair of the linked NHS Trust. An appointment panel comprised an independent Chair, Sarah Turville, two members from City (Adrienne Fresno and Anant Prakash) and two members from St George’s Council (Gillian Norton and Josh Joshi). The panel was also attended by Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein, President Designate of City St George’s.

The decision to appoint Professor Jacobs was unanimous, with his senior Higher Education experience in both the UK and Australia, as an academic and leader, as well as a medical background as a surgical oncologist and leader in the NHS. He is an experienced Chair and board member and a former Vice-Chancellor.

Between 2015 and 2022, Professor Jacobs served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, prior to which he was Vice-President at the University of Manchester. He joined Manchester from UCL, where from 2004 to 2011 he had roles as Executive Dean of Biomedical Sciences, Director of the Institute for Women’s Health and Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. Professor Jacobs is also a board member of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where he is Chair of Addenbrooke’s Futures Committee and a Trustee of the Eve Appeal charity which he founded in 1985.

Commenting on his appointment, Professor Jacobs said:

“I am excited by the potential of the merger of two such outstanding and complementary organisations.

"City St George’s provides unique opportunities to link excellence in medicine and health to strengths across the academic spectrum including business, law, science, engineering, policy, communication and the arts. My congratulations to everyone involved in making this visionary merger happen. I look forward to working with the President, Council members, staff, students and alumni to ensure that the full potential of City St George’s is delivered. It is an honour to take on this role.”

Professor Finkelstein said:

“I am very much looking forward to working in close partnership with Professor Jacobs to develop the potential of the combined institution. We have a vital mission and an engaging strategy to deliver in a challenging and uncertain environment, it will take the best of governance and executive leadership to do this.

"I know we both share a commitment to developing the creative and innovative opportunities that our new scale and shape present.

"As we prepare to welcome Professor Jacobs as our new Chair, following successful completion of the merger, I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of both my City Council colleagues and the Executive Team, to express our thanks and gratitude to City’s current interim Chair of Council, Kru Desai, for her exceptional commitment to supporting City’s transition through the merger process. She is doing an incredible job as she leads us to the point of completion and subsequent handover to Professor Jacobs."

Read more about City, University of London and St George's, University of London's agreement to merge, which was announced in February 2024.