Peter Syme joined The Open University in 1990 as Regional Director in London.  He returned to Scotland in 1997 to head up The Open University’s operations there and to see through the change to devolved funding of the OU’s teaching activities.

He has overall responsibility for the delivery of OU teaching and services and for the University's development in Scotland, with a team of two Depute Directors, 22 locally based academic staff and 60 other staff based in Edinburgh.  He acts as employer for more than 500 Associate Lecturers (part-time tutors) located across Scotland.

He is a member of the SFC’s Access and Inclusion Committee and sits on Universities Scotland.  He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and a Trustee of the Bridges Programme in Glasgow, which works with asylum seekers and refugees.

Peter, originally from Brechin, is a Cambridge history graduate, with postgraduate work in African history at Edinburgh, and then two years in Nigeria.  He was previously a civil servant in the Department of Education and Science in London, latterly responsible for adult continuing education. He lives in Edinburgh.

Peter Syme will retire in April 2010.  His successor is expected to be announced shortly.