President's weekly update

16 October 2014

I am delighted to announce a very major gift from Lord David Alliance for the Manchester Business School. Lord Alliance of Manchester built his career in textiles and clothing in the Manchester region and has been a longstanding supporter of our University. His gift of £15million is for the benefit of Manchester Business School (MBS), without further restrictions. In recognition of Lord Alliance’s sustained and remarkable level of support for our University, we will be naming the School the 'Alliance Manchester Business School'. This has been approved by our Board of Governors and Senate and will be effective from September next year, which is also the 50th anniversary of the foundation of MBS. What a fantastic way to celebrate!

This week saw the first meeting of this academic year of our Board of Governors and we welcomed several new members. I gave an update on the many events which have happened over the summer and Professor Clive Agnew (Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students) reported on student numbers for this academic year. It looks as though we have met, or are very close to meeting, all of our targets. We heard about major progress on donations to the University (even before Lord Alliance’s gift is taken into account), from Chris Cox, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, and received a report on the work of the Gift Oversight Group (GoG) from Chris and Professor Ian Jacobs, Vice-President and Dean of Medical and Human Sciences and chair of the group. GoG reviews all major gifts and carries out due diligence on their source; considers how they will be used; and advises senior staff, with reporting to our Board.

The Board held a reception to mark the retirement of Professor Rod Coombs from the University. In addition to Board members, several guests attended including Sir Richard Leese (Leader of Manchester City Council (MCC)), Sir Howard Bernstein (Chief Executive of MCC), Peter Mount (Chair of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Chris Oglesby (Chief Executive of Bruntwood) and Rowena Burns (Chief Executive of the Manchester Science Partnership). Tom Bloxham, our Chancellor gave the speech, to which Rod replied and I gave the toast. Rod will remain part of the University in a specific role, and will continue in some of his current roles, until Professor Colin Bailey takes over as my Deputy, when we have appointed Colin’s successor as Vice-President and Dean of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

I attended a meeting of the Russell Group of Vice-Chancellors with the heads of all major Canadian universities, to discuss research collaborations, student exchanges and common challenges. This was followed by dinner at the Canadian High Commission, hosted by the High Commissioner.

We held a 'farewell and thank you' event for Professors Aneez Esmail and Colin Hughes who are stepping down after three years as Associate Vice-Presidents for Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability, respectively. The event was attended by staff from across the University, reflecting the contributions of Colin and Aneez and the pervasive nature of social responsibility.

I gave a short welcome at an event to mark the official launch of the John Rylands Research Institute (JRRI), which was held in the spectacular library itself. JRRI has only been running for just over a year, but has already enjoyed great success under the directorship of Professor Peter Pormann. It brings together scholars from many disciplines to use the remarkable collection of books, papers and manuscripts in the library. There was an incredible turnout, with ‘standing room only’.

This year, Manchester High School for Girls is celebrating its 140th anniversary. I took part in an 'In conversation with..' event as part of the celebrations, during which I was questioned by Amy Clowes, a BBC radio presenter, for nearly an hour on my career, my research, running a university, the value of a higher education and women in leadership positions. Then I took a range of challenging questions from the audience of students, parents and governors - including a few very familiar faces.

Senior colleagues and I held one of our regular meetings with members of the executive of the Students’ Union. A major topic of discussions was how we respond to, and challenge, continuous and ongoing cuts to various aspects of our government funding for students.

I gave a welcome to new staff from across the University at an event run by Jonathan Winter (Head of HR in the Faculty of Life Sciences). I’m told that the whole event was extremely well received.

In other meetings this week, I discussed planning for the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) in Manchester in 2016 with partners from the City. I heard the final outcome of the audit of our financial accounts and processes - which was good; and met with senior staff from KPMG in Manchester to talk about supporting students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, student internships and advising students on applications for employment (such as interview techniques), social responsibility and possible research links.

I attended a dinner for the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP, of which I am a member) at the Town Hall. We discussed ESOF, how we support small companies and entrepreneurs and the possibility of greater devolved authority to cities and regions such as Greater Manchester.

Travel this week was better than last week - only as far as Sweden and back. Over there the sun was shining and the trees were spectacularly colourful.

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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