Background
Willis was born on 17 May 1947.
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Robert Willis
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He was educated at Kingswood Grammar School, then a state grammar school in Kingswood, near Bristol. He studied at Warwick University, graduating Bachelor of Arts (Bachelor). He then studied for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and completed a Diploma in Theology (DipTh) at Worcester College, Oxford.
Career
He has been Dean of Canterbury since 2001. He was previously a chaplain and vicar before serving as the Dean of Hereford between 1992 and 2000. He served his curacy at Street Chad"s Church, Shrewsbury from 1972 to 1975.
From 1975 to 1978 he was a vicar choral of Salisbury Cathedral and chaplain of Salisbury Cathedral School.
From 1978 to 1987 he was Team Rector of Tisbury, Wiltshire, and served as chaplain of Cranborne Chase School and Royal Air Force Chilmark. In 1987, he became Vicar of Sherborne Abbey, a former cathedral and abbey in Dorset.
In addition, he was chaplain to Sherborne School for Girls. He was appointed canon and prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral in 1988.
He served as rural dean of Sherborne between 1991 and 1992.
In 1992, he was appointed Dean of Hereford, head of the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. In addition, he was Priest-in-Charge of Street John"s Church, Hereford. In 2001, he was appointed the Dean of Canterbury.
He was installed in July 2001, thereby becoming the 39th Dean of Canterbury since the Reformation.
In 1999, he was elected Chairman of the Deans" and Provosts" Conference. He continued as chairman of its successor, the Deans" Conference, when it was created in 2002.
Achievements
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In 2001, Willis was appointed Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John (CStJ). In 2009, he was promoted to Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ). The order does not grant the use of the prefix "Sir". In 2011, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of the County of Kent. He was awarded the Cross of Street Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2012. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity (Doctor of Divinity) degree by Yale University in 2009. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (Data Control Language) degree by the University of Kent in November 2011.
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