The Chancellor is the official Head of the University. The role is largely ceremonial and involves undertaking a wide range of engagements at the Colleges and Institutes of the University.

The current Chancellor is Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. She is the 10th person to hold the post since the University’s foundation and has done so since 1981.

List of Chancellors

1836–56 Sir William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Burlington (later 7th Duke of Devonshire)

1856–91 Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl of Granville  

1891–93 Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby

1893–99 Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell

1899–1902 John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley

1902–29 Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery & 1st Earl of Midlothian 

1929–31 William Lygon, 7th Earl of Beauchamp

1932–55 Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone

1955–80 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

1981– Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal