Alan Turing Institute

The Alan Turing Institute has appointed Professor Sir Adrian Smith FRS as Institute Director.

Professor Smith, currently Vice Chancellor at the University of London, will take up his new role in autumn this year, succeeding Professor Sir Alan Wilson.

Adrian Smith was previously Director General of Knowledge and Innovation in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (now BEIS). Prior to this he was Principal of Queen Mary University of London after holding a number of posts at Imperial College, London, including Professor of Statistics and Head of the Department of Mathematics.

Professor Smith has worked with the UK Higher Education Funding and Research Councils (HEFCE) and was appointed Deputy Chair of the UK Statistics Authority in 2012. From 2014, he was appointed Chair of the Board of the Diamond Synchrotron science facility at Harwell. He is also the Chair of the Council for Mathematical Sciences.

In 2003-04 Professor Smith undertook an inquiry into Post-14 Mathematics Education for the UK Secretary of State for Education and Skills and has recently undertaken, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Department for Education, a 16-18 Maths Review.