of Burleigh, Robert Bruce − 1988 to 1998
Dame Diana Rigg − 1998 to 2008
James Naughtie − 2008 to 2018
Lord Jack McConnell − 2018 to present
==== Principals ====
Tom Cottrell – 1967 to 1973 (d. 1973 in office)
Sir Frederick Holliday (Acting Principal) – 1973 to 1975 (d. 2016)
Sir William Alexander Cramond – 1975 to 1981 (d. 2004)
Sir Kenneth (Ken) John Wilson Alexander – 1981 to 1986 (d. 2001)
Arthur (John) Forty – 1986 to 1994
Andrew Miller − 1994 to 2001
Colin Bell − 2001 to 2003 (d. 2003 in office)
Christine Hallett − 2005 to 2010
Gerry McCormac − 2010 to present
==== University Court ====
The university's governing body is the University Court. It has overall responsibility for the management of the university's resources, the ongoing strategic direction of the university and the approval of major developments. The Court meets four times over the course of the academic year. In May 2015 the university appointed Fiona Sandford as Chair of Court, taking up the post on 1 August 2015, for a period of four years. She succeeded Alan Simpson who was chair from 2007 to 2015.
==== Academic Council ====
Academic Council is the body responsible for the management of academic affairs, awarding of all degrees, and for the regulation and superintendence of the education, discipline and welfare of the students of the university. The Council consists of various academics and is chaired by the Principal of the university.
== Academic profile ==
=== Teaching ===
Most Scottish degree programmes are designed to include four years of study with the intention of providing a broad and flexible education. Stirling has offered four-year, modular degree programmes since the university was first founded. In the 1960s and 1970s Credit Accumulation and Transfer Schemes, which create flexible pathways for students to acquire qualifications, were predominantly used in the US with the UK system operating on a disciplinary progression model. Initially, Stirling's modular approach, and its inherent flexibility, was seen as novel in the …
