University of Sunderland, UK. David Bell will be leaving the University of Reading in the autumn after nearly seven years to take up the post of Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at the University of Sunderland. David joined the Reading in January 2012, following a six-year stint as the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education. David said it had been both an honour and privilege to serve the university and thanked staff and students. “Through their collective efforts, we have maintained and enhanced our position in so many different ways,” he said. “I look forward to taking on a new professional challenge at the University of Sunderland and returning to the north-east of England, where I spent a very happy decade earlier in my career.”