Historian Ben Pimlott, above,is leaving Birkbeck College to become Warden of Goldsmiths College, London, on October 1. He succeeds ProfessorKenneth Gregory, who is retiring.
Professor Pimlott is the biographer of Harold Wilson and the Queen, a former chairman of the Fabian Society and a prolific journalist. He has been professor of politics and contemporary history at Birkbeck College since 1987.
David Mallen, county education officer of East Sussex, is the new chairman of the Association of Chief Education Officers. The respected and forward-looking Mr Mallen has had a varied career in educational administration. He was chief education officer of the Inner London Education Authority in its final two years before moving to East Sussex. He left school at 16 and studied for his A-levels while doing a three-year apprenticeship in a Rotherham steel works, then studied politics and economics at Manchester University.
Marilyn Strathern becomes Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, in October. Holder of the William Wyse chair of Social Anthropology at Cambridge University, Professor Strathern should feel at home in her new position. She was an undergraduate, graduate student and fellow at Girton, and her mother and daughter studied there too.
Conservative councillor Paul Carter, above, has been appointed chairman of Kent County Council’s education and libraries committee, taking over from Ronnie Norman, who moves on to join the Local Government Association as Conservative spokesman. Kent has also appointed Trevor Sandford as its first schools effectiveness officer. Mr Sandford, a science teacher and adviser, has been county adviser in Somerset since 1995.
Brian Waller has taken over as director of Home-Start UK, the family support charity. He succeeded the founding director, Margaret Harrison, on April 1. Mr Waller was director of social services for Leicestershire from 1988 to 1997, and is visiting professor of social work at De Montfort University.
Kathryn Ghent has been appointed professional officer (case work) of the Derby-based Professional Association of Teachers. Her role will involve answering queries from PAT members, giving advice on pay and conditions, and attending disciplinary and redundancy hearings.
