Gaza war surgeon Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah has been elected as the new rector of the University of Glasgow.
A former student of the university, Dr Abu-Sittah is a world-leadng plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
He has operated as a war surgeon in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and South Lebanon and was based in Shifa Hospital and Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza for 43 days during the current conflict.
He received 80% of first preference votes and has been elected to a three-year term.
Dr Abu-Sittah received 4,172 votes to 350 for comedian Susan McCabe, 234 for Lady Rita Rae and 430 for Paul Sweeney MSP.
He stood on a platform of opposing the war in Gaza, divesting the University of Glasgow from the arms trade, connecting with universities in Palestine and more.
Read More: Gaza war surgeon on his experiences and why he's standing to be rector of Glasgow University
He told The Herald earlier this year: "For me, my experience in Glasgow was a very formative one.
“The life choices that I made and the career choices that I made to pursue a parallel career in war surgery was built out of that experience and that side of Glasgow that is extremely internationalist.
“When I got to University of Glasgow, Winnie Mandela was the rector, there were solidarity groups with El Salvador and Nicaragua, we set up a scholarship for the Sabra and Shatila massacre victims.
The results of the 2024 UofG Rector election are in. The winner is ... Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah!
— University of Glasgow (@UofGlasgow) March 26, 2024
As Rector, Dr Abu-Sittah will represent students at the highest level of University decision making for 3 years.@GhassanAbuSitt1 is a world leading Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon. pic.twitter.com/dmNTdrbUYw
“The Glasgow that I knew is the Glasgow that is an internationalist city whose people have always been at the front not just of the apartheid movement but all acts of solidarity with people across the globe.
"Glasgow, as a city, stood up to Margaret Thatcher. The University of Glasgow voted for Winnie Mandela in the 80s, in the darkest moments of apartheid when it had the complete support of the British government and the US government.
“Glasgow University took a principled stand then, and I think for this new generation Palestine is the anti-apartheid struggle.
“The students will again make the Glasgow that they know and I’ve known, and which shaped my identity, come to the forefront.
"I have a depth of gratitude which I need to pay back to a place that I feel helped shape my choices in life.
“I have extremely strong bonds and good memories with the University of Glasgow and I think it’s worth fighting for.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel