Seona Reid to step down as director of The Glasgow School of Art

Headhunters are now beginning ‘an international search’ to find her replacement, according to a spokeswoman for the university. It is hoped Reid’s successor will be in place by Spring 2013 ready to start in the new academic year.

Reid who was appointed as director in 1999 has overseen the £8.7 million project to conserve the A-listed Mackintosh building and the construction of a new £50 million Steven Holl designed building.

Reid, who will retire on 31 August 2013, says, ‘Some of the rewards are physical and visible – our new Steven Holl building and the endless inventiveness of the work in the annual degree show, for example – but some of it is simply the knowledge of the success of our staff and students and the tremendous impact they are making on cultural, social and economic life whether in Scotland or much further afield.’

During her 14-year tenure Reid has seen the institution develop a stronger roll for creative disciplines within science, technology and medical research

The university says, ‘Today our research profile extends across the areas of sustainability, health and wellbeing, urbanism and regeneration, medical visualisation, business and design innovation reflecting the School’s commitment to the transformational role creativity can play across the social and economic life of the nation.’