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Royal Agricultural College
Website: www.rac.ac.uk
Founded in 1845, the Royal Agricultural College (RAC) is the oldest agricultural college in the English speaking world. It is recognised nationally and internationally as a leader in the delivery of education, research and consultancy to industries in and relating to agriculture and the rural environment. The RAC offers programmes at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels to 1000 students from over 40 countries. Subjects include business and management, agriculture, food supply, agribusiness, equine, international rural development, wine business management, property and rural land management. The career-focussed programmes are designed and updated to meet the changing needs of the employment market and combine academic excellence with practical application. The College maintains strong industry links, creating an unrivalled reputation in terms of the networking opportunities available and the calibre of work placements offered to students.
Head of institution: Professor Chris Gaskell
A graduate of veterinary science from the University of Bristol in 1971, he worked in Philadelphia for a year and then at Bristol where he obtained his PhD and held the post of Lecturer from 1976. In 1982 he was appointed Professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Liverpool, and appointed as Pro Vice Chancellor in 2003. He was a member of the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons from 1995 until 2007. Professor Gaskell is currently Chairman of the Chief Scientific Adviser's Science Advisory Council for the Government Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Appointed Vice-Chair of GuildHE in 2009, he is also Chairman of the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council's (BBSRC) Sustainable Agriculture Strategy Panel, a Board Member of the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), and is a member of the Board of the Animal Health Trust (AHT). He is also a member of the BBC's Rural Affairs Advisory Committee.