Michael Farthing

Professor Michael J. G. Farthing (born 1948) a British physician, medical researcher and academic administrator. He was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex (2007-2016), having succeeded Professor Alasdair Smith in September 2007. Prior to his appointment as Vice Chancellor at Sussex, his academic career was in Medicine, specialising in Gastroenterology.

On becoming Vice-Chancellor at Sussex, Michael Farthing has led the creation of a new strategic plan for the University - Making the future, which sets out an ambitious growth agenda for Sussex, planning to grow its research income, double international student numbers and increase engagement with the business community. The plan also puts significant investment into the campus itself, with new academic buildings and residences on campus to support academic growth and to respond to student demand. In July 2012 Michael Farthing demonstrated his medical expertise gained and closed the university’s Centre for Community Engagement (CCE), leading to a number of redundancies. CCE had played an important role offering lifelong learning and part-time degrees and short courses for those in employment and otherwise unable to attend university.

The term Making the future draws from a phrase used by the first Vice-Chancellor, Lord Fulton, which said that higher education at Sussex was concerned with making the future.

Michael Farthing has also led a move to greater international activity by the University, personally leading the creation of partnerships with institutions in China. This internationalisation has led to the appointment of a member of the executive specifically to lead this area of University work for the future.

Under his leadership, the University has also been restructured to create 13 schools of studies (beginning in August 2009), including the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, dramatically altering the scope for interdisciplinary communication and collaboration for which Sussex has been known. These new schools are headed by leading academics appointed from within the University and from institutions elsewhere.

A regular column in the University's Bulletin used to set out his vision for the development of the University. He also used to hold termly meetings with staff, podcasts of which are available.

When in office, Farthing disbanded the renowned Linguistics Department — a move condemned by Noam Chomsky as "a serious blow to the intellectual life of the university" — and cut funding to many others. Whilst he is credited for having improved the University's finances, his large-scale culling of academic and other staff initiated in November 2009 was unpopular, and provoked strike action by the UCU lecturers union and widespread civil disobedience by students on the campus. In addition to the wide criticism by faculty and students alike of Farthing's proposals, there have also been a number of protests and occupations taking place at the University. Farthing announced his intention to resign the post of Vice Chancellor in September 2015 and will replaced by Professor Adam Tickell from September 2016.

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