Professor John Craven has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth since 1997.  He gained his undergraduate degree from Cambridge University, studying Mathematics and Economics, and then followed a graduate programme as a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  His main academic career was spent at the University of Kent at Canterbury where he lectured in economics and conducted research in various fields of theoretical economics.  He became Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Kent, before moving to Portsmouth.  As Vice-Chancellor he is Chief Executive of the University, which has 19000 students and 2500 staff.  The University has students from around 100 countries, and has programmes of teaching and research across a wide range of academic subjects.  Professor Craven is a member of the Board of Universities UK, which represents all universities to the government and elsewhere. In Portsmouth he chairs the board of the New Theatre Royal, and is a member of the board of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. He is also a member of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England.