Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli is Distinguished Honorary Professor in the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, and an Honorary Fellow in the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Glasgow. He currently serves as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy.
From 2009 to 2025, he was Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, leading the institution through a period of significant growth and global recognition. Prior to this, he served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University from 2007 to 2009. His academic career at Glasgow spans over four decades, including roles as Lecturer, Professor, and Vice Principal Strategy and Advancement.
As an economist, Sir Anton’s research interests focus on monetary economics, central bank independence, fiscal policy, international trade and finance and macroeconomics. He has advised numerous national and international bodies, including the European Commission, the World Bank, and the UK House of Commons Treasury Select Committee. He is currently the academic co-chair of the International Finance Forum. He is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Economic Society, and sits on the Governing Council of UKRI-funded Productivity Institute which is run from the University of Manchester. He is also a Senior Adviser for Public First.
He is a member of the University Grants Committee in Hong Kong (UGC) and chairs its Research Group. He also served as a Director of the UK Universities Superannuation Scheme (2015–2024), one of the largest private pension funds in the UK. From 2017 to 2020, he chaired the Russell Group, representing the UK’s leading research-intensive universities.
Sir Anton has held several influential advisory roles with the UK and Scottish governments, including Chair of the First Minister of Scotland’s Standing Council on Europe and membership of the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers, as well as adviser to the UK Govt and Scottish Parliament’s Commission on Scottish Devolution 2007-12. In the field of Higher Education and research he was a member of the Stern Review on the Research Excellence Framework and a member of the Advisory Board for Sir Paul Nurse’s review of the UK’s R&DI landscape.
In recognition of his contributions to economics and higher education, he was knighted in 2017 and awarded the title of Knight Commander (Commendatore) by the Republic of Italy in 2008. He holds honorary degrees from McGill University in Canada and Nankai University in China.
