Professor Anne Carlisle has been announced as the new Rector of University College Falmouth following Professor Alan Livingston’s decision to retire at the end of this academic year.

Currently Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of the University of Wales, Newport, Professor Carlisle is also a practising artist, a prolific writer and broadcaster, and an award-winning academic, whose background is firmly established in the visual arts and creative industries.

Beginning as a lecturer at Gwent College of Higher Education in 1990, she became Head of the Department of Interactive Arts in 1995. In 1997, Professor Carlisle was appointed Dean of the School of Art, Media & Design by the University of Wales, Newport, where she has since held a number of key strategic roles including Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) in 2003 and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) in 2006.

“I am delighted to be joining Falmouth at this exciting time,” said Professor Carlisle. “To be given the opportunity to lead the college through its next major phase of development, towards Arts University Cornwall, is a real privilege.”

“I am delighted that University College Falmouth has appointed someone of the calibre of Professor Carlisle to lead it through the next, important stage of its development – the realisation of Arts University Cornwall,” said chair of the board of governors, James Williams. She will have a hard act to follow. Professor Alan Livingston has been involved in Falmouth for 21 years and was a founder in the setting up of the university and taking the former Falmouth College of Art to is current position.

“The College is in a very strong position to realise the next stage in its ambitious development plans – the achievement of Arts University Cornwall – and I am very pleased that the Board of Governors has appointed someone of Professor Carlisle's standing,” said Prof Livingston.

In January 2006, he was awarded the CBE for his services to higher education in recognition of his achievements.

Under his leadership, the College has undergone a period of rapid development and expansion. Significant achievements include the acquisition of the Tremough Campus in Penryn in 1999, and its transformation into a world-class campus in collaboration with the University of Exeter and with significant funding from the European Union.

In 2004, the College was awarded the right to confer its own degrees and adopt the status of University College. In April 2008, Alan facilitated the College’s merger with Dartington College of Arts, whose students and staff will relocate to Falmouth in 2010 as part of an ambitious plan to create Arts University Cornwall in 2012.