Durham calls for the doctor

DURHAM University has appointed the chief medical officer, Sir Kenneth Calman, to take over as vice chancellor next year following the retirement ofEvelyn Ebsworth, writes Alison Utley.

Sir Kenneth, 55, has been the government's foremost health adviser since 1991. A leading oncologist, he serves on the Medical Research Council and the executive board of the World Health Organisation.

He is a graduate of the University of Glasgow, where he returned in 1969 as a lecturer, before becoming professor of clinical oncology five years later, and then dean of postgraduate medicine andprofessor of postgraduate medical education from 1984 to 1988.

Sir Kenneth said the post of chief medical officer had been enormously enjoyable and he regretted leaving it.

However, he added: "I look forward to working with staff and students at the university, to the challenges ahead and to leading Durham in to the next millennium."

Professor Ebsworth retires in September 1998 after an eight- year stint as Durham's vice chancellor.