University College Nottingham
© University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a leading research and teaching university in the city of Nottingham, in the East Midlands of England. The university originated as an adult school founded in 1798, becoming a University College in 1888 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1948. It is a member of the Russell Group of leading British universities, and of Universitas 21, an international network of research-led universities.
In 2004, it had more than 27,000 registered students, with more than 10 applicants per place. This included over 4,000 international students from more than 100 countries. Its current Chancellor and President is the distinguished Chinese physicist Professor Fujia Yang, and its Vice-Chancellor Sir Colin Campbell.
The University is currently under threat of an international academic boycott over a breakdown in negotiations with the Association of University Teachers (AUT) on pay and conditions for academic staff. The AUT claims that Nottingham has failed to honour a committment to follow a national agreement reached in March 2004, while the University claims that "Meaningful negotiations are impossible while the threat is in existence." If 'serious negotiations' do not begin by September 20 then the AUT will call on academics worldwide to boycott all professional contact with Nottingham.
Campuses
The University of Nottingham's main campus is widely regarded as one of the most attractive in the country. The University now has several further campuses, but all share similar design features, being 'garden campuses' situated around a lake with extensive greenery.
See also University of Nottingham Halls of Residence.
Research
- Much of the pioneering work on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was done at Nottingham, work for which Nottingham Professor Sir Peter Mansfield FRS received a Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 2003.
- Also in 2003, Professor Clive Granger, a former Nottingham student and academic, who was at the university for 22 years, won the Nobel Prize for Economics.
- Professor Frederick Kipping (1863-1949), Professor of Chemistry (1897-1936), made the discovery of silicone polymers at Nottingham, but completely failed to realise the commercial significance of what is now a multi-billion pound industry.
- Other innovations at the university include cochlear implants for deaf children and the brace for impact position used in aircraft.
- Professor Don Grierson OBE FRS led the team that produced the world's first genetically modified tomato at Nottingham, the first GM food approved for sale on both sides of the Atlantic.
- Nottingham had 26 departments rated 5 or 5* (internationally excellent) in the UK Funding Council's 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.
Other Facts
- Nottingham frequently has the highest number of applicants of any UK university.
- The University attracted controversy in 2001 when it accepted £3.8m from British American Tobacco for the creation of a centre of corporate responsibility. The donation caused Professor Richard Smith, Editor of the British Medical Journal to resign from his post as professor at the university, a 20 strong Cancer Research Team to move to London, and the Cancer Research Campaign to stop its £1.5m fundraising campaign for the renovation of the University's cancer research facilities.
- In 1985 students at the university managed to fit 27 people into a Ford Sierra car.
- The University Radio Station, University Radio Nottingham (or URN) has won approximately a third of all the BBC Radio 1 awards for student radio. The radio station holds the world record for the longest continuous radio broadcast at 42 hours.
- Campus 14 is a bar crawl of fourteen bars on the University Park campus and is a well-known campus tradition. It was officially banned by the university in 2001 after complaints from the local health authority about the number of stomachs they were having to pump.
Medical School
The University has one of the largest medical schools in the United Kingdom, and runs courses at a number of teaching hospitals:
Notable Alumni
Academia
Arts and Media
- Matthew Bannister - radio journalist, former head of BBC Production
- Professor Robert Brustein - Harvard English professor, founder of Yale repertory theatre and the American Repertory theatre
- Judith McHale - President and CEO, Discovery Communications
- The Lord Hollick - former owner of United News
- Bob Phillis - Chief Executive, Guardian Media Group
- Peter Rice, President Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Jim Moir - Controller of BBC Radio 2 (UK)
Business
- Michael Carpenter - Chairman & CEO, Citigroup Global Investments
- John Coomber - CEO, Swiss Re
- Sir Michael Hodgkinson - Chairman, Post Office Ltd; former CEO, BAA Plc
- Tim Martin - Chairman of Wetherspoons
- John Timpson - Chairman, Timpson
International Politics and Royalty
Members of UK Parliament
Other
- Sir Anthony Holland - Chairman of Northern Ireland Parades Commission
- The Most Rev. and Rt Hon. David Hope - Lord Archbishop of York
- Dame Helen Reeves - Chief Executive of Victim Support
- Sir Richard Tilt - Social Fund Commissioner, former Director General HM Prison Service
Sport
- Kristan Bromley - Bob Skeleton World Cup winner 2003/2004
- Sir Denis Follows - General Secretary, Football Association and Chairman, British Olympic Association
- Brian Moore - England rugby player
- Lynn Simpson - Former world champion canoeist
- Deng Yaping - four times Olympic table tennis champion, voted Chinese female athlete of the century
Staff Alumni
Writers
Organisation of the University
The Chief Officer of the University is the Chancellor, elected by the University Court on the recommendation of the University Council. The chief academic and administrative officer of the University is the Vice-Chancellor, who is assisted by five Pro-Vice Chancellors. The university is divided into five faculties, each headed by a Dean, and 32 schools of study.
The University's governing body is the University Council, which has 33 members, mostly non-academic. Its academic authority is the Senate, consisting of senior academics of the University and elected staff and student representatives. The University's largest forum is the University Court, presided over by the Chancellor.
Chancellors
Vice-Chancellors
See also:
External links:
