University of Reading: Information and Much More from Answers.com
- ️Sat Mar 31 2007
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University of Reading |
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| Established | 1892 (as University College, Reading) |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | The Right Hon. Lord Carrington |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof. Gordon Marshall |
| Visitor | The Lord President of the Council ex officio |
| Faculty | 4,024 |
| Students | 14,090 [1] |
| Undergraduates | 10,065 [1] |
| Postgraduates | 4,025 [1] |
| Location | Reading, Berkshire, England, UK |
| Campus | Whiteknights: hectares ( acres)[2] |
| Affiliations | 1994 Group |
| Website | www.reading.ac.uk |
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Whiteknights Lake
Whiteknights Lake in winter
The University Great Hall, on the London Road Campus
The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire.
Established in 1892, receiving its Royal Charter in 1926, the University has a long tradition of research, education and training at a local, national and international level. It was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 1998, and again in 2005.
With around 3,000 international students from 120 countries, the university adds considerably to Reading's dynamic.
History
The University owes its origins to the Schools of Art and Science established in Reading in 1860 and 1870. These became part of an extension college of Christ Church College of the University of Oxford in 1892, which became known as University College, Reading.
The new college received its first treasury grant in 1901. Three years later it was given a site, in London Road, by the Palmer family of Huntley & Palmers fame. The same family's continued support enabled the opening of Wantage Hall in 1908 and the Research Institute in Dairying in 1912.
The college first applied for a Royal Charter in 1920 but was unsuccessful at that time. However a second petition, in 1925, was successful, and the charter was officially granted on March 17 1926. With the charter, the University College became the University of Reading, the only new university to be created in England between the two world wars.
In 1947 the University purchased Whiteknights Park, which was to become its principal, Red Brick, campus.[3] In 1982 the University merged with Bulmershe College of Higher Education, in the process acquiring its third campus.[4]
In 1984 the University started a merger with Bulmershe College of Higher Education, which was completed in 1989.[5]
In October 2006, the Senior Management Board proposed[6] the closure of its Physics Department to future undergraduate application. This was ascribed to financial reasons and lack of alternative ideas and caused considerable controversy, not least a debate in Parliament[7] over the closure which prompted heated discussion of higher education issues in general.[8]. On October 10th the Senate voted to close the Department of Physics, a move confirmed by the Council on November 20th.[9]
Campuses
The University maintains over 1.6 km² (395 acres) of grounds, in three distinct campuses:
- Whiteknights Campus, at 1.23 km² (304 acres), is the largest and includes Whiteknights Lake, conservation meadows and woodlands as well as most of the University's departments. The campus takes its name from the nickname of the 13th century knight, John De Erleigh IV or the 'White Knight', and was landscaped in the 18th century by Marquis of Blandford. The main University library, in the middle of the campus, holds nearly a million books and subscribes to around 4,000 periodicals.
- The smaller London Road Campus is the original University site and is much closer to the town centre of Reading. Moreover, it plays host to the University graduation ceremonies at the Great Hall and is still home to the School of Continuing Education.
- The Bulmershe Court Campus in Woodley is home to the Institute of Education and the School of Health and Social Care. It also has the largest hall of residence of the University.
The University also owns 8.5 km² (2100 acres) of farmland in the nearby villages of Arborfield, Sonning and Shinfield. These support a mixed farming system including dairy cows, ewes and beef animals, and host research centres of which the flagship is the Centre for Dairy Research.
Research and Business Development
The university had a research income of almost £24.5 million in 2003-4, of which around 10 percent of annual research income derived from industrial or commercial sponsors. Over £2 million of funding has been secured in 2004 for business development and the commercial activities at the University.
In the Research Assessment Exercise in 2001, five departments were awarded the top rate of 5* - Archaeology, English, Italian, Meteorology and Psychology and fifteen departments were awarded the rating of 5. The Department of Meteorology was awarded a distinguished Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2005 and is internationally renowned for its training and research in weather, climate and physical oceanography. Research centres include the Centre for Horticulture and Landscape, the BioCentre and the Centre for Advanced Microscopy.
Reading was the first university to win a Queen's Award for Export Achievement in 1989. Since then several initiatives to link the academic and commercial communities have followed. Reading Enterprise Hub, one of a network of SEEDA sponsored business incubators, opened on campus in 2003.
ACET Centre
The major aim of the Centre for Advanced Computing and Emerging Technologies (ACET) is to demonstrate and promote new ways of doing multidisciplinary research based on the approach of "scientific discovery through advanced computing".
Community
In the 2004–05 academic year, the university had 4,024 staff and 15,326 students. The best known member of the university community is probably the cyberneticist Professor Kevin Warwick.
Reading University Students' Union is the affiliated student organisation which represents the students' interests. The Students' Union publishes Spark, a bi-weekly newspaper aimed at the student population of the University, which was weekly until October 2006 (it is now published fortnightly during term-time). The university also has a number of Junior Common Rooms that are nominally independent from the Students' Union and the University.
The Students' Union building on Whiteknights Campus contains an 1800 capacity venue, two bars, a number of retail outlets, and The HUB. The HUB is the Union's new volunteer, advice, student activity centre.
University Halls and accommodation
Student accommodation is provided in a number of halls of residence offering a good mix of partially-catered (under review) and self-catering accommodation, along with other self-catering accommodation. Most of the halls of residence lie close to the northern campus periphery and in residential areas close by.
Bulmershe Hall is located on the Bulmershe Campus. Bridges, Childs, Wessex, Whiteknights, and Windsor Halls are located on the Whiteknights Campus. St. George’s, St. Patrick’s, Sherfield, Sibly, Wantage, and Wells Halls are located in the residential areas surrounding Whiteknights, as is the self-catering accommodation of the Reading Student Village, Hillside Court and Martindale Court.[10]
St. David's and Mansfield Halls latterly formed part of Witan Hall (see below) on the London Road Campus, and are not currently in use. The former St. Andrews Hall closed in 2001, and is now the home of the Museum of English Rural Life.
St. George's Hall and The Reading Student Village are leased back to the University from UJC. The cost of leasing back the Student Village to the University, according to the University accounts, was £1.5 million for 2003–04 and £1.3 million in 2002–03.
University of Reading Sailing Club
Sport
The University is successful at a number of sports, including rowing, tennis, hockey, and squash. In particular, they are highly successful at Rowing and the Reading University Rowing Club team has won many awards and competitions. Also in 2007, the Men's Association Football team became the highest placed in University history by winning the BUSA South East Division 1A Title and entering the BUSA Cup as one of the top 16 teams in the country. In 2007 the Men's Hockey 1st XI won the renowned British universities sports tournament, Dublin Fest.
Museums and botanical gardens
Reading University maintains four museums and a botanical garden. The largest and best known of these is the Museum of English Rural Life, which has recently relocated from a location on Whiteknights Campus to a site nearer the town centre on the London Road Campus. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Museum of Zoology, the University of Reading Herbarium and the Harris Garden are all located on the Whiteknights Campus.
Associated institutions
Formerly associated with Reading University was Gyosei International College, a Japanese/British bi-cultural institution established on part of the University's original London Road Campus. Subsequently the college's links with the Japan-based Gyosei organisation were broken, and it became a charitably funded institution called Witan Hall. Recently this has in turn been purchased by the University of Reading, and has ceased student recruitment.
The University of Reading Law faculty is also associated with Taylors College in Malaysia. Taylors College conducts a 'twinning' program whereby students complete half of their degree in Malaysia and the other half at the University of Reading. Malaysian Law students in Reading generally achieve a second class upper average, and have set a high standard for Malaysian Law students.
Located on Reading University's Whiteknights campus is The College of Estate Management (CEM). The College was founded in 1919 and granted its Royal Charter in 1922. It was originally based in London but moved to Reading in 1969, leading to the foundation of the Faculty of Urban and Regional Studies (URS) at the University. The College provides education and training for students and members of the property and construction professions worldwide through distance learning. Courses are delivered by the provision of printed material sent to students by post and through web-based learning.
The Walker Institute, a pioneering centre for climate research, is based at the University of Reading. The Institute aims to exploit and integrate the climate expertise within the University and to address fundamental questions in understanding and forecasting climate variability and its impacts.
Governance
Governing bodies and roles
The university is nominally led by a Chancellor, who is the titular head of the university, and is normally a well known public figure. The day to day chief executive role is the responsibility of the Vice-Chancellor, a full time academic post. The senior management board of the university is headed by the Vice-Chancellor, assisted by a Deputy-Vice-Chancellor, three Pro-Vice-Chancellors, four Deans and five Heads of Directorate. It is responsible for the day-to-day management of the University and meets fortnightly throughout most of the year.[11]
The senior management board reports to the university's Senate, the main academic administrative body. The senate has around 100 members and meets at least four times a year and advises on areas such as student entry, assessment and awards. Membership includes Deans, Heads and elected representatives of Schools, as well as professional staff and students. The Senate in turn reports to the Council, which is the supreme governing body of the university, setting strategic direction, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and approving constitutional changes. The Council meets four times a year, and comprises a broad representation of lay members drawn from commercial, community and professional organisations.[11]
Officers of the University
Chancellors
- J. H. Benyon (1926–1935)
- Sir Austen Chamberlain (1935–1937)
- Sir Samuel Hoare, Viscount Templewood (1937–1959)
- Lord Bridges (1959–1969)
- Lord Carrington (March 1992 to December 2007)[12]
- John Madejski (from December 2007)[12]
Vice-Chancellors
- Dr William M Childs (1926-1929)[13]
- Sir Franklin Sibly (1929-1946)[10]
- John Wolfenden (1950-19xx)
- Prof. Gordon Marshall (January 2003-)[14]
Notable alumni
Politicians
- Anton Apriantono - food technology scientist, serving as Indonesia's Minister of Agriculture since 2004
- Edison James - Prime Minister of Dominica 1995-2000, Leader of the Opposition, 1990-1995 and 2000-2007.
- Mike Penning - Conservative Member of Parliament for the Hemel Hempstead parliamentary constituency.
- Rob Wilson - Conservative Member of Parliament for the Reading East parliamentary constituency
Mathematicians/Scientists
- Sir Peter Crane - Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- E. A. Guggenheim - thermodynamicist and chemist
- Dragan Marušič - Slovene mathematician
- A. E. Wilder-Smith - creationist and chemist
- Roger Wayman - chemist and publisher
Musicians
- Arthur Brown - rock and roll singer
- Jamie Cullum - jazz pianist and singer
- Hilary James - singer, double bassist, guitarist, and mando-bassist
- Simon Mayor - mandolinist, fiddle player, guitarist, and composer
- Martin Noble - musician, Noble in the band British Sea Power.
- Scott Wilkinson - musician, Yan in the band British Sea Power.
Sportspeople
- James Cracknell - rowing champion and double Olympic gold medallist.
- Debbie Flood - rowing champion, quadruple sculls silver medallist at the 2004 Olympics.
- Gary Herbert - rowing He won Olympic gold with Greg and Jonny Searl in the coxed pair in Barcelona 1992 Olympics.
- Molly Hide, captained English women's cricket team for seventeen years
Broadcasters
- Julian Barratt - comedian from BBC's The Mighty Boosh
- Keith Bosley - former BBC broadcaster and prizewinning poet and translator
- Richard Holmes - noted military historian and television presenter
- Kaddy Lee-Preston, TV weather presenter.
- Julian Richards - archaeologist and broadcaster
- Richard Sambrook - Director of the BBC World Service
- Tomasz Schafernaker, TV weather presenter.
- Jay Wynne, TV weather presenter.
Writers/Artists
- Robert Gillmor - ornithologist, artist, illustrator, author and editor
- Joan Smith - novelist and journalist
- Richard Wilson - installation artist
Others
- Eve Balfour - farmer, educator, organic farming pioneer, and a founding figure in the organic movement
- Azahari Husin - leading member of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, believed to have been involved in the 2005 Bali bombing
- Robin Bextor - award-winning film and television director, and father of Sophie Ellis Bextor.
- Clive Ponting - civil servant who faced trial for the leaking information on the sinking of the Belgrano, during the Falklands War.
Fictional alumni
- Arnold Baffin - novelist character in The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch
- Blaise Gavender - psychologist and former Reading psychology lecturer in The Sacred and Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch
References
- ^ a b c Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06. Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
- ^ Campus for students. University of Reading. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
- ^ Campus Architecture. University of Reading. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ University of Reading (2006). Bulletin newsletter dated March 16 2006.
- ^ Statutory Instrument 1989 no. 408
- ^ Official statement about the Physics Department on the University website
- ^ Information page of Labour MP for Reading West, Martin Salter
- ^ Official Statement about University Senate vote from University website
- ^ BBC News article concerning the confirmed closure of the Physics department
- ^ a b Halls Booklet 12. University of Reading. Retrieved on July 24, 2007.
- ^ a b Governance of the University of Reading. University of Reading. Retrieved on July 24, 2007.
- ^ a b Football boss made uni chancellor. BBC (2007-07-11). Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ University of Reading Bulletin (16 March 2006) 4. University of Reading. Retrieved on July 24, 2007.
- ^ Professor Gordon Marshall. University of Reading. Retrieved on July 24, 2007.
External links
| The 1994 Group of smaller British research universities |
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Bath • Birkbeck • Durham • East Anglia • Essex • Exeter • Goldsmiths College • Lancaster • Leicester • Loughborough • Queen Mary • Reading • Royal Holloway • School of Oriental and African Studies • St Andrews • Surrey • Sussex • Warwick • York |
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