Muir Russell

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Sir Muir Russell (born 1949) KCB DL FRSE is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, in Scotland.

He was born in Glasgow and was educated at the High School of Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, where he took a first class honours degree in Natural Philosophy.

He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2000 and holds honorary degrees from the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow.

[edit] Career

Muir Russell took office as Principal on 1 October 2003. Previously, he was Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Executive since its establishment in 1999. He joined The Scottish Office in 1970 and became Secretary of the Scottish Development Agency on its establishment in Glasgow in 1975. He was Principal Private Secretary to The Secretary of State for Scotland from 1981 to 1983 and was seconded to the Cabinet Office in 1990. He was appointed Permanent Secretary at The Scottish Office in May 1998.

He was widely believed to be primarily responsible for the massive overspend on the new Scottish Parliament and was criticised by Lord Fraser for failing to keep the politicians informed that the expenditure was far in excess of the budget. While at Glasgow University he attracted much criticism for receiving pay rises which were much greater than the rate of inflation. (http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1923350.0.0.php)