Dr Michael Spence AC joined UCL as President & Provost in January 2021, joining the university from the University of Sydney where he was Vice-Chancellor from 2008 to 2020.

Dr Spence joined UCL during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the institution through the complexities of reopening and transitioning back to in-person learning following the national lockdowns. Since joining he has led a year-long university-wide consultation to develop the UCL Strategic Plan 2022-27, setting out UCL’s priorities and ambitions for that period, and overseen the relaunch of UCL’s Grand Challenges programme, supporting the academic community to work together on cross-cutting, multidisciplinary solutions to the world’s most complex issues. In 2017, Dr Spence was named a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the higher education sector and in 2018 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales.

In December 2024 UCL’s Council unanimously approved an extension of Dr Spence’s tenure to August 2031.