Graham John Virgo is an English legal academic, barrister and university administrator, who is Professor of English Private Law at the University of Cambridge. He is frequently cited in the English courts and those of other common law jurisdictions, and known for his contributions to the law of restitution and the teaching of law. He was previously Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge and will assume the role of Master of Downing College, Cambridge, on 1 October 2023. Education Virgo completed his secondary education at a comprehensive school in the Midlands. In 1983, he applied to read law at Downing College, Cambridge, where he was interviewed by Charles Harpum, John Hopkins, and David Lloyd Jones. Later, Hopkins suggested that Virgo consider Coward Chance (which in 1987 merged with Clifford Turner to form Clifford Chance) as a firm to work for. Virgo graduated from Downing College, Cambridge in 1987 with first-class honours. The following year, he graduated at the top of his class from Christ Church, Oxford with a first-class honours BCL degree, and winning the Vinerian Scholarship. Upon graduation, Virgo decided on a career at the Bar, but while at Bar school, he received a letter from Hopkins suggesting that he return to Downing College to teach, which he accepted. Career As an academic In 2003, Virgo was promoted to Reader in Law. In 2007, he was appointed to a personal Professorship of English Private Law at the University of Cambridge. In 2008, he was elected an Academic Bencher at Lincoln's Inn. In 2012, he was appointed Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. He stepped down from this role in 2014. Virgo's research interests are in criminal law, restitution, the law of contract, equity and trusts. He described the decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in Bank of Cyprus UK Ltd v Menelaou as "the worst decision in the history of the Supreme Court, betraying such ignorance of the law and legal principle and such confusion about the nature of judging", prompting Lord Neuberger, who had delivered the leading judgment, to lament the article as "over-the top" in his retirement lecture at Oxford. In 2009, he delivered a paper at the Law Society of England and Wales titled The Law of Unjust Enrichment in the House of Lords: Judging the Judges. Virgo is credited with contributions to the growing law of restitution