LORD Smith of Kelvin, who has been appointed by David Cameron to oversee promised devolution commitments, went to school in Glasgow.

Robert Haldane Smith, a former Allan Glen's pupil began a career in accountancy in 1963 and went on to hold a number of senior positions with top financial institutions.

Lord Smith also held leading roles in MFI Furniture Group, Stakis, the Bank of Scotland, Tip Europe and Network Rail.

He was a member of the Financial Services Authority, chairman of Scottish and Southern Energy and a non-executive director of Standard Bank Group.

In 2008, Lord Smith was appointed chairman of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games organising company.

He has been conferred honorary degrees by the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Paisley, where he was installed as Chancellor in 2003.

During his time at Paisley, Lord Smith, 70, oversaw the merger with Bell College in Hamilton, intended to create the biggest new university in Scotland.

The university changed its name to the University of the West of Scotland in November 2007.

A former BBC Governor and head of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, he also held the role of chairman of the BBC's Children in Need charity appeal and the chairmanship of the National Museums Scotland.

Lord Smith currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde and chairman of the British Government-backed Green Investment Bank.

He married Alison Bell in 1969 and the couple own the island of Inchmarnock, situated off the west coast of the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde.

VIVIENNE NICOLL