Professor McGrew, currently Head of the University of Southampton's School of Social Sciences, will lead the new Faculty, formed through a merger of the Faculties of Education and Law, Arts and Social Sciences.

Professor McGrew, who will join the University on 1 October 2010, brings a wealth of experience from more than 30 years in higher education, in the fields of International Relations and Government. He has held his current post at Southampton since 2006.

Professor McGrew said: "I am delighted to be taking up the post of founding Dean particularly so at such an exciting time in the University of Strathclyde’s future development . I look forward, with my new colleagues in the Faculty, to building on the many impressive strengths in the humanities and the social sciences and to ensuring that they are at the core of Strathclyde’s ambitious agenda for research, teaching and knowledge exchange.  The humanities and the social sciences are experiencing a significant renaissance, in part because the global challenges of the 21st century have stimulated productive conversations across traditional disciplinary boundaries.  In this respect the new Faculty ‘s academic breadth is one of its key distinctive strengths.’

Strathclyde Principal Professor Jim McDonald said: "Tony has a blend of huge experience and ability as an academic and in higher education management. This makes him the ideal person to lead the new faculty and to embed its role in Strathclyde as a leading international technological university.

"Tony will have a key role in developing the faculty and in fostering its relations with external stakeholders. I look forward to welcoming him to his new role at the University."

Professor McGrew graduated in Politics and International Studies from the University of Southampton and took his PhD at the same university. He began his academic career as a Lecturer in International Relations, before spending 18 years as a Lecturer in Government with the Open University. He returned to Southampton in 1999 as Professor of International Relations. 

His research interests embrace globalisation, global governance, China and the ‘New World Order.'  He currently teaches courses in international relations, global governance and the rise of China.

Professor McGrew has written or edited nearly 20 books and is a member of the editorial board of several academic journals including Globalizations, Government and Opposition and Global Public Policy.  He holds a Visiting Fellowship at the Centre for Global Governance at the London School of Economics, is an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia and has held visiting appointments at Universities in Japan, Australia, Ireland and China.