The Principal is responsible for the overall operation of the University. The Principal is President of the Senatus Academicus and ex-officio, a member of the University Court. The role is nominated by the Curators of Patronage and appointed by the University Court.As Vice-Chancellor, the Principal confers degrees on behalf of the Chancellor, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. Professor Sir Peter Mathieson's biography Professor Sir Peter Mathieson MBBS(Hons)(London), PhD(Cambridge), FRCP(London), FRCPE, FMedSci, FRSE, FRSA has been the 34th Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh since February 2018. Peter Mathieson was born and educated in the United Kingdom. He went to a state grammar school in Penzance, Cornwall and was the first member of his family to go to university. He read Medicine at the London Hospital Medical College and qualified with First Class Honours from the University of London in 1983.After junior medical posts in London, Peter obtained a research training fellowship from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to study at the University of Cambridge. He was awarded a PhD by the University of Cambridge in 1992. He became Director of Studies for Clinical Medicine at Christ’s College, Cambridge following his PhD. After a further MRC fellowship he moved to Bristol in 1995 as the foundation Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Bristol and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, North Bristol NHS Trust. In 2007, Peter became Head of the University Department of Clinical Science at North Bristol, was appointed as Director of Research & Development for the North Bristol NHS Trust. Professor Sir Peter Mathieson In 2007 Peter was elected President of the Renal Association (the UK’s national speciality association for nephrologists and renal scientists) in a competitive ballot of the membership, being the youngest President in its history. He served the full three year term as President and remained a Trustee for a further two years as Immediate Past-President.In 2008 Peter was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Bristol, serving his initial five year term and most of a sixth year thereafter. He played a major role in the formation of Bristol Health Partners from 2008 onwards and was appointed as its founding Director in May 2012, a role he undertook alongside that of Dean. He remains an Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Bristol.In April 2014, Peter assumed office as the 15th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), a post he held until January 2018. He remains an Honorary Professor of Medicine in the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at HKU. He also became an Honorary Professor at Tsinghua University in 2025.Peter was knighted for services to higher education in 2023. Fellowships, honorary memberships and awards In 1999, Peter was elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He has been a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) since 1998 and of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh since 2018. In 2021 he was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and nominated as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2022.In 2011 he was awarded honorary life membership of the Australian & New Zealand Society of Nephrology. In March 2015 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of Hughes Hall, Cambridge, in October 2016 an Honorary Fellowship of Hong Kong College of Physicians, and in 2023 an Honorary Fellowship of Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was honoured to be invited to join the Renal Association’s small list of Honorary Life Members in 2021.Of the various prizes and academic awards that he has received, he is most proud of being voted "Teacher of the Year" by Cambridge medical students in 1992; the Milne-Muehrcke award from the Renal Association and the National Kidney Foundation of USA for “most promising young researcher” from UK in 1997; the UK Renal Association Lockwood Award (for contribution to academic renal medicine) in 2004; and being voted “top teacher 2011-12” by Foundation doctors at University Hospitals Bristol. External Boards and Committees Peter is a member of:Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland BoardCity Region Deal Joint Committee; Higher Education/Further Education Strategy Group, ChairEric Liddell Strategic Leadership GroupLife Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership GroupNewbattle Abbey College Trust (ex officio)Russell Group Board, and Lead Member for national and international security issues in higher education, alongside analogous role for Universities UKScottish Funding Council BoardScottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial ServicesUniversity Council for the All-Party Parliamentary University GroupUniversities Scotland (ex officio)Universities UK (ex officio); UUK International Policy NetworkInternationalCoimbra GroupLeague of European Research Universities: Board of Directors; Rectors’ Assembly (ex officio)Talloires Network Steering CommitteeUniversitas21 Presidents AssemblyUNA EuropaUNICAAdvisory Panel of Cyberport - Hong KongAdvisory Board of University of FreiburgInternational Advisory Board, Centre for Asian Studies, University of Texas at Dallas, USAInternational Advisory Board, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaInternational Advisory Committee for the University of Ljubljana, SloveniaTsinghua Medicine Advisory Council Contact details The Principal can be contacted via his Executive Assistant, Rhona Brown: PrincipalDiary@ed.ac.uk or the email address below. Note that emails sent to principal@ed.ac.uk are read by Principal's Office staff. Professor Sir Peter Mathieson (MBBS(Hons)(London), PhD(Cambridge), FRCP(London), FRCPE, FMedSci, FRSE, FRSA ) Principal and Vice-Chancellor Principal's Office Contact details Email: principal@ed.ac.uk Related links The role of Principal and Vice-Chancellor The Principal's key responsibilities Previous Principals This article was published on 2026-04-10
