Chair of Council

Following an independent appointments process, Professor Sir Peter Rubin was appointed Chair of the GMC’s Council from 1st January 2013, having been the elected Chair since 2009. 

The Council sets the overall strategy of the GMC and holds the Executive to account for delivering that strategy.  Council members are not involved in the day to day running of the organisation.

The role of the Chair is to provide leadership to the Council; to preside over Council meetings, ensuring that business is dealt with in an efficient and effective manner; engage with Ministers, leaders of the medical profession and patient groups in all four countries of the UK; and to act as an ambassador for the GMC.

In all aspects of his role the Chair works closely with the Chief Executive and the Senior Management Team. The role of Chair is part time, typically involving 3 days a week.

Peter studied medicine at Cambridge and the Oxford Clinical School and trained in general medicine and clinical pharmacology, including being an American Heart Association Fellow at Stanford and a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science in Glasgow. He is Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Nottingham and an honorary consultant physician at the Queen’s Medical Centre. He still practises medicine.

Previous roles include:

• Dean of the Nottingham Medical School where he led the development of the graduate-entry medical school in Derby; member of the MRC physiological medicine and infections grant committee;
• Chair of the MRC Trial Steering Committee for the international eclampsia trial; member of the Board of the Higher Education Funding Council, where he co-chaired the dental joint implementation group;
• Chair of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board; Chair of the GMC Education Committee.