Rector (academia)

[Notes 2] It is also used in Brunei, Macau, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Israel and the Middle East.

In a few "Crown lands" of the Austrian Empire, one seat in the Landtag (regional legislature of semi-feudal type) was reserved for the rector of the capital's university, notably: Graz in Steiermark (Styria), Innsbruck in Tirol, Wien (Vienna) in Nieder-Österreich (Lower Austria); in Bohemia, two Rectors had seats in the equivalent Landesvertretung.

The rectorate is usually aided by several advisors (Referent) who provide advice on specific topics and take over responsibilities in the preparation of decisions, roughly comparable to an associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor in the British academic system.

The rector is elected by an electoral body composed of all Professori ordinari ed associati (full and associate professors), the two highest ranks of the Italian university faculty, all the Ricercatori (lowest rank of departments) and representatives of the staff, students and PhD students.

In military and military-type higher education institutions, the equivalent position is referred to as commander (Polish: komendant).

The outfit of rector is red or purple coat (robe) with ermine fur, often with a scepter and a decorative string of symbols of the university.

Deputy rectors (Polish: prorektor) at official ceremonies are dressed in the same gown, but with fewer decorations (usually without the fur).

Formally styled as Excelentísimo e Ilustrísimo Señor Profesor Doctor Don N, Rector Magnífico de la Universidad de X ("Most Excellent and Illustrious Lord Professor Doctor Don N, Rector Magnificus of the University of X"), it is an office of high dignity within Spanish society, usually being highly respected.

Usually, when running for election, the rector will need to have chosen the vice-rectors (vicerrectores in Spanish), who will occupy several sub-offices in the university.

However, the weight of the vote in each academic sector is different: the total student vote usually represents 20% of the whole, no matter how many students there are; the votes of the entire group made up of professors and readers (members of what used to be known as the Claustro (cloister)) usually count for about 40-50% of the total; lecturers, researchers (including Ph.D. students and others) and non-doctoral teachers, about 20% of the total; and the remainder (usually some 5-10%) is left for non-scholarly workers (people in administration, etc.)

Of those, some have been notable Spanish scholars, such as Basque writer Miguel de Unamuno, Rector of the University of Salamanca from 1901 until 1936.

Universities and colleges usually have a Universitetsdirektör or Förvaltningschef, who is the head of the administration (i.e., the non-academic employees) and subordinate to the rectorate.

The heads of the universities in Switzerland, usually elected by the college of professors, are titled rector (Rektor, recteur).

[14] The titular head of an ancient university in Scotland is the Chancellor, who appoints a Vice-Chancellor to deputise in the awarding of degrees.

to be integral to their ability to shape the universities' agenda, and one of the main functions of the rector is to represent the interests of the student body.

To some extent the office of rector has evolved into more of a figurehead role, with a significant number of celebrities and personalities elected as rectors, such as Stephen Fry and Lorraine Kelly at Dundee, Clarissa Dickson Wright at Aberdeen, and John Cleese and Frank Muir at St. Andrews, and political figures, such as Mordechai Vanunu at Glasgow.

[21] Elected in November 2020, the rector of the University of St Andrews is Leyla Hussein the political activist and first Black female to hold the position.

[23] The rector is the head of most universities and other higher educational institutions in at least parts of Central and Eastern Europe, such as Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary and Ukraine.

Quebec's francophone universities (e.g., Université de Montréal) use the term (recteur or rectrice in French) to designate the head of the institution.

In addition, the historically French-Catholic, and now bilingual, Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario uses the term to denote its head.

The political relevance of the university makes the rector office one disputed political position and the ex-rectors are often related with the public service after their appointment, for example, Juan Ramón de la Fuente rector from 1999 to 2007 was Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations between 2018 and 2024, and since then is Minister for Foreign Affairs in the government of Claudia Sheinbaum.

Thomas Jefferson served as the first rector of the University of Virginia, beginning in 1819, and intended that the school would not have a president; it lacked that position until 1904.

[25] Several Catholic colleges and universities, particularly those run by religious orders of priests (such as the Jesuits) used to employ the term "rector" to refer to the school's chief officer.

The executive head of an Australian university has traditionally been given the British title Vice-Chancellor, although in recent times the American term President has also been adopted.

The rector of the Yushima Seidō stood at the apex of the country-wide educational and training system which was created and maintained with the personal involvement of successive shōguns.

For the Universiti Teknologi MARA, the term Rektor is used for head of a branch campus and answers to the Naib Canselor.

During the Spanish colonial period, on 20 May 1865, a royal order from Queen Isabella II gave the Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas the power to direct and supervise all the educational institutions in the Philippines and thus, the Rector of the university became the ex officio head of the secondary and higher education in the Philippines.

[clarification needed], Ph.D. at a solemn Academic ceremony on 1 November 2011 at the Assumption University Suvarnabhumi campus in the ornate Chapel of St. Louis Marie de Montfort (founder of the Montfortian Brothers of St.

The term rector is used to refer to the highest official of universities, and university-owned high schools (e.g., Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini) in Argentina.

[citation needed] The term rector (Portuguese: Reitor) is used to refer to the highest official of universities in Brazil.