Sir William Fraser Professor of Scottish History and Palaeography, Director of the Scottish Centre of Diaspora Studies
He is a graduate of Strathclyde University and holds honorary doctorates from his alma mater, The Queen's University, Belfast and the University of Abertay, Dundee. At Strathclyde he rose through the academic ranks from assistant lecturer to Professor of Scottish History (in 1988), Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and, finally, Deputy Principal of the University from 1994 to 1998. From 1999 to 2004 he was a member of staff at Aberdeen University, being successively University Research Professor in Scottish History, Director of the AHRC Research Centre in Irish and Scottish Studies and Glucksman Research Chair of Irish and Scottish Studies. He joined Edinburgh University in January, 2006. In addition to these appointments in the UK, he holds Honorary Professorships across the Atlantic at North Carolina (USA) and Guelph (Canada). Between 1992 and 1993 he was a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellow.
via www.shc.ed.ac.uk
The leading Scottish historian, tireless advocate for the permanence of Scottish history in the country's school curriculum, and thoroughly unafraid to comment on the passing news agenda as it relates to Scotland's direction, social and economic progress, or identity. A very informative interview with him was recently conducted by The Scottish Review of Books.