Rector (office of)

The original office of Rector dates from 1585 when Robert Rollock was given the title of "Principal and Rector". He was succeeded in this role by Henry Charteris. The appointment of Andrew Ramsay as Rector in 1620, distinct from Principal, saw the two roles separated.

• 1620-1626 - Andrew Ramsay
• 1627-1631 - Sir Alexander Morison
• 1631-1640 - Vacant
• 1640-1646 - Alexander Henderson
• 1646-1648 - Andrew Ramsay
• 1649-1665 - Robert Douglas

The Rector in this period was the Town Council's Supervisor, leaving discipline, moral/religious control and college administration with the Principal.

In 1665 the Town Council of Edinburgh resolved that the role of Rector should rest thereafter with the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in an ex officio capacity but in real terms had little or no involvement. By 1838 the then Lord Provost, Sir James Forrest of Comiston, was unclear whether he was the Rector or not.

Formally re-constituted

Along with the Chancellor (office of) and Vice-Chancellor, he current office of Rector was formally constituted following the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 and is elected by the staff and matriculated students.

Since then, the office has been held by:

• 1859 - Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone
• 1865 - Thomas Carlyle
• 1868 - Lord Moncreiff
• 1871 - Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, Bart.,
• 1874 - Earl of Derby
• 1877 - The Marquis of Hartington
• 1880 - Earl of Roseberry
• 1883 - Earl of Iddesleigh
• 1887 - The Marquess of Lothian
• 1890 - Rt. Hon. George Joachim Goschen
• 1893 - Rt. Hon. J.P.B. Robertson
• 1896 - Lord Balfour of Burleigh
• 1899 - The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
• 1902 - Sir Robert Bannatyne Finlay
• 1905 - Rt. Hon. Richard Burdon Haldane
• 1908 - Rt. Hon. Geo.Wyndham
• 1911 - The Earl of Minto
• 1914 - Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916)
• 1917 - Sir David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936)
• 1920 - David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (1863-1945)
• 1923 - Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1867-1947)
• 1926 - Rt. Hon. Sir John Gilmour
• 1929 - Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965)
• 1932 - Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton (1853-1947)
• 1935 - Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby (1861-1936)
• 1936 - Sir Herbert John Clifford Grierson (1866-1960)
• 1939 - Sir John Donald Pollock (1868-1962)
• 1945 - Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (1883-1963)
• 1948 - Alastair George Bell Sim (1900-1976)
• 1951 - Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)
• 1954 - Sir Sydney Alfred Smith (1883-1969)
• 1957 - James Robertson Justice
• 1960 - Joseph Grimond
• 1963 - James Roberston Justice Dr.Phil., LL.D.,
• 1966 - Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
• 1969 - Kenneth Allsop (1920-1973)
• 1972 - Jonathan W. G. Wills (1947- )
• 1973 - James Gordon Brown (1951- )
• 1976 - Magnus Magnusson (1929-2007)
• 1979 - Ian Anthony Ross (1917-1993)
• 1982 - David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood (1938- )
• 1985 - Archibald MacPherson (1937- )
• 1988 - Muriel Gray (1958- )
• 1991 - Donnie Munro DA
• 1994 - Malcolm Macleod B.Sc., MB., CH.B., MRCP
• 1997 - John Colqhoun, footballer, Heart of Midlothian
• 2000 - Robin Harper MSP
• 2003 - Tam Dalyell MP