A quiet revolution looks set to take place at the University of Oxford, that most hallowed of academic institutions. And it is all to do with a man from Cambridge – Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Peter Tufano, the new dean at the Sa?d school, has plans to build the reputation of the business school to match that of the university, one of the UK’s most prestigious. Few could doubt his credentials: for the past 22 years he has been a faculty member of Harvard, considered by many to be the world’s leading university.

He clearly intends to apply what he learnt there in his new job, a job for which he expresses unbounded – and very convincing – enthusiasm. “It is the opportunity of a lifetime and I’m not exaggerating. It’s as if I spent all my life preparing for this job.”