New Academic Registrar appointed to oversee the Registry at Imperial College

Bob Westaway in place to manage key aspects of the student experience - News

Thursday 4 December 2008
By Naomi Weston

Imperial College’s new Academic Registrar is now in place and he will oversee the activities of the Registry, who provide a wide range of services across the College community for students, academics and administrative departments.

Bob Westaway replaces Vernon McClure who retired this year after 23 years of service as Academic Registrar at the College.

In his new role Mr Westaway will be responsible for 60 staff in the Registry who provide services to students throughout their time at the College from initial application to choice of career.

The Registry has recently been restructured to provide a better service with dedicated teams to cover the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Business School. “My number one priority is to build on the new structure and make it work. We want to provide an excellent standard of service,” says Mr Westaway. He adds: “Imperial is one of the top institutions in the world and I am looking forward to the challenge of managing the Registry. It is a real privilege to be working here.”

A psychology graduate from the University of Hull, Mr Westaway first went to work for British Rail on their operations management training scheme. He then came to Imperial in 1984 as Assistant Registrar and realised he wanted a career in higher education.

Bob Westaway replaces Vernon McClure as Academic Registrar

He says: “I was one of the sabbatical officers at university and it gave me a real insight into the way universities work. This helped me decide to go back to the sector.

“I was the first generation in my family to attend university and I saw how it changes lives. I realised how important it was and this made me realise I wanted to work in higher education.”

He left Imperial in 1991 and moved to Queen Mary, University of London, where he was Senior Assistant Registrar. He moved on to Brunel University in 1997 as Senior Assistant Registrar and went on to become Head of Registry in 2003. He left Brunel in 2005 and moved to Goldsmiths, University of London, as Academic Registrar before returning to Imperial this year.

Looking back at how the College has changed since he last worked here, he said: “In 1991, the year I left Imperial, the College had just merged with St Mary’s and the introduction of medicine brought major changes to the institution. The campus has also changed a lot physically with the emergence of many new buildings and refurbished facilities.”

Outside of work he keeps up his interest in education and has recently successfully completed a part-time MA in Shakespeare and Theatre. “I enjoyed doing something different and I found it very rewarding,” he added.

For more information about the Registry please visit: www,imperial.ac.uk/registry