13 hours ago
I was incompetent, admits ex-head of university handed £40m taxpayer bailout
On Tuesday, Jenny Gilruth, the SNP Education Secretary, announced she was using special powers to award £40 million to the institution.
The academic was heavily criticised over his role in the university's financial crisis in a recent independent report by Prof Pamela Gillies.
It said Prof Gillespie had an 'overbearing leadership style' and a dislike of potentially awkward questioning and confrontations.
Prof Shane O'Neill, his replacement and former deputy, resigned immediately following the report's publication, along with Tricia Bey, the acting chair of court.
Mr Ross highlighted 12 occasions the Gillies report said that Prof Gillespie 'should have and could have' known about problems earlier.
Pressed if he cared about this at all, the academic said he cared 'very very deeply', adding: 'I admit this is cold comfort.
'This is extremely painful for all of us, it's extremely painful to read, extremely painful to reflect, extremely painful to learn the level of our failure.' He apologised to staff and students, saying they 'deserve better.'
'I don't think I am a coward'
But Mr Ross, the former Scottish Tory leader, accused him of cowardice and told him he had received 'over £150,000 to walk away from a university you almost destroyed'.
The academic said that 'I don't think I am a coward' and defended not handing back the six months' salary he received after leaving in December.
'That was a contractual obligation from my employer to me. It was not in my thought process to repay a financial obligation,' he said.
Prof Gillespie said he did not 'recognise' the report's depiction of his management style but admitted a complaint had been made against him in a previous job at the Natural Environment Research Council.
He said one worker 'did make a complaint against me, that was about overbearing behaviour', adding this person had 'moved on to another job'.
John Swinney, the First Minister, joined calls for Prof Gillespie to hand back his payoff, saying: 'I think that would be the right thing to do because the University of Dundee is facing an acute challenge.'
