President’s Weekly Update
15 May 2014
Our annual Cockroft-Rutherford lecture was given by Professor Michael Wood on ‘Why History Matters’. This is our flagship annual alumni event and was attended by over 800 graduates of the University.
Michael is a renowned and acclaimed TV presenter on history who has held a part-time Chair at our University since September 2013. His lecture was fantastic - you must watch it at:
Much was about Manchester’s history and it made me really wish that I had studied history. Michael said he was inspired as a Year 7 student at Manchester Grammar when he saw a TV clip on history. So it was brilliant that the last question was from a current Year 7 boy at Manchester Grammar who is interested in history!
The event is also an occasion to thank the many alumni who give their time so generously to support our students and provide increasingly important philanthropic donations to the University.
We held our annual Volunteer of the Year ceremony in the Whitworth Hall. Here we recognise the remarkable activities of our students, staff and alumni who are truly inspirational in their generosity, hard work and innovative approaches to supporting others. The lunch and awards ceremony was attended not only by the volunteers, but also by some of their families and friends. You can find out more about the winners on StaffNet at:
Professor Luke Georghiou (Vice-President for Research and Innovation) and I hosted a dinner for a group of our leading researchers where we discussed ambition, teams vs individual research, promoting our research, time management, tackling ‘big’ questions, interdisciplinary research and much more.
At one of my regular lunches with staff from across the University, they told me how they valued our ‘can do’ culture, openness to collaboration, good opportunities for interdisciplinary research and they said they liked the new web site, but felt we don’t sell ourselves well enough, don’t have enough ambition, have too much red tape in some areas and don’t like centralisation of some support services. One member of staff present mentioned their son is in the second year of his studies here (at this point I always hold my breath ….), but he loves it, as do all his fellow students. He is in the School of Maths!
At our recent Social Responsibility Governance Group meeting, we heard updates from each area of the University, discussed progress on a key research theme of ‘inequality’, discussed plans for the EuroScience Open Forum meeting in 2016 and for developing our ‘Ethical Grand Challenges’ programme for undergraduate students, and agreed to re-sign the Talloires Declaration on the Civic Roles and Social Responsibilities of Higher Education which you can find out more about at:
I visited the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Sciences with Professor Rod Coombs (Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor). Students were complimentary about their teachers and had really valued the Manchester Leadership Programme and their year out in industry. With staff we talked about the extent that we assess students (many Schools agree that they ‘over assess’) and the campus developments, amongst other issues.
At the recent ‘Heads meeting’ of University Heads of Schools and Professional Support Services Directorates, the cultural institutions and the Library, we discussed ‘Email Hell to Heaven’, which was an entertaining presentation giving some interesting insights and tips about how we can make better use of email. I then gave an update on the University successes, plans and challenges.
I spoke at an event at Alderley Park, where ownership of the site was formally handed over from AstraZeneca to Manchester Science Parks (msp). The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, who is the local MP, spoke and witnessed the formal hand over. There has been enormous progress in developing the site as a life sciences hub for new and established businesses.
I attended the Board Meeting, Strategy and Planning event followed by dinner of the Manchester International Festival (MIF). It is so enlightening to work with such a range of talents from those in business to some of the most creative artists. MIF is held biennially in July, with the next one in 2015 and attracts a huge audience and great acclaim. They are really keen to work much more closely with the University - great opportunity for us!
I was part of a panel called the ‘Three Presidents’ at the Museum of Science and Industry. For the first time ever the Presidents of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Professor Lesley Yellowlees), the Institute of Physics (Dr Frances Saunders) and the Society of Biology (me) are all women! The event was hosted by Baroness Verma and attended by science students who asked us an array of questions. Interestingly we agreed on just about everything - none of us had really experienced ‘the glass ceiling’ and none of us had planned our careers, but rather had taken interesting opportunities as they arose.
I am just about to step down as President of the Society of Biology, but will be succeeded by another woman, Professor Dame Jean Thomas.
The three of us also appeared on BBC Breakfast to talk about women in science. It was a surprise to meet one of our professors, Andrew Loudon from the Faculty of Life Sciences, who was at the BBC taking part in its special day looking at body clocks. The Media Relations team in the Division of Communications and Marketing worked closely with the BBC to provide experts from our University to feature in radio and TV programmes throughout the day, with both Andrew and his colleague Professor David Ray from the Institute of Human Development featuring - you can see more at:
Before taking part in the Breakfast filming, I’d checked the colour of the chairs to ensure that what I wore didn’t clash, but what I hadn’t expected was the serious make-up job which would be needed before going on TV - it seemed to scare a few people when I got back to the office.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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