Brains trust

Mark Damazer is famously brainy - a double starred first from Cambridge University is more than enough evidence. And when he speaks, it's sometimes convoluted and a little difficult to understand, but always thoughtful, reasoned and peppered with interesting phrases. I suspect the thing I've learned today is that the brain, when not speaking, is not running on idle.

There's a symmetry about his decision to re-enter academia, as newly-elected Head of St Peter's College, Oxford. The announcement comes just days ahead of his 55th birthday; he'll have had exactly six years running Radio 4 (and Radio 7) when he leaves the BBC in October. It's the sort of move you have to plan and work at...

His record at Radio 4 ? He inherited 9,422,000 listeners, tuned in for an average 12.9 hours a week. RAJAR methodology has changed en route, but current figures show 9,841 listeners, staying for 12.6 hours a week - not bad, considering the growth in other attractions and distractions over the period. In the same six years, Radio 7 has moved from 404,000 listeners to 931,000.

I've not yet tracked down the link with Oxford - Mark went to Gonville and Caius in Cambridge, then Harvard. BBC correspondents Matt Frei, Gordon Corera and Richard Galpin are alumni of St Peter's. So are, by the bye, Geordie Greig and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. There's a potential for enjoyable high table chat, and with Mark, there'll be few longueurs.

Now on to the real tasks - the runners and riders to replace him !