Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Lord Mandelson, today announced the appointment of Professor Rick Rylance, as Chief Executive and Deputy Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Announcing the appointment Lord Mandelson said:
"I’d like to welcome Professor Rylance as the new chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. His first rate academic and research background will be a great asset to the Council."

“The AHRC funds high quality arts and humanities research and postgraduate training.  It has a key role in supporting work that not only underpins the nation’s understanding and enjoyment of its cultural and artistic legacy but also underpins innovation in important sectors such as design and the creative industries.”

Professor Rick Rylance said:
“I'm delighted by this opportunity and really grateful for it. We're in challenging times and challenges need strong responses.
I look forward to working with the Government and the arts and humanities community over the next few years to make our case and to develop the infrastructure for our research. We have genuinely world-leading arts and humanities research in the UK and with it our future is better and brighter.”

Sir Alan Wilson, AHRC Chair said:
"I am really pleased that Rick Rylance has agreed to join AHRC. He brings a wealth of experience and comes at a time for the Council when we have excellent foundations and there are tremendous opportunities for Rick to help to lead us into an exciting future."

The appointment is for four years.   Professor Rylance will take up post on 1 September 2009 as the successor to Professor Philip Esler.

Notes for Editors

1. Professor Rylance’s appointment has been made following an open competition.

2. Before taking up the post of AHRC Chief Executive, Rick Rylance has been Head of the School of Arts, Languages and Literatures at the University of Exeter.  Prior to moving to Exeter in 2003 he had been at the then Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge which he left as Dean of Arts and Letters. His own research is in English and he was Chair of the English Sub-panel of the RAE 2008 and a member of Main Panel M (Languages and Literature).  He was a founder member of the English Subject Centre’s Advisory Board, a past chair of the Council of College and University English (CCUE), and is currently a member of the Higher Education Committee of the English Association and the Executive Committee of the Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CUDASSH).  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 1998 and a Founding Fellow of the English Association in 1999.  His main research interests are in nineteenth and twentieth-century literature and the intellectual and literary history of those periods.

3. Each year the AHRC provides approximately £104 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

4. For media enquiries only contact the BIS Press Office – Rachel Clarke 18002 0203 300 8080 (this is a text-direct telephone; please dial the number in full).

Alternatively, contact the AHRC press office – Philip Pothen 0117 9876 771.