Dundee University principal: 'I'm not corrupt, I'm incompetent'
Professor Gillespie was criticised heavily in the Gillies report into the crisis which found he had an "overbearing leadership style" and disliked being questioned or having potentially awkward confrontations.
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Hearings are being held in the wake of the report, Amanda Millar, the former chair of the university court, former finance chief Peter Fotheringham and Dr Jim McGeorge, the former chief operating officer, gave evidence yesterday - something Professor Gillespie said he did not watch.
The principal "tended to control the narrative to the court and elsewhere", painting a picture of all being well at the university, the report found.
It said: "There were many reports to this investigation that the Principal frequently demonstrated hubris, or excessive pride in his role. Hubris is relevant insofar as it can be characterised by dangerous over self-confidence and complacency, often in combination with arrogance, contempt towards people who offer criticism and obsession with personal image and status."
The report concluded that cultural issues "were not the primary cause of the financial collapse" but aspects "may have facilitated or been associated with a lack of transparency".
On Thursday Professor Gillespie faced MSP questions at the education, children and young people committee, wit
Opening questioning, convenor Douglas Ross put it to the former principal that his leadership style was flawed, something the professor challenged.
Mr Ross said: "Why are you the only person who thought you were a good leaders, when Pamela Gillies makes clear in her report that your leadership was part of the problem here?".
Former principal of Dundee Uni Professor Iain Gillespie will not take questions from the media after getting a grilling from MSPs during the Education committee at Holyrood this morning.@HeraldPols @heraldscotland asks if he acted with hubris? No response pic.twitter.com/PYjxBxl9MX — Hannah Brown (@HannahMargBrown) June 26, 2025
The Conservative MSP directly accused the principal of lying to staff and students when, on February 28, he said the university was "moving into a surplus after decades of financial deficits" while there was an £8m hole in the budget.
Professor Gillespie said: "There was no lie there, there was no mendacity. It may have been incorrect, and I accept that it was incorrect."
A big part of Wednesday's evidence centred around the breach of the university's banking covenant, which should have been, but was not, reported to the Scottish Funding Council.
The former principal said his knowledge of the situation was "very poor" and only became aware of a 2023 challenge to the covenant when he read it in the Gillies Report.
Mr Ross replied: "Sorry? Say that again, because I can't believe what you've just said."
Professor Gillespie was given a £150k payout when he resigned from the University of Dundee, and was quizzed repeatedly on whether he would repay that. He indicated that he would not.
Willie Rennie said: "You say your apology is heartfelt, I have to say I don't feel it.
"You didn't watch yesterday, you're not prepared to pay the £150k back to the university. It doesn't feel like you really feel the pain other people are going through at this time.
"Do you understand how angry people are about that?"
He then brought up a previous session where Professor Gillespie gave evidence to the committee, in which he said universities in Scotland were "quite well run" and that he did not see "any risk to survival" of universities.
The Liberal Democrat MSP concluded: "Were you delusional or incompetent, or was there something else?".
Mr Rennie then asked Professor Gillespie if he felt people were afraid to challenge him, leading to a long pause after which the former principal said members of court "certainly" weren't afraid to.
Ross Greer asked the former principal if he'd ever withheld information from the university court.
He replied: "I certainly wasn't deliberately withholding information from court. I would have conversations with the chair of court on specifics.
'I had a conversation as I began to see the severity, and the chair of courts view was very firmly that she communicates with court members,' he says.
'There was sense that you speak when you're spoken to.'
The Green MSP said he found that "hard to believe".
The session concluded with some more questions from the convenor, Mr Ross.
In his final question he asked Professor Gillespie whether he was incompetent or corrupt.
The former principal replied: "I'm certainly not corrupt, so I have to choose incompetent.'
Following the session he refused to answer questions from the media.
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