University of Leicester

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University of Leicester

Motto	Ut Vitam Habeant (so that they may have life)
Established	1921
Type	Public
Chancellor	Sir Peter Williams
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Robert Burgess
Staff	3438
Students	18,005 (2004-5)
Location	Leicester, UK
Campus	Urban parkland
Affiliations	1994 Group, AMBA, EUA, ACU, EMUA, INU
Website	www.le.ac.uk

University of Leicester seen from Victoria Park - Left to right: the Department of Engineering, the Attenborough tower, the Charles Wilson building.

The University of Leicester is a leading research led university based in Leicester, England, with approximately eighteen thousand registered students - about ten thousand of them full-time students, and six thousand of them distance-learning students (the largest distance learning population of any UK university other than the Open University). The main campus is about a mile from the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.

[edit] History

The University was founded as Leicestershire and Rutland College in 1918. The site for the University was donated by a local textile manufacturer, Thomas Fielding Johnson, in order to create a living memorial for those who lost their lives in World War I. This is reflected in the University's motto Ut Vitam Habeant — 'so that they may have life'. The central building, now known as the Fielding Johnson building and housing the University's administration offices and Faculty of Law, dates from 1837 and was formerly the Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum.

Students were first admitted to the college in 1921. In 1927, after it became University College, Leicester, students sat the examinations for external degrees of the University of London. In 1957 the college was granted its Royal Charter, and has since then had the status of a University with the right to award its own degrees. The University won the first ever series of University Challenge, in 1963.

[edit] Organisation

The University is organised into five faculties.

• Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences
• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Sciences (expanded in 2004 to include the Faculty of Education)

[edit] Academic credentials

Leicester has been shortlisted for the award of University of the Year 2006 by the Times Higher Education Supplement. It was also shortlisted for the same award in 2005 and is the only university to have been shortlisted in consecutive years.

The University is notable for its research, particularly in the areas of astrophysics, biochemistry and genetics. Genetic fingerprinting was developed at Leicester in 1985. It houses Europe's biggest academic centre for space research, in which space probes have been built, most notably the Mars Lander Beagle 2, which was built in collaboration with the Open University. It is also a founding partner of the £52 million National Space Centre. Leicester has the highest research income of any non Russell Group institution in the U.K.

Leicester is also home to the first centre for English local history, established by the pioneering local historian W. G. Hoskins. It remains a leading centre for the study of English local history within one of the largest schools of historical studies in the UK. Leicester Physicists (led by Professor Ken Pounds) were critical in proving a fundamental law of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity - that black holes exist and are common in the universe. Its Sociology department has also been home to many prominent sociologists over the years.

The University is also well regarded for its teaching, 19 subject areas have been graded as "Excellent" by the Quality Assurance Agency — including 14 successive scores of 22 points or above stretching back to 1998, six of which were maximum scores. Only one other UK university has a track record stretching back this far of consistently "excellent" scores. Leicester was ranked joint 1st in the UK in the 2005 and 2006 National Student Survey for teaching quality and overall satisfaction amongst mainstream English universities.

Leicester is home to two prestigious national Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (in Genetics and Geographical Information Science) and plays an important role in a third (Physics). Over two thirds of subjects feature in the national top 10.

The University of Leicester is one of a small number of Universities to have won the prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education on more than one occasion: in 1994 for physics & astronomy and again in 2002 for genetics.

Entry is competitive and grade requirements vary, depending on the course. Offers are usually in the region of AAB to BBC at A level. The average UCAS tariff points achieved by students on entry is 371.

[edit] Leicester Medical School

The university is home to a large medical school, opened in 1971. As of 2005 it has been in partnership with the newly established University of Warwick medical school.

[edit] League tables

Leicester is ranked 24th in the U.K by The Guardian University guide 2006 and 18th in The Times Good University Guide for 2007 [1]. The Guardian's league tables are compiled mainly on the basis of teaching data (staff/student ratio, job prospects, inclusiveness), and the Times's also include data on research ratings and the percentage of students who complete a degree.

[edit] Notable architecture

The Engineering Building, designed by James Stirling

The University's Engineering Building was the first major building by important British architect James Stirling. It comprises workshops and laboratories at ground level, and a tower containing offices and lecture theatres. It was completed in 1963 and is notable for the way in which its external form reflects its internal functions. The very compact campus contains a wide range of twentieth century architecture, though the oldest building, the Fielding Johnson building, dates from 1837. The Attenborough Tower houses the tallest working paternoster in the UK.

[edit] The future of the University

The University is currently undergoing a £300 million redevelopment. A new biomedical research building has already been constructed, the University Library is undergoing a substantial extension and plans are in place to redevelop the halls of residence - including the opening in September 2006 of "New Hall", built on the former site of Villiers Hall on Manor Road in Oadby. The 30-year plan is the largest in the university's history, expanding building space by 30% and student numbers from 19,000 to 25,000.

[edit] Library special collections

Christine and Paul Hatton were able to view examples from the rare books from the Hatton Topographical Library that their grandfather had donated to the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland College in 1920. This generous gift formed the nucleus of the University Library’s exceptional English local history collections.

• Local history collections (for the Centre for English Local History), including:
  • Thomas Hatton (1876 – 1943)'s collection. Born in Manchester, he began work as a junior clerk in a corset factory in Market Harborough and later moved to Leicester to set up his own boot manufacturing business. He also had interests in crossword promotion, greyhound racing and boxing (and on one trip to America was photographed with Laurel and Hardy, with all three of them wearing the trademark bowler hat), but his forté however was book collecting. A discriminating collector who applied his professional knowledge as a boot manufacturer to his book collecting by pioneering the use of glazed goat skin as a binding material, over a period of ten years he gathered one of the finest private collections of topographical and local history books. When his interests moved from topographical to Dickensian material, he agreed to donate his nearly 2,000 local history books to what was then Leicester College.

The library also holds a number of collections containing items written by several famous writers, these include:

• Joe Orton Collection. Joe Orton (1933-1967) was a Leicester-born playwright, the collection contains his manuscripts and correspondence.
• Laura Riding Letters. The collected correspondence of the American poet and critic Laura Riding (1901-1991).
• Sue Townsend Collection. The personal papers of Sue Townsend (born 1946). The collection contains Townsend's literary correspondence and notebooks detailing her works.

[edit] Facts and figures

From the 2004-2005 annual report[2]:

[edit] Students

• 18,005 Registered students

• 9,491 Undergraduate students
• 8,514 Postgraduate students (7,096 taught, 1,321 research)
• 5,962 Distance learning students
• 9,911 Full-time students (8,350 UK and EU, 1,561 other)

• 28.3% Faculty of Social Science (includes former Faculty of Education)
• 25.8% Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences
• 18.6% Faculty of Arts
• 17.1% Faculty of Science
• 10.3% Faculty of Law

[edit] Staff

• 709 Full-time academic staff
• 43 Part-time academic staff
• 415 Full-time research staff
• 68 Part-time research staff
• 336 Full-time academic-related staff
• 87 Part-time academic-related staff
• 860 Full-time support staff
• 920 Part-time support staff

The campus - Fielding Johnson Building on the left, Ken Edwards building on the right.

[edit] Notable people

[edit] Chancellors

• The Lord Adrian (1957–1971)
• Alan Lloyd Hodgkin (1971–1984)
• Sir George Porter (1984–1995)
• Sir Michael Atiyah (1995–2005)
• Sir Peter Williams (2005– )

To date, each of the former chancellors has had a University building named after him.

[edit] Notable faculty

• Khurshid Ahmad, Islamic Scholar
• Graeme Barker, Disney Professor of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
• Richard Bonney, Historian
• Alan Bryman, Social Scientist
• Chris Clarkson, prominent Criminal lawyer, specialising in Corporate Liability. Recently consulted the Government on reform proposals for corporate liability.
• Phillip Collins, Dickensian Scholar
• Nicholas J. Cull, Historian
• Gabriel Dover, Geneticist
• Sarah Dromgoole, leading international figure in the realm of maritime law, especially marine underwater cultural heritage. Editor of Legal Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: National and International Perspectives.
• Eric Dunning, Sports Sociologist
• Norbert Elias, German Sociologist
• Brian J. Ford, Scientist, Visiting Professor
• G. S. Fraser, Scottish Poet
• Anthony Giddens, prominent sociologist, taught social psychology at Leicester
• Reuben Goodstein, Mathematician, proponent of Goodstein's theorem
• Cosmo Graham, Public law and Competition law specialist. Member of the Competition Commission
• Jan Grodecki OBE, Emeritus Professor and founder of the Law school, 1965-1983. Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn
• Jeffrey A. Hoffman, NASA astronaut and physicist
• Richard Hoggart, Sociologist
• W. G. Hoskins, (1931-1952) (1965-1968), local historian, author of The Making of the English Landscape
• Norman Housley, Crusading historian
• Sir Alec Jeffreys, geneticist, inventor of genetic fingerprinting
• Hans Kornberg, Biochemist
• Philip Larkin, librarian and poet
• John McManners, Former Head of History dept, Regius Professor of History at Oxford University until retirement
• Ken Pounds, Emeritus Professor of Physics, discovered black holes were common in the universe
• Charles Rees, Organic Chemist
• Lord Rees of Ludlow, The Astronomer Royal, is a visiting professor at Leicester
• Clive Ruggles, Professor of Archaeoastronomy, believed to be the only such post in the world
• J.B. Schneewind, Philosophy professor, John Hopkins University
• Malcolm Shaw QC, The Sir Robert Jennings Professor of International Law, prominent International Lawyer & Jurist. Author of best selling book on International Law
• Sami Zubaida, Political Scientist

[edit] Notable alumni

• Malik Zahoor Ahmad, Pakistan Diplomat, Middle East Expert
• Peter Atkins, physical chemist
• Roger Blackmore, Politician
• David Blanchflower, Economist, Dartmouth College Professor
• Roland Boyes, Politician (did not graduate)
• Malcolm Bradbury, author
• Jennifer A. Clack, Curator at the Museum of Zoology and Reader in Vertebrate Palaeontology, Cambridge University
• Sue Cook, TV presenter (Crimewatch)
• Heather Couper, science journalist and author
• Dave Cousins, Vocalist for The Strawbs
• Laurence Howard, Lord Lieutenant of Rutland
• Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer
• Michael Foster, MP for Hastings and Rye
• Carol Galley, Businesswomen
• Lord Grocott, former MP, Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
• Nigel Henbest, science journalist and author
• Paul Hirst, late Professor of Social Theory, Birkbeck College, University of London
• Michael Jack MP for Fylde
• Stuart Kenworthy, Writer of Smack the Pony and Green Wing
• Pete McCarthy, writer, broadcaster, comedian
• John McVicar, armed robber and journalist
• Chris Moon OBE, Anti-Landmine campaigner
• Thomas Newbold Entrepreneur, Charity worker
• Dr Michael Morgan, Chief Scientific Officer, Genome Canada
• Bob Mortimer, comedian
• Angela Mudge, former world champion mountain runner
• Michael Nicholson, journalist
• Richard Pearson, Former Director of the Institute of Employment Studies, now visiting Professor in the University's Centre for Labour Market Studies.
• Linda Perham, former MP, Ilford North
• John Peters, former pilot, captured during the gulf war, co-author of Tornado Down with John Nicol
• J. H. Plumb, Historian of Eighteenth century Britain
• Phil Sawford, former MP, Kettering
• C. P. Snow, author
• Sir John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner
• John Sutherland, Guardian Columnist, Emeritus Professer of English Literature, University College London
• Andrew Taylor, Leicester City FC Chairman and former CEO of McDonalds UK
• Laurie Taylor, broadcaster, actor, sociologist
• Storm Thorgerson, Artist, designer of several iconic album sleeves including the Dark Side of the Moon prism
• Jon Tickle, Television Presenter
• Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana
• Tony Underwood, England rugby union international
• Professor Sir Alan Walters, Economist
• Andrew Waterman, Poet
• Bryan R. Wilson, Oxford Sociologist
• Ted Wragg , educationalist
• Sir Rob Young, British High Commissioner to India

[edit] The Attenboroughs

Two names commonly associated with the University of Leicester are Richard and David Attenborough. Their father Frederick Attenborough was Principal of the University College from 1932 until 1951. The brothers grew up on the campus (with their younger brother John), in a house which is currently home to the careers service (and is now near to the Attenborough tower, the tallest building on the campus and home to many of the arts and humanities departments). They were educated at the adjacent grammar school before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the University of Cambridge respectively. Both have maintained links with the university - David Attenborough was made an honorary Doctor of Letters in 1970 and opened the Attenborough Arboretum in Knighton in 1997. In the same year, the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales. Both brothers were made Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the University at the 13 July 2006 afternoon degree ceremony.

[edit] External links

• University of Leicester website
• University of Leicester library
• University of Leicester Students Union website
• University of Leicester Students Union Newspaper
• Leicester Student Life
• Leicester University Singapore Society Alumni
• Leicester University Student Radio

[edit] See also

• 1994 Group
• Bishop Grosseteste College
• De Montfort University
• Leicester Medical School
• Leicester University Theatre
• National Space Centre
• UK topics
• University of Leicester Students' Union
• University of Leicester Botanic Garden