News Flash from STFC
At last!
The worst kept secret in science is now out. The new Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council is Professor John Womersley. Here’s an official-looking picture of him, although I think it has been photo-shopped to stop him looking so much like Christopher Biggins:
The announcement of appointment of the new CEO has been expected for months now. It appears that the reason for the delay is tied up with the start date. John Womersley will in fact take up the reins at STFC on 1st November 2011, not when the current CEO retires (at the end of March next year) as originally planned. The current CEO, Professor Keith Mason, has been shunted across to kicked into touch at booted into the long grass in given the opportunity to take up a secondment at the UK Space Agency until he retires next year. Apparently he is moving there
to advise on steps needed to leverage the research base to maximise the economic growth of the space sector.
Don’t ask me what it means, but one guesses some form of negotiation must have been going on behind the scenes all this time (a) to persuade Keith Mason to go early and (b) to persuade UKSA to make room in the basement for him.
Anyway, heartiest congratulations to John Womersley (@JohnWomersley on Twitter) on his new appointment. A change was long overdue, and I wish him well in what is going to be a difficult job.
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In the Dark 
October 18, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Just curious; is Keith’s retirement date a given? If Wikipedia is right about his birth date, he’ll be 60 in April next year, not 65. Then again, I have no idea what age UK civil servants retire at, despite having been one briefly many moons ago.
The thought that comes to mind is whether the secondment at UKSA is actually a parking position; that said, David Williams, current UKSA boss, is actually six months younger than Keith, so …
October 18, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Oh, and googling a little, I spotted some additional John Womersleys out there, including a former Daily Mail executive, a World War One flying ace, and an author of racy novels about men over 50 seeking love:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/19/1090089096542.html
Not sure being STFC CEO is the best way of achieving the latter goal, but I wish him well too, not least as a fellow Devonian.
October 18, 2011 at 2:44 pm
I’d heard noises that KOM was due to take up a position in Aberystwyth from Apr 2012, presumably related to their space robotics group (involved with ExoMars and everyone’s favourite MoonLITE).
October 18, 2011 at 2:52 pm
I knew that Keith had indicated he was not going to try to extend his tenure as STFC CEO after 31st March 2012. His former connection with MSSL, but looking at their website it appears his presenced has been obliterated in Stalinesque fashion. I had therefore assumed he was going to take early retirement. Still, taking up a position in Aberystwyth is much the same as retiring 😉
October 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Couldn’t resist that bitchy little intra-Cymru swipe, could you, Peter? Infra dig, surely 😉
October 18, 2011 at 3:16 pm
There is very little infra my dig.
October 18, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Ah, but you do such a good job of hiding it, Peter …
Then again, perhaps you run some other, somewhat more below-the-radar websites where you give full rein to your darker side, including:
http://www.erect-poles.com
http://www.corset-peel.com
and if you ever turn your hand to politics, then surely:
http://www.elect-poser.com
😉
October 18, 2011 at 4:35 pm
All wrong. My other alias is Tesco Leper.
October 18, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Better than Arch Muck Manager…
October 18, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Pretty much spot on, job description wise, I’m afraid.
October 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm
The Times Higher has been quick on the draw with a story about Keith Mason’s early departure.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=417836
Somewhat amusingly, the piece was written by “Paul Jump”.
October 18, 2011 at 5:23 pm
What’s his PB for the pole vault?
October 18, 2011 at 5:33 pm
I don’t know but it looks like Mason did the high jump…
October 18, 2011 at 10:00 pm
[…] mention the dark rumours I had been hearing before this announcement. Telescoping Peter has already emitted a post, but I got to this late as I have been exploring deepest Drenthe all day. More of this […]
October 18, 2011 at 10:26 pm
“It appears that the reason for the delay is tied up with the start date.”
Or maybe it was just that the contracts were being dealt with by the Shared Services Centre?