Leslie Wagner


Professor Leslie Wagner CBE is a British academic, who has been Vice-Chancellor of two universities and as the second Chancellor of the University of Derby.
Wagner obtained a BA and MA at Manchester University and worked for the UK government until 1970, when he became a lecturer in Economics at the Open University. He was later Head of Economics at the Polytechnic of Central London, becoming Vice-Chancellor of the University of North London in 1987.
From 1994 to 2003, he was Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University.
Wagner served as the second Chancellor of the University of Derby from 2003 to 2008. He was the first chair of the Higher Education Academy.
Wagner has been prominent in the British Jewish community, being a Trustee of The Jewish Chronicle, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Trust and chair of the Commission on Jewish Schools. He was rated number 60 in a list of the most influential Jews in the UK.
He was awarded a CBE in 2000 for services to higher education and the Jewish community.