On the move

Philip Tasker, 48, pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and a fellow of the Institute of Physics and Royal Society of Chemistry, will be De Montfort's next vice-chancellor and chief executive. He takes over from Kenneth Barker, who retires next July.

Sir Anthony Battishill, 61, a governor of the London School of Economics and chairman of the board of the Inland Revenue for 11 years until 1997, will be the new executive chairman of the Student Loans Company. He takes over from Sir Ron Norman. Sir Anthony will oversee the full implementation and first collections of money owed by graduates under the new income-contingent loans system.

Lord Holme of Cheltenham, 62, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman on Northern Ireland and a former president of the Liberal Party, will be the new chancellor of the University of Greenwich. He succeeds Baroness Young of Farnworth.

Heather MacDonald, acting principal of Wakefield College, has been appointed the college's new principal.

Terry Cowham, former development officer at the Further Education Development Agency, has joined Lancaster University as chief executive of the Open College of the North West.

Tim Niblock, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Durham, is joining Exeter University as director of its new institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies.

John Town, academic secretary at the University of Bradford, has been appointed registrar of Queen's University, Belfast.

Sue Iversen, professor of psychology and fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, will be Oxford University's representative in relations with external funders of research in all areas except humanities.

David Barr, former professor of finance at Brunel University, has been appointed professor of finance and accounting at the management school, Imperial College, London.

Adrien Peters, former professor of diagnostic radiology at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, has joined the University of Cambridge as professor of nuclear medicine. Also joining Cambridge is Bryan Turner, foundation dean, faculty of arts, and foundation professor of sociology at Deakin University, Australia, who becomes professor of sociology.

Karen Powell-Williams, former director of business placement at the University of Westminster, has been appointed managing director of the National Centre for Work Experience.