Professor Chris Day has been vice-chancellor and president of Newcastle University since January 2017. A former consultant hepatologist, he has an international reputation in medical research and was awarded a CBE for Services to Health Research and Treatment in the 2023 New Year Honours.
He has held key leadership roles, including serving on the council of the Medical Research Council, the executive of the Medical Schools Council, and chairing the clinical medicine sub-panel for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). For REF 2021, he chaired the institutional environment pilot panel, assessing research environments at institutional level. In 2025, he chaired the REF people, culture and environment 2029 pilot panel.
Professor Day is currently chair of the Russell Group and a former president of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland, a member of the council of the All-Party Parliamentary University Group and serves on the advisory board of the UPP Foundation. He is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, reflecting his contributions to higher education and research.