I have a story…
02 Oct 2017
See our graduate, Afghan refugee Gulwali Passarlay give his inspiring Foundation Lecture – From a War Zone to the Lecture Theatre
The University marks its foundation each year with its prestigious Foundation Lecture - this year, it will be given by Gulwali Passerlay, who at the age of 12 took the perilous journey from Afghanistan to Britain seeking asylum.
"I have a story," as he said in his TedX talk in 2014 - and what a heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring story.
And now you can hear it too, in our 2017 Foundation Lecture 'From a war zone to the lecture theatre'.
The President and Vice-Chancellor would like to invite as many members of staff as possible from across the University to attend this event, which takes place on Wednesday, 11 October.
The Foundation Lecture and Honorary Degree Ceremony will be held at 4.30pm in Whitworth Hall.
Following the Foundation Lecture, Honorary Degrees will be conferred upon Mr Nazir Afzal, Professor Dame Janet Finch, Dr Eli Harari and Professor Cornelia Parker.
The event will conclude at 6pm.
There is a theme of Social Responsibility this year and to tie in with this the formal celebrations will be preceded by an exhibition on the University’s Manchester Access Programme and the Equity and Merit Scholarships, from 3–4.15pm in the Old Visitors’ Centre.
There are a limited number of tickets available, allocated on a first come, first served basis. Tickets will be issued during the first week of October.
To apply
If you are interested in attending the Foundation Day celebrations, request a ticket by emailing Lesley Sisson at: