A steady hand on the tiller is how Professor Chris Taylor describes his role as the new vice-chancellor of the University of Bradford.
The 58-year-old, who takes over the helm on October 1, says his job will be to keep the university moving in the positive direction steered by outgoing vice-chancellor Colin Bell.
"Over the last six weeks I have taken a close look at the university and I have a high regard for what Colin has achieved in a relatively short space of time," said Prof Taylor, pictured.
"As a new vice-chancellor one of the issues will be to maintain that momentum. It is certainly not a case of shaking the joint up."
Prof Taylor comes to Brad-ford with a raft of experience and an international reputation for his research.
In 1997 he became the first pro-vice chancellor of the University of Leeds and was the first academic at the university to hold three pro-vice chancellor portfolios in information technology and estates, learning and teaching and research.
With this expertise behind him he was looking for a move to vice-chancellor, although he says he was select in the universities he considered.
"Bradford was one of them," he said. "It is a forward-thinking university with an excellent record in research and teaching.
"It has a national reputation for widening participation in higher education, which has been a major Government theme."
"Standards of numeracy and literacy in the adult population are a national shame.
"Bringing more men and women from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education must be a major priority in Bradford."
Combating under-funding of higher education is a subject to which Prof Taylor has given a lot of thought.
While he is committed to building on the university's research reputation by focusing on centres of excellence, he also sees strengthening and building links and collaborations with neighbouring universities and colleagues as vital.
He said: "We will have our own mission but mutually beneficial alliances should be continued.
He believes third arm activities are also an important way of generating revenue for the university - an area in which Bradford has already excelled.
Its ground-breaking pharmaceutical firm Bradford Particle Design was sold to American Inhale for US$200m.
"If we continue to generate this income we are in a better position to pursue our own strategies," he said. "Bradford has excellent opportunities to build on."
