Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, CBE, was installed as the seventh Chancellor of the University of Birmingham on 17 July 2014.
Lord Bilimoria follows a long line of distinguished University of Birmingham Chancellors who include the Right Honorable Joseph Chamberlain, the Right Honorable Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon, and Sir Dominic Cadbury, who stepped down last December after 11 years in the role.
Professor Sir David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, said: 'I am delighted that Lord Bilimoria has agreed to become Chancellor of the University of Birmingham. He embodies the character, spirit, and ethos of the University. We know that, like those Chancellors before him, Lord Bilimoria will make a powerful and lasting contribution to this University. It is my very great pleasure to welcome him to our vibrant global community.'
The Chancellor acts as the ceremonial figurehead of the University and has an important ambassadorial role, working with the Vice-Chancellor and the Pro-Chancellor to raise the University’s profile and advance its interests nationally and internationally.
On accepting the role, Lord Bilimoria said: 'The University of Birmingham is a wonderful institution with such an illustrious history dating back to its foundation by Joseph Chamberlain in 1900. It is also the University where my mother, my uncle and my maternal grandfather studied. I am delighted to have the opportunity to take on such a prominent role at the University that has not only been named The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2013–14, but is genuinely going from strength to strength. I believe that there is enormous potential in continuing to build mutually beneficial links between business, industry and the University. I am looking forward enormously to the role.'
Watch the official ceremony below.