Gillian Tett

Mohamed has an unusual and invaluable combination of skills which Cambridge needs today, as it navigates an era of global flux.

He straddles many worlds: he cares passionately about the finer details of university life but also understands the wider geopolitical context of higher education today; he is attuned to the subtleties of the British cultural tradition and long Cambridge history, and yet is able to navigate the American, Asia and Middle Eastern spheres with great skill; he is immersed in the intellectual rigour of the academy, but also at home in the halls of high finance.

He would, in short, make an excellent Chancellor.