HOW good it is to see that one of the people working in one of the most important jobs in the county has actually chosen to live in Herefordshire.

It seems the natural and obvious thing to do but previous council chief executives and hospital bosses have chosen to commute by train from fields afar and stay in hotels during the week – rather than set down roots here.

Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon is, however, pleasingly different.

When many claim to love the county but then spend as little time as possible here it is massively encouraging to see that the woman leading the quest to bring a university to Hereford has not only moved here from Sheffield but already bought a home.

As chief executive officer of the ambitious New Model in Technology and Engineering project, she will need to sell the city to future investors and students.

And in this week’s newspaper she calls on the Hereford public to also do everything we can to make the plan for higher education come to fruition.

The cultural and economic benefits of an independent county university are obvious but the size of task is somewhat daunting.

To create a university from scratch will take some doing but this professor’s positive outlook and new ways to approach teaching will hopefully make Hereford stand out when students look through the prospectus.

A leader in any institution is vital to its success and it is encouraging to have one proud to call Hereford home.