The Principal of the University of Glasgow is the working head of the University, acting as its chief executive. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the University as well as its strategic planning and administration. The Principal is appointed by the University Court and is President of the Senate, the University's supreme academic body. The Principal is normally also created Vice-Chancellor of the University, conferring on him the degree-awarding powers of the Chancellor. Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli succeeded Sir Muir Russell as Principal on 1 October 2009 History From around the foundation of the University in the 15th century there existed the office of the Principal Regent, who was the senior regent of the University, with jurisdiction over the other regents and the students and responsible for day-to-day administration of the College. This office developed over the years, most notably through the Universities (Scotland) Acts, although the Principal remains the chief academic officer of the University, President of the Senate, and is permitted to award degrees by virtue of his status as Vice-Chancellor. Although the office of Principal is an academic post, the Principal himself is not always an academic, as was the case with Sir William Kerr Fraser and Sir Muir Russell. List of Principals and Vice-Chancellors 1460 - Duncan Bunch 1475 - Walter Bunch 1478 - John Goldsmith 1478 - John Doby 1480 - John Brown 1483 - Walter Leslie 1485 - George Crichton 1488 - John Goldsmith 1489 - John Doby 1498 - Patrick Coventry 1510 - Thomas Coutts 1514 - David Melville 1517 - David Abercromby 1518 - John Mair 1523 - James Lindsay 1527 - Alexander Logan 1540 - Alexander Hamilton 1547 - John Hamilton 1555 - John Houston 1556 - John Davidson 1574 - Andrew Melville 1580 - Thomas Smeaton 1585 - Patrick Sharp 1615 - Robert Boyd 1622 - John Cameron 1626 - John Strang 1651 - Robert Ramsay 1653 - Patrick Gillespie 1660 - Robert Baillie 1662 - Edward Wright 1684 - James Fall 1690 - William Dunlop 1701 - John Stirling 1728 - Neil Campbell 1761 - William Leechman 1785 - Archibald Davidson 1803 - William Taylor 1823 - Duncan Macfarlan 1858 - Thomas Barclay 1873 - John Caird* 1898 - Robert Story 1909 - Sir Donald MacAlister 1929 - Sir Robert Sangster Rait 1936 - Sir Hector Hetherington* 1961 - Sir Charles Wilson* 1976 - Sir Alwyn Williams