Professor Alan Gilbert came to Manchester in February 2004 as President and Vice-Chancellor-elect to plan for the launch of the single University. He formally took up his duties as President and Vice-Chancellor on 1st October 2004. Professor Gilbert was Vice-Chancellor of The University of Melbourne, Australia's premier research intensive university from 1996 to February 2004. During his term at Melbourne, he initiated and, for the first four years led, Universitas 21, an incorporated association of international universities drawn from ten countries. Prior to his appointment at Melbourne, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania, where he oversaw a merger with that university's main competitor, the Tasmanian State Institute of Technology.
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