Chris Carr

Position: Vice Chancellor, University of Cumbria.

Current Role:

As the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cumbria I am the Chief Executive Officer of the University. The University employs 1750 people and has an enrolment of 15000 students. The University operates from a number of campuses and other sites, principally in Cumbria but also in North Lancashire and London. The University came into being on 1 August 2007 and has an important developmental agenda in terms both of it s curriculum plans and its estates plans. The University seeks to serve all parts of Cumbria, and its headquarters is in Carlisle.

Career Highlights:

Christopher Carr was born and brought up in North Yorkshire. After attending Tadcaster Grammar School he won a scholarship to Keble College, Oxford University, where he studied law in the Honours School of Jurisprudence. He continued his studies in law as a postgraduate at Oxford, before commencing his career in legal education. He taught law in a number of polytechnics and universities and in 1986 was appointed as Head of the School of Law at the University of Central Lancashire. He was subsequently promoted to Pro Vice Chancellor at the University, before being appointed as Principal and Chief Executive of St Martin’s College of Higher Education. In 2007, he was appointed as the first Vice Chancellors of the University of Cumbria.

During his career Chris Carr has been involved in a range of national and regional organisations. During the part of his career spent in legal education he was Chairman of the Association of Law Teachers, the professional association for those involved in legal education in the public sector. For a number of years he was heavily involved in the development of legal education for the practising profession on the Isle of Man, and he also taught for a period as Visiting Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium. However, there is no doubt that, for Chris, the high points in his career have centred around the creation of the University of Cumbria. There was no blueprint for the creation of the University and he found the process of meeting the various hurdles associated with loading the formation of the University both challenging and professionally rewarding. His career has been one of commitment to higher education, and he views his part in the creation of the University as the element of his career which will have the most long-term benefit for those whose interests are served by higher education.

Personal Statement:

I am delighted to have been appointed as a non-executive Director of Carlisle Renaissance and I am looking forward with keen anticipation to working with the other members of the Board in driving forward the projects which will lead to the renaissance of Carlisle. A successful future for the city will depend, in part, on ensuring that Carlisle can provide high skill/high value employment opportunities. The University has an important contribution to make in ensuring that the future skills needs of potential employers are met. It will also be able to contribute its developing intellectual capital to the renaissance of the city in social and cultural terms, as well as in economic contexts. As a member of the Board I will seek to exercise a direct influence on developments in the city, which is both a big responsibility and a tremendous opportunity.