Profile: Prof Bernard King

Professor Bernard King is Scotland's longest-serving university principal.

He became principal of what was then Dundee Institute of technology in 1992 - two years before Abertay University was created. He had moved to Dundee from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, where he was Assistant Principal and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Food. Educated in Dublin, he worked in industry and research prior to taking MSc and PhD degrees at the University of Aston in Birmingham.

Prof King has been convener of Universities Scotland since last August and served on the Scottish Government's Joint Future Thinking Taskforce on Universities in 2007 and 2008. He is also a member of the Scottish Government's Tripartite Advisory Group on university policy.

In addition to his university career, he has also served as a trustee of Tayside Primary Healthcare Trust, a member of the board of directors of Scottish Enterprise Tayside and chairman of the board of governors of the Scottish Crop Research Institute. He is said to enjoy sailing, opera and reading. He is married to Maura and the couple have two daughters.