Sir Paul Grice joined QMU as Principal and Vice-Chancellor on 1 October 2019.
Formerly Clerk and Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament, Sir Paul Grice has an outstanding record in governance and leadership at a national level, including high level experience in academic research policy and university finance.
He was knighted in the New Year Honours List 2016 for services to the Scottish Parliament and voluntary services to higher education and the community in Scotland. He is also an honorary professor at the University of Stirling (Faculty of Social Sciences).
He has held the position of Clerk and Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament since its inception in 1999, leading the delivery of all services to the Parliament alongside acting as its principal adviser on procedural and constitutional matters. Having worked in governmental organisations both in London and Scotland, he has built a reputation as an outstanding leader. He was involved in the constitutional group with responsibility for the referendum on establishing the Scottish Parliament and he went on to manage the Scotland Act which laid the foundation for the new constitutional framework.
Sir Paul also has a deep understanding of the higher education sector and its challenges. He served as a member of the University Court of Stirling from 2006-2013 – chairing the University’s Finance and Resources Committee from 2008-2012 – and as a member of the Economic and Social Research Council from 2009-2015. A fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he is also a Policy Leaders Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge and is a board member of Policy Scotland at the University of Glasgow. He champions both the importance of research in universities and of the student experience.
Register of interests:
Business interests - Nil
Company directorships - Nil
Trusteeships
- Queens Nursing Institute Scotland
- James Hutton Institute
- British University in Egypt
- Institute for Fiscal Studies (Council Member)
- Place2Be (Scottish Advisory Group member)
Membership of organisations, public bodies etc - Nil
Other declarable interests
- Other declarable interests: RSE, Fellow
- Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow
