The word rector ("ruler", from the Latin regere and rector meaning "ruler" in Latin) has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator. The word is related to rectrix ("helmsman"), one of a bird's tail feathers.
The term and office of a rector are called a rectorate.
"Rector" is also a surname in English-speaking countries and in some others where European languages are spoken.
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The rector is the highest academic official of many universities and in certain other institutions of higher education, as well as even in some secondary-level schools.
The title is used widely in universities across Europe.[Notes 1] It is also very common in Latin American countries.[Notes 2] It is also used in Russia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Israel, all of which are strongly influenced by European traditions. In some universities, the title is phrased in an even loftier manner, as Rector Magnificus or Lord Rector.
A notable exception to this terminology is in England and elsewhere in Great Britain, where the head of a university has traditionally been referred to as a "Chancellor". This pattern has been followed in the Commonwealth, the United States, and other countries under British influence. In Scotland, many universities are headed by a Chancellor, with the Lord Rector designated as an elected representative of students at the head of the university court.
The head of a university in Germany is called a president, rector magnificus (men) or rectrix magnifica (women), as in some Belgian universities (notably the oldest, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). In Dutch universities, the rector magnificus is the most publicly prominent member of the board, responsible for the scientific agenda of the university. The rector is not the chair of the board. The chair has, in practice, the most influence over the management of the University.
In some countries, including Germany, the position of head teacher in secondary schools is also designated as rector; however, the position of head teacher in a German Gymnasium school is called Studiendirektor or Oberstudiendirektor. In the Netherlands, the terms Rector and Conrector (assistant head) are used commonly for high school directors. This is also the case in some Maltese secondary schools.
In the Scandinavian countries, the head of a university or a gymnasium (higher secondary schools) is called a rektor. In Sweden and Norway, this term is also used for the heads of primary schools. In Finland, the head of a primary school is called a rector (rehtori) provided the school is of sufficient size in terms of faculty and students. Otherwise the title is headmaster (koulunjohtaja).
In the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal's and Spain's university heads or presidents have the title Magnífico Reitor/Rector Magnífico, and are usually styled, in official ceremonies, with the denomination of "Most Excellent and Illustrious Sir or Lord". For example, in Portugal, the rector of the University of Coimbra, the oldest Portuguese university, is referred to as Magnífico Reitor Professor Doutor (Rector's name) ("Rector Magnificus Professor Doctor (Rector's Name)"). In Spain, the Rector of the University of Salamanca, the oldest on the Iberian Peninsula, is usually styled according to academic protocol as Excelentísimo e Ilustrísimo Señor Profesor Doctor Don (Rector's name), Rector Magnífico de la Universidad de Salamanca ("The Most Excellent and Most Illustrious Lord Professor Doctor Don (Rector's name), Rector Magnificus of the University of Salamanca").
The heads of Czech Universities are called the rektor. The Rector acts in the name of the University and decides the University's affairs unless prohibited by law. The Rector is nominated by the University Academical Senate and appointed by the President of the Czech Republic. The nomination must be agreed by a simple majority of all Senators, while a dismissal must be agreed by at least three fifths of all Senators. The vote to elect or repeal a Rector is secret. The term of office is four years and a person may hold it for at most two consecutive terms.
The Rector appoints vice-rectors (pro-rektor), who act as deputies to the extent the Rector determines. Rectors' salaries are determined directly by the Minister of Education.
Among the most important rectors of Czech Universities were reformer Jan Hus, physician Jan Jesenius and representative of Enlightenment Josef Vratislav Monse. The first female rector became in 1950 Jiřina Popelová (Palacký University of Olomouc).
The Rectors are addressed "Your Magnificence Mister Rector" ("Vaše Magnificence pane rektore").
In Danish, rektor is the title used in referring to the heads of universities, gymnasiums, schools of commerce and construction, etc. Generally rektor may be used for the head of any educational institution above the primary school level, where the head is commonly referred to as a 'skoleinspektør' (Headmaster; Inspector of the school). In universities, the second-ranked official of governance is known as prorektor.
At Oxford and Cambridge, English universities which are formally headed by chancellors, most colleges are headed by a master or a principal as the chief academic. In a few colleges, the person filling this role is called a president or a warden. At two of the Oxford colleges, Lincoln College and Exeter College, the head is called a "rector."
At Durham University the University is formally headed by the Chancellor, but due to its ecclesiastical background, the formal head of St Chad's College is the Rector, while the head is the Principal or President.
The University of London has a Chancellor (a ceremonial post) and a Vice-Chancellor (equivalent to a managing director). All colleges have a chief academic as head, using a variety of titles. At University College London, the head is the Provost; at King's College London the head is the Principal; at Imperial College London the head is the Rector; and the London School of Economics is headed by a Director.
At most other universities in England, the Chancellor is the ceremonial head whilst the Vice-Chancellor is the chief academic. The Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University also takes the role of Rector.
The rektor is term used for the headmaster or headmistress of Icelandic universities and of some gymnasia.
In Italy the rector (Magnifico Rettore) is the head of the university and Rappresentante Legale of the university. He or she is elected by an electoral body composed of all Professori ordinari and Associati (full and associate professors), the two highest ranks of the Italian university faculty, and of representatives of the Ricercatori (lowest rank of faculty), and of the staff.
The term of a rettore is usually four to five years, in accordance with the statuto (constitution of the university). The Rettore is styled and formally greeted as Magnifico Rettore.
In the Netherlands, the rector is the principal of a high school. The rector is supported by conrectors (deputy rectors who can take his place).
In Dutch universities, the Rector Magnificus is the member of the executive board of the university responsible for the scientific vision and quality of the university. The rector magnificus is a full professor. The ceremonial responsibilities of the rector magnificus are to open the academic year, and to preside over PhD defenses. In practice of the latter function, the rector is usually replaced by a member of the PhD examination board of the university, which consists solely of full professors.
A rektor is the headmaster of a primary school, secondary school, private school, high school, college or university.
In Portugal, the Rector (Portuguese: Reitor) is the highest official of each university. The oficial complete title is Magnífico Reitor (Magnificent Rector). Each university faculty is headed by a director or a president of the directorate council, and the rector heads all of them.
Until 1974, the director of each Lyceum (high school) also had the title of Rector.
In Scotland, the position of Rector exists in the four Ancient Universities - (St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh) (in order of foundation) and at Dundee, which is considered to have Ancient status as a result of its early connections to St. Andrews University.
The post (officially Lord Rector, but by normal usage just Rector) was made an integral part of these universities by the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889. The nominal head of an ancient university in Scotland is its Chancellor with the day-to-day functions of the chief operating officer vested in the vice-chancellor, who also holds the title of Principal and is referred to as the Principal Vice-Chancellor. The Rector is the third-ranking official of university governance and chairs meetings of the university court, the governing body of the university, and is elected at regular intervals (usually every three years to enable every undergraduate who obtains a degree to vote at least once) by their matriculated student bodies. An exception exists in Edinburgh, where the Rector is elected by both students and staff.[1]
The role of the rector is considered by many students to be integral to their ability to shape the universities' agenda, and one of the main functions of the rector is to represent the interests of the student body. To some extent the office of rector has evolved into more of a figurehead role, with a significant number of celebrities and personalities elected as rectors, such as Stephen Fry and Lorraine Kelly at Dundee, Clarissa Dickson Wright at Aberdeen, and John Cleese and Frank Muir at St. Andrews, and political figures, such as Mordechai Vanunu at Glasgow. In many cases, particularly with high-profile rectors, attendance at the university court in person is rare; however, the Rector nominates an individual (normally a member of the student body) with the title of Rector's Assessor, to exercise his/her functions.
The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was Rector of the University of Edinburgh while a student there, but since then most universities have amended their procedures to forbid currently matriculated students from standing for election.
The current Rector of the University of Aberdeen is Stephen Robertson. The current Rector of the University of Dundee is the Scottish actor Brian Cox, CBE. The current Rector of the University of Glasgow is Charles Kennedy MP, former leader of the Liberal Democrats and a former President of the Glasgow University Union. He was first elected in 2008 and was re-elected in February 2011. The current Rector of the University of St Andrews is Kevin Dunion OBE the first and current Scottish Information Commissioner.
The Head teacher of a Scottish High School/Secondary School is often known by the title of Rector.
In Spain, Rector or Rector Magnífico (magnific rector, from Latin Rector Magnificus) is the highest administrative and educational office in a university, equivalent to that of President or Chancellor of an English-speaking university, but holding all the powers of a vice-chancellor; they are thus the head of the academi in Universities. Formally styled as "Excelentísimo e Ilustrísimo Señor Profesor Doctor Don N, Rector Magnífico de la Universidad de X" (Most Excellent and Illustrious Lord Professor Doctor Don N, Rector Magnificus of the University of X), it is an office of high dignity within Spanish society, usually being highly respected. It is not strange to see them appear in the media, especially when some academic-related subject is being discussed and their opinion is requested.
Spanish Rectors are chosen from within the body of university full Professors (Catedráticos in Spanish); it is compulsory for anyone aspiring to become a rector to have been a Doctor for at least 6 years before his election, and to have achieved Professor status, holding it in the same university for which he is running. Usually, when running for the election the rector will need to have chosen the vice-rectors (vicerrectores in Spanish) who will occupy several sub-offices in the university. Rectors are elected directly by free and secret universal suffrage of all the members of the university, including students, lecturers, readers, researchers, and civil servants,... However, the weight of the vote in each academic sector is different: the total student vote usually represents 20% of the whole, no matter how many students there are; the votes of the entire group made up of professors and readers (members of what formerly was known as the Claustro (cloister)) usually counts for about 40-50% of the total; lecturers, researchers (including Ph.D. students and others) and non-doctoral teachers, about 20% of the total; and the remainder (usually some 5-10%) is left for non-scholarly workers (people in administration, etc.) in the university. Spanish law allows those percentages to be changed according to the situation of each university, or even not to have a direct election system. Indeed, in a few universities the Rector is chosen indirectly; the members of the modern Claustro (a sort of electoral college or parliament in which all the above-mentioned groups are represented) is chosen first, and then the Claustro selects the Rector.
Rectors hold their office for four years before another election is held, and there is no limit to the number of re-election terms. However, only the most charismatic and respected rectors have been able to hold their office for more than two or three terms. Of those, some have been notable Spanish scholars, such as Basque writer Miguel de Unamuno, Rector of the University of Salamanca from 1901 till 1936.
Rektor is the title for the highest-ranked administrative and educational leader for an academic institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, private school, high school, college or university. The rektors of state-run colleges and universities are political appointees of the government. The adjunct of a rektor at a university is called a prorektor and is appointed by the institution's board.
In the older universities of Uppsala and Lund, the rektor is titled rector magnificus (men), or rectrix magnifica (women). Younger universities have in more recent years started using the Latin honorary title in formal situations, such as in honorary speeches or graduation ceremonies.
The Rector is the head of most universities and other higher educational institutions in at least parts of Central and Eastern Europe, such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. The rector's deputies are known as "pro-rectors".
As in most Commonwealth and British-influenced countries, the term "rector" is not commonly used in Canada.
Quebec's universities, both francophone (e.g., Université de Montréal) and anglophone (e.g., Concordia University), use the term (recteur or rectrice in French) to designate the head of the institution. In addition, the historically French-Catholic, and currently bilingual, Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario uses the term to denote its head. St. Paul's College, the Roman Catholic College of the University of Manitoba, uses the term 'rector' to designate the head of the College. St. Boniface College, the French College of the University of Manitoba, uses 'recteur' or 'rectrice' to designate the head of the College.
Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario) uses the term "rector". The term refers to a member of the student body elected to work as an equal with the Chancellor and Principal. The Badge of Office of the Rector of Queen's University was registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on October 15, 2004.[2]
Most U.S. colleges use the titles "president" for the chief executive of the college and "chair of the board of trustees" for the head of the body that legally "owns" the college. The terms "president" and "chancellor" are used for the chief executive of some universities and university systems, depending on the institution's statutes (some state university systems have both presidents of constituent colleges and a chancellor of the overall system, or vice versa).
Several notable exceptions exist in the Commonwealth of Virginia: the University of Virginia (Charlottesville), University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg), George Mason University (Fairfax), Virginia State University (Petersburg), Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), Washington and Lee University (Lexington), the College of William and Mary (Williamsburg), Old Dominion University (Norfolk), and Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) use the term "Rector" to designate the head of the Board of Visitors. The College of William and Mary also has a "Chancellor" who acts in a ceremonial capacity.
From 1701-1745, the head of the school that was to become Yale University was termed the "rector". As head of Yale College, Thomas Clap was both the last to be called "rector" (1740–1745) and the first to be referred to as president (1745–1766). Modern custom omits the use of the term "rector" and identifies Abraham Pierson as the first Yale president (1701–1707). Clap is construed to have been the fifth in the sequence of men who were Yale's leaders.[3]
Several Catholic colleges and universities, particularly those run by religious orders of priests (such as the Jesuits) formerly employed the term "rector" to refer to the school's chief officer. In many cases, the rector was also the head of the community of priests assigned to the school, so the two posts – head of the university and local superior of the priests – were merged in the role of rector (See "Ecclesiastical rectors" below). This practice is no longer followed, as the details of the governance of most of these schools have changed.
The term "rector" is uncommon in Australian academic institutions. The executive head of an Australian university has traditionally been given the British title Vice-Chancellor, although in recent times the American term President has also been adopted. The term rector is used by some academic institutions, such as the University of Melbourne residential college, Newman College; the private boys' school, Xavier College; and the University of Sydney residential college, St John's College (Benedictine).
The title Rector is sometimes used for the head of a subordinate and geographically separate campus of a university. For example, the executive head of the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, which is a campus of the University of New South Wales in Sydney is a Rector, as is the head of the Cairns campus of James Cook University, based at Townsville.
The title is used in New Zealand for the Headmaster of some independent schools, such as Lindisfarne College, and a number of state schools for boys, including Otago Boys' High School, King's High School, Dunedin, Waitaki Boys' High School, Timaru Boys' High School, Palmerston North Boys' High School and Southland Boys' High School showing the Scots' involvement in the foundation of those schools.
The heads of certain Indian boarding schools are called Rectors. The head or principal of a Catholic schools in India is also called a rector.
During the years of the Tokugawa shogunate (1601–1868), the rector of Edo’s Confucian Academy, the Shōhei-kō (afterwards known at the Yushima Seidō), was known by the honorific title Daigaku-no kami which, in the context of the Tokugawa hierarchy, can effectively be translated as "Head of the State University". The rector of the Yushima Seidō stood at the apex of the country-wide educational and training system which was created and maintained with the personal involvement of successive shoguns. The position as rector of the Yushima Seidō became hereditary in the Hayashi family.[4] The rectors' scholarly reputation was burnished by the publication in 1657 of the seven volumes of Survey of the Sovereigns of Japan (日本王代一覧 Nihon Ōdai Ichiran)[5] and by the publication in 1670 of the 310 volumes of The Comprehensive History of Japan (本朝通鑑 Honchō-tsugan).[6]
In this Commonwealth nation, the term Rektor is used to refer to the highest administrative official in several universities and higher education institutions in Malaysia, such as the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak and the Universiti Teknologi MARA in Perak. A Rektor is comparable to the position of Naib Canselor, or Vice-Chancellor, in other higher education institutions, as the Rektor answers to the Canselor.
The term Rector (Burmese:ပါေမာကၡခ်ဳပ္) is used to refer to the highest official of universities in Myanmar. Each university department is headed by a professor, who is responsible to the rector. Nowadays, given the large dimensions of some universities, the position of pro-rector has emerged, just below that of the rector. Pro-rectors are in charge of managing particular areas of the university, such as research or undergraduate education.
The term Rector or Rector Magnificus is used to refer to the highest official in prominent Catholic universities and colleges such as the University of Santo Tomas, Colegio de San Juan de Letran and San Beda College. The rector typically sits as chair of the university board of trustees. He exercises policy-making as well as general academic, managerial, and religious functions over all university academic and non-academic staff.
In the University of Santo Tomas, the highest individual academic award conferred on a graduating college student is the Rector's Award for Academic Excellence.
Rev. Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB, a world-renowned liturgist and theologian, served as the twentieth rector-president of San Beda College. Prior to this, he was rector-magnificus of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute and the Pontifical Ateneo San Anselmo, both in Rome.
The term Rector is used to refer to the highest official of universities, and university-owned high schools (e.g. Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini) in Argentina. Each school (Spanish:Facultad) has its own rector, acting as school director.
The term Rector (Portuguese: Reitor) is used to refer to the highest official of universities in Brazil. Each faculty is headed by a director, who is under the authority of the rector. Nowadays, given the large size of some universities, the position of pro-rector has emerged below that of the rector. The pro-rector is in charge of managing a particular area of the university, such as research or undergraduate education.
In ancient times bishops, as rulers of cities and provinces, especially in the Papal States, were called rectors, as were administrators of the patrimony of the Church (e.g. rector Siciliæ). The term 'Rector' was used by Pope Gregory the Great in the "Regula Pastoralis" as equivalent to pastor.
In the Roman Catholic Church, a rector is a person who holds the office of presiding over an ecclesiastical institution. This institution might be a particular building—like a church or shrine—or it could also be an organization, such as a parish, a mission or quasi-parish, a seminary or house of studies, a university, a hospital, or a community of clerics or religious.
The Canon law of the Catholic Church explicitly mentions as special cases three offices of rectors: rectors of seminaries (c. 239 & c. 833 #6); rectors of churches that do not belong to a parish, a chapter of canons, or a religious order (c. 556–553); and rectors of Catholic universities (c. 443 §3 #3 & c. 833 #7). However, these are not the only officials who exercise their functions using the title of rector.
Since the term rector refers to the function of the particular office, a number of officials are not referred to as rectors even though they are rectors in actual practice. The diocesan bishop, for instance, is himself a rector, since he presides over both an ecclesiastical organization (the diocese) and an ecclesiastical building (his cathedral). In many dioceses, the bishop delegates the day-to-day operation of the cathedral to a priest, who is often called a rector but whose specific title is plebanus or "people's pastor", especially if the cathedral is also a parish. As a further example, the pastor of a parish (parochus in Latin) is rector over both his parish and the parish church. Finally, a president of a Catholic university is rector over the university and, if a priest, often the rector of any church that the university may operate (c. 557 §3).
In some religious congregations of priests, rector is the title of the local superior of a house or community of the order (for instance, a community of several dozen Jesuit priests might include the pastor and priests assigned to a parish church next door, the faculty of a Jesuit high school across the street, and the priests in an administrative office down the block, but the community as a local installation of Jesuit priests is headed by a rector).
Rector general is the title given to the superior general of certain religious orders, e.g. the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God, Pallottines.
There are some other uses of this title, such as for residence hall directors at the University of Notre Dame which were once (and to some extent still are) run in a seminary-like fashion. This title is used similarly at the University of Portland, another institution of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
The pope himself has been called 'rector of the world', in the (now discontinued) ceremony of the conferring of the papal tiara as part of his formal installation after election.
A now obsolete use of the term existed in the United States prior to the formulation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Canon Law grants a type of tenure to pastors (parochus) of parishes, giving them certain rights against arbitrary removal by the bishop of their diocese. In order to preserve their flexibility and authority in assigning priests to parishes, bishops in the United States until that time did not actually appoint priests as pastors, but as "permanent rectors" of their parishes: the "permanent" gave the priest a degree of confidence in the security in his assignment, but the "rector" rather than "pastor" preserved the bishop's absolute authority to reassign clergy. Hence, many older parishes list among their early leaders priests with the postnominal letters "P.R." (as in, a plaque listing all of the pastors of a parish, with "Rev. John Smith, P.R."). This practice was discontinued and today priests are normally assigned as pastors of parishes, and bishops in practice reassign them at will (though there are still questions about the canonical legality of this).
In Anglican churches, a rector is one type of parish priest. Historically, parish priests in the Church of England were divided into rectors, vicars, and perpetual curates. The parish clergy and church was supported by tithes—like a local tax (traditionally, as the etymology of tithe suggests, of ten percent) levied on the personal as well as agricultural output of the parish. Roughly speaking, the distinction was that a rector directly received both the greater and lesser tithes of his parish while a vicar received only the lesser tithes (the greater tithes going to the lay holder, or impropriator, of the living); a perpetual curate with a small cure and often aged or infirm received neither greater nor lesser tithes, and received only a small salary (paid sometimes by the diocese). Quite commonly, parishes that had a rector as priest also had glebe lands attached to the parish. The rector was then responsible for the repair of the chancel of his church -- the part dedicated to the sacred offices -- while the rest of the building was the responsibility of the parish. This rectorial responsibility persists, in perpetuity, with the occupiers of the original rectorial land where it has been sold. This is called chancel repair liability, and affects institutional, corporate and private owners of land once owned by around 5,200 churches in England and Wales.[7] (See also Church of England#Organisation) Today, the roles of a rector and a vicar are essentially the same. Which of the two titles is held by the parish priest is historical. Some parishes have a rector, others a vicar.
The term has also been re-introduced to designate the priest in charge of a team ministry. (See also curate)
In the Church of Ireland, Scottish Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada, most parish priests are called rectors, not vicars. However, in the some dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada rectors are officially licensed as incumbents to express the diocesan polity of employment of clergy.
In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the "rector" is the priest elected to head a self-supporting parish. A priest who is appointed by the bishop to head a parish in the absence of a rector is termed a "priest-in-charge", as is a priest leading a mission (that is, a congregation which is not self-supporting). "Associate priests" are priests hired by the parish to supplement the rector in his or her duties while "assistant priests" are priests resident in the congregation who help on a volunteer basis. The positions of "vicar" and "curate" are not recognized in the canons of the entire church. However, some diocesan canons do define "vicar" as the priest-in-charge of a mission; and "curate" is often used for assistants, being entirely analogous to the English situation.[8]
In schools affiliated with the Anglican church the title "rector" is sometimes used in secondary schools and boarding schools, where the headmaster is often a priest.
In many Protestant congregational churches such as Baptist, Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Free Churches, etc., the rector is the person elected to lead the congregation with pastoral duties affixed to their administrative job.
Rector provinciae was the Latin generic term for the governor of a Roman province, known after the time of Suetonius, and specifically a legal term (as used in the Codices of the Emperors Theodosius I and Justinian I) after Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy (when they came under the administrative authority of the Vicarius of a diocese and these under a Pretorian prefect), regardless of what their specific titles (of different rank, such as Consularis, Corrector provinciae, Praeses and Proconsul) may have been.
A similar gubernatorial use or as Chief magistrate in city states in the Adriatic, also in the Italian form Rettore, includes:
To a rector who has resigned is often given the title rector emeritus. One who temporarily performs the functions usually fulfilled by a rector is styled a pro-rector (in parishes, administrator).
Deputies of rectors in institutions are known as vice-rectors (in parishes, as curates, assistant - or associate rectors, etc.). In some universities the title vice-rector has, like Vice-Chancellor in many Anglo-Saxon cases, been used for the de facto head when the essentially honorary title of rector is reserved for a high externa dignitary; until 1920, there was such a vice-recteur at the Parisian Sorbonne as the French Minister of Education was its nominal Recteur