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Alistair Murray Moffat (born 16 June 1950, Kelso, Scotland) is a Scottish writer and journalist, former director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and former Rector of the University of St Andrews. [1]
Moffat graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1972 with an honours degree in medieval history. [2] He also attended the University of Edinburgh and the University of London, where he earned a Master of Philosophy degree in 1975. [3] [4]
Moffat was also active in student politics throughout his time at St Andrews, playing a leading role[ citation needed ] in the rectorial campaign of John Cleese, [5] who went on to become one of St Andrews' best loved rectors. [6]
At Edinburgh Moffat continued his involvement in student politics, campaigning with Gordon Brown,[ citation needed ] the second student elected rector of the University of Edinburgh. [7] [8] Moffat and Brown went on to campaign on a number of social and political issues including gay rights and the 1979 Edinburgh South by-election.[ citation needed ]
Moffat found early success after university, becoming Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976. Moffat's five-year tenure saw the festival grow into the largest arts festival in the world. [9]
Moffat left the Fringe in 1981 and joined STV, where he rose to become programme director, Chief Executive of Network Production and finally Chairman of STV.[ citation needed ] In 1989 he was appointed to the NSG, the group that controls UK wide scheduling for ITV. He left STV in 1999 to focus on writing.[ citation needed ]
During the 1970s and early 1980s Moffat wrote a number of papers focusing on education policy.[ citation needed ] His approach, recommending a renewed focus on primary education as the key to widening participation at secondary and higher levels, has since formed parts of the education manifestos of all three major parties in Britain.[ citation needed ]
Moffat's writing since 1999 has been focused mainly in the field of social history. Beginning with The Edinburgh Fringe (1978), he has written over twenty books including the bestselling Tyneside, The Reivers and The Wall, all of which have since been remade as television series. [10]
Since leaving STV in 1999, Moffat has served as Director of the Borders Book Festival and Lennoxlove Book Festival, both of which he also founded. He has also maintained his interest in education, serving as Director of "Book Nation", a Scottish national literacy initiative, working alongside Sir Robert Winston and Margaret Drabble to improve literacy in Scotland.
On 28 October 2011, Moffat was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews. He was appointed for a three-year term, his period of office spanning the university’s 600th anniversary celebrations which ran from 2011 to 2013. [11]
Moffat was the chief executive of the company BritainsDNA, which offered genetic analyses of the mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomal DNA of customers who were interested in their ancestry. Moffat's management and promotion of the company generated some controversy and criticism from some of the scientific community due to certain scientifically unfounded claims. [12]
On the BBC Today Programme , Moffat made some incorrect statements, including that 97% of men surnamed Cohen share a common genetic marker. [13] Geneticists at University College London including David Balding and Mark G. Thomas criticised these claims [14] as having no scientific basis and being little more than genetic astrology. [15] Balding and Thomas wrote a series of emails to the chief scientist at BritainsDNA, encouraging him to retract these inaccuracies. This was met by a legal threat from Moffat at their use of the term "fraudulent". [16] The content of these messages has been since published. [17] Moffat's claims about the Cohen genetic marker were ultimately retracted by the chief scientist of BritainsDNA, [14] and the BBC upheld a complaint about the programme. [12]
BritainsDNA was the trade name of one of several commercial companies that comprise The Moffat Partnership Limited, founded by Moffat and partners in 2012. [18] The other Moffat companies providing genetic testing included ScotlandsDNA (the first), IrelandsDNA, CymruDNAWales and YorkshiresDNA. [19] BritainsDNA ceased trading in 2017. [12]
Moffat was co-chairman and historian for the Great Tapestry of Scotland, a community arts project which produced the embroidered tapestry, designed by Andrew Crummy with contributions from around 1000 stitchers from across Scotland. It was unveiled on 3 September 2013 at the Scottish Parliament. [20]
Moffat met his wife Lindsay while both were students at the University of St Andrews. They were married in 1976 in the university's ancient St Salvator's Chapel, a privilege and tradition commonly reserved only for alumni, staff or their offspring. [21] The couple have three children, two of whom also attended St Andrews.
From 2009 to 2011 he served at the invitation of James Naughtie, the Chancellor of the University of Stirling, as Chancellor's Assessor on Stirling's University Court. [22] He resigned the position in October 2011 on being invited to stand for Rector of the University of St Andrews, an election which he won on 28 October 2011. [11]
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The modern city is located between the rivers Almond and Esk on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, in the historic region of Lothian, bounded on its southern side by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh is Scotland's second most populous city and the seventh most populous city in the United Kingdom.
The University of Glasgow is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in 1451 [O.S. 1450], it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Along with the universities of St Andrews, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, the university was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century. Glasgow is the largest university in Scotland by total enrolment and with over 19,500 postgraduates the second-largest in the United Kingdom by postgraduate enrolment.
The University of St Andrews is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the third-oldest university in the English-speaking world. St Andrews was founded in 1413 when the Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII issued a papal bull to a small founding group of Augustinian clergy. Along with the universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, St Andrews was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century.
St Andrews is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, 10 miles southeast of Dundee and 30 miles northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 as of 2011, making it Fife's fourth-largest settlement and 45th most populous settlement in Scotland.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 different shows in 322 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale.
The Standing Stones of Stenness is a Neolithic monument five miles northeast of Stromness on the mainland of Orkney, Scotland. This may be the oldest henge site in the British Isles. Various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era and they form part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. They are looked after by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.
Caledonia was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all of Scotland. During the Roman Empire's occupation of Scotland, the area they called Caledonia was physically separated from the rest of the island by the Antonine Wall. The Romans several times invaded and occupied it, but unlike the rest of the island, it remained outside the administration of Roman Britain.
Governance of the University of St Andrews is laid down in a series of Acts of Parliament enacted between 1858 and 1966, and the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016.
The Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews is the president of the University Court of the University of St Andrews; the University Court is the supreme governing body of the University.
Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell.
Undergraduate gowns are a notable feature of academic dress for students at the ancient universities in Scotland.
Gareth Patrick Williams is an Irish composer based at Edinburgh College of Art. He was the first composer in residence for Scottish Opera from 2012 to 2015. His work spans from opera and music theatre to chamber music.
Brian Hennigan is a Scottish novelist, producer and director. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he graduated from the University of St. Andrews with a degree in Philosophy with International Relations. Hennigan then taught English at Lanzhou University in the People's Republic of China, and at TDK in Akita Prefecture, northern Japan. He subsequently obtained an MSc in Japanese from Stirling University, Scotland.
The Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry 1745, or simply the Prestonpans Tapestry, is a large embroidery created in 2010 in Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland. It depicts the events before, during and after the Battle of Prestonpans on 21 September 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite forces triumphed over the Hanoverian Army led by Sir John Cope. The design, size and style were inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry.
The Other Guys (TOG) are an all-male a cappella ensemble from the University of St Andrews, Scotland and reigning Scottish champions after winning the Scottish A Cappella Championships (SACC) for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023. The group was founded in 2004 and has been one of the groups responsible for the rise of collegiate a cappella in Scotland.
The Great Tapestry of Scotland is one of the world's largest community arts projects, hand stitched by 1,000 people from across Scotland. It is made up of 160 linen panels and 300 miles of wool – enough to stretch the entire length of Scotland. It is now on permanent display in its own purpose-built gallery and visitor centre in the town of Galashiels in the heartland of the Scottish Borders.
The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry is a large embroidery, 153 metres (502 ft) in length, crafted from 305 panels that were embroidered in 34 countries. It was the second major tapestry project to have originated from the Prestoungrange Arts Festival in Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland. Work on the panels began in 2012. A version of the tapestry was exhibited across Scotland in 2014 for the Homecoming. The tapestry was displayed in locations around Western Europe the following year. November 2015 was the first time that all 305 panels were shown together. In 2016 and 2017 the tapestry toured across Australia and Canada and returned to Edinburgh to go on display in May 2017.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the organisation that supports the running of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. The Society was established in 1958 to provide a centralised information and box office service for the Fringe, which had grown in numbers since eight theatre companies had effectively "created" the Fringe by performing uninvited alongside the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947.
Events from the 1200s in the Kingdom of Scotland.
In 1972 he became the second student to be elected Rector.
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