Edinburgh Napier University is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napier. The technical college was inaugurated as a university in 1992 by Lord Douglas-Hamilton, becoming Napier University. In 2009, the university was renamed Edinburgh Napier University.
The university is based around its three main Edinburgh campuses: Merchiston, Craiglockhart and Sighthill. It has over 19,500 students, including those on-campus in Scotland and others studying on transnational programmes abroad and online. In 2018 this included nearly 9,500 international and EU students, from more than 140 nations worldwide.
Organisation and Governance
Edinburgh Napier University comprises six specialist schools:
- School of Applied Sciences
- School of Arts & Creative Industries
- Business School
- School of Computing
- School of Engineering & the Built Environment
- School of Health & Social Care
Governance
Edinburgh Napier University’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor is Professor Andrea Nolan OBE.
The Chancellor is Will Whitehorn who was installed in August 2021. The Edinburgh-born President of industry group UKspace is also a former executive at the Virgin Group, and also holds boardroom roles at The Scottish Gallery Employee Ownership Trust, Scottish Event Campus, Craneware, Good Energy and AAC Clyde Space AB.
Whitehorn succeeded Edinburgh Napier alumnus David Eustace, who studied photography at the university before going on to become a renowned fashion, celebrity and art photographer, and was Chancellor between 2015 and 2021. He succeeded Tim Waterstone, founder of Waterstone’s Booksellers, who served from 2007 to 2015. Edinburgh Napier’s first chancellor was Viscount Younger of Leckie, who died in January 2003.