Nazir Afzal, the former North West chief crown prosecutor, has been officially unveiled as the new Chancellor of the University of Manchester. In a ceremony on Wednesday (October 12), Mr Afzal OBE officially took over as the University's chancellor, succeeding from Lemn Sissay.
He was officially unveiled as part of Foundation Day, an event celebrated every October, which marks the coming together of the Victoria University of Manchester and The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 2004. The news of Mr Afzal taking over the seven year position was originally announced in April.
Mr Afzal brought the Rochdale grooming gang to justice and was honoured with an OBE in 2005 for his community work and career with the Crown Prosecution Service. He was most recently Chief Executive of the country's Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and during his 24-year career has prosecuted some of the highest highest profile criminal cases in the country, advised on others and led nationally on issues such as violence against women and girls, child sexual abuse and honour based violence.
READ MORE: Former chief crown prosecutor named new Chancellor of The University of Manchester
Mr Afzal, a Manchester resident, is the current Chair of Hopwood Hall FE College in Rochdale, as well as sitting on the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Despite these high profile jobs and various accolades, his appointment to this role came as a "shock", he told the MEN, and is a "huge privilege" to him.
"It's an humungous privilege," he said. "I can't get over the fact that they asked me, I'm extremely honoured to take on the role."
One of his main ambitions is to bring the University "closer to the people" of the city. "I used to drive down Oxford Road and think what is this place, nobody used to know what was going on, it felt quite mysterious. So I want to use my networks I have and use everything in my power to get people to understand the important things that happen here.
"The history of this place is absolutely everywhere, where Rutherford split the atom, the graphene institute. The University is at the centre of what this country can do and what the city can do on the global stage but I don't think the country is quite aware of what it (University) does."
Mr Afzal spoke of how when he first came to Manchester 11-years-ago as chief prosecutor he saw the worst of people when unveiling abuse but soon after he saw the best of the city with the University an integral part of this. He also spoke of continuing the 'important' legacy of outgoing chancellor Lemn Sissay and to "build upon that".
"If you asked me at the beginning of the year if I would be in this role now I'd have said no chance," he added on his surprise at being offered the role. "I didn't know it was up for grabs, but when I was approached it only took half a second to say of course.
"The place is enormous, just walking around is a challenge, but I'm starting to understand how cutting edge this place is and it rightly has its high standing across the world. I just hope to be as visible to people as possible here.
"I've only been here a couple of months so we are nowhere near finished yet in what we are doing. I've had major and executive roles roles before but this is very different, this is a prestigious institution that has reached number 35 in the world so this is a massive opportunity for me. It will be an absolute privilege to be here for the University's 200 year anniversary."
President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, said after his appointment earlier this year: "I am delighted to welcome Nazir, who has an incredible record of public service and who personifies our university's values. I look forward to welcoming him to the university community and working with him to promote our ambitious plans over the coming years.
"I would also like to pay tribute to Lemn for his tremendous work over the past seven years. He has been an amazing supporter of our university, bringing life to the role - a ceremonial office with significant ambassadorial responsibilities - thanks to his star quality and wholehearted enthusiasm. It has been a pleasure working with him."
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