Mike Smithson joins York as Development Director
Posted on 20 January 2005
He has been Director of Development at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and at the London School of Economics.
"I very much look forward to leading the fundraising for the University"
Mike Smithson
He will build on York's recent successes in attracting grants and donations from foundations and individuals. These include a £4.5 million Heritage Lottery Grant for the Borthwick Institute for Archives, £2 million from the Raymond Burton Charitable Trust for the Humanities Research Library, and £1.2 million from the Wolfson Foundation for the York Neuroimaging Centre.
Commenting on his appointment, Mike Smithson said: "I very much look forward to leading the fundraising for the University that not so long ago was described by a national newspaper as being the institution best placed to 'break into the top four' and has the top teaching ratings of any in the UK."
Notes to editors:
- Mike Smithson has been Director of Development at Oxford since 1999. He held a similar position at Cambridge from 1996 to 1999, and before that was Director of Fundraising at the LSE for two years. He also has 20 years experience as a journalist.
- The University of York was founded in 1963. It now has 10,500 students, a third of whom are postgraduates, and 2,500 staff. York has the highest average score for teaching quality and is ranked 6th for research amongst the UK's 100 higher education institutions. The University runs Science City York with the City of York Council and private sector partners, a project described as an exemplar of university-industry relationships in the Lambert Report. The Chancellor of the Exchequer named York as one of Britain's 'Science Cities' in the pre-Budget Announcement in November.