ONE of Scotland's leading businessmen has been installed as Strathclyde University's new chancellor.

Lord Smith of Kelvin, chairman of Weir Group, SSE and the ­organising committee for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, becomes the fourth Chancellor of the ­current UK University of the Year.

Praising Strathclyde's distinctive vision to be a leading international technological university, Lord Smith said Scotland needed "a university which is at home in partnerships with business and industry".

He said: "Scotland needs graduates who are comfortable with technology and its ­potential, and who also understand the impact it has on our society."

Lord Smith was ­installed by Strathclyde University Principal Professor Sir Jim McDonald:

He said: "Lord Smith brings a lifetime's experience in business and industry to Strathclyde and he also has a deep understanding of the importance of higher education as a social, economic and cultural driver.

"His outstanding reputation in business, and his drive and energy, are an inspiration to our students, staff and the wider university community, and his outstanding leadership qualities will help us achieve ambitions to be numbered among the world's leading universities."

Lord Smith succeeds Lord Hope of Craighead, former deputy president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and one of Scotland's most celebrated legal figures.