May 1999
Honorary
graduands announced
The University has announced that honorary
degrees will be awarded to the following distinguished figures at degree congregations
this summer.
- Professor Alan Baddeley FRS, is
an internationally distinguished psychologist, who directed the MRC Applied Psychology
Unit in Cambridge for 20 years.
- Ms Leila Berg has had a
distinguished career writing books for children, and furthering the understanding of young
children in general.
- Professor Greg Duncan, Professor
of Education and Social Policy at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern
University, is an outstanding figure in the collection and analysis of panel data.
- Daniel Libeskind is one of the
world’s leading architects. He holds an MA in the History and Theory of Architecture
from the University of Essex, awarded in 1972.
- Polly Toynbee is a distinguished
writer and journalist, who specialises on issues of social policy.
- Mrs Mary Robinson, United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland.
The following will be awarded Honorary
Degrees at the April 2000 Congregation:
- Professor Patrick Collinson FBA
is a distinguished and much published author in the field of early modern British history,
especially with regard to the historical sociology of religion.
- Charles Handy, formerly Professor
of Management at the London Business School, is a writer and broadcaster and one of the
leading writers on management theory in the UK.
- Lord Haskins is a businessman and
adviser to the British and Irish Governments.
Fourth
Pro-Vice-Chancellor appointed
Professor Michael Sherer has
been appointed as the University’s fourth Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
The extra post will relieve the pressure on the
current three posts and enable the Pro-Vice-Chancellors to be more proactive and to
develop a number of forthcoming HEFCE and Government initiatives, such as widening
participation and key skills.
The new Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Standards)
will be responsible for all quality assurance matters, including academic staff
promotions, together with some student welfare matters currently handled by the
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Resources), Professor Rob Massara.
Professor Sherer joined the University in 1984
and became the founding Professor in the Department of Accounting, Finance and Management
in 1989. He was Dean of the School of Social Sciences from 1995-97 and is currently Dean
of the Graduate School. He will take up his new post on 1 August.
Former UN
Commander in Bosnia speaks at University
General Sir Michael Rose, former
Commander of United Nations troops in Bosnia, spoke at the University on Wednesday 17
March.
 Former UN Commander General Sir Michael Rose (right) with Brigadier
Peter Wall, of Colchester Garrison, at the University. ( Courtesy of
Essex County Newspapers)
General Rose, whose account of his Bosnian
experience Fighting for Peace has recently been published, described his experiences in
Bosnia in transforming the situation of notable insecurity to one of relative security.
His talk was the final seminar for the 1998-99
academic year in the MA in International Peacekeeping programme, run by Dr Anthony
Verrier, and was attended by members of the University and Colchester Garrison.
Students also joined forces with troops at the
barracks for a three-day exercise, called Rapid Response, centred around the real-life
troubles in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Four Essex
graduates among new Professors
Ten Essex academics have been promoted to
Professor or Research Professor. They are:
- Dr Simon Critchley, Department of
Philosophy
- Dr Tom Hall, Department of
Physics
- Dr Maggie Iversen, Department of
Art History and Theory
- Mr Jules Lubbock, Department of
Art History and Theory
- Dr Dariush Mirshekar, Department
of Electronic Systems Engineering
- Dr Stephen Smith, Department of
Physics
- Dr Andrew Spencer, Department of
Language and Linguistics
- Dr Glyn Stanway, Department of
Biological Sciences
- Dr Edward Tsang, Department of
Computer Science
- Dr Nick Buck, Institute for
Social and Economic Research
Foundation launched at Moot Hall
dinner
The launch of the University of Essex
Foundation attracted more than 120 of the region’s most influential people
to a dinner at Colchester’s historic Moot Hall on 24 March.
They heard how the Foundation has chosen two
special causes for funding in1999 - funds for postgraduate scholarships for talented local
students, and improvements to Wivenhoe House and its historic parkland.
Launch of appeal: (left to right) Tim Melville-Ross, guest speaker
Lord Marshall, and the Vice-Chancellor.
The guest speaker was Lord Marshall of
Knightsbridge, Chairman of British Airways and a crossbench peer who is one of the public
faces of the campaign to take the UK into the single European currency. He spoke on
‘The financial challenge facing British universities and what it means for British
business.’
Guests also heard the Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Ivor Crewe, describe how the University’s initial endowment from the county three
decades ago enabled the University to establish itself as a high quality research
university.
New sports facilities open
The University officially opened its new
specially designed Sports Science Laboratory on Thursday 1 April.
As well as acting as an excellent research and
teaching tool for undergraduate and postgraduate Sports Science students, the Laboratory
will also be widely used by the local sporting community through the activities of the
Human Performance Unit for elite athlete testing and preparation.
Mr Alan Rustage, who recently retired as Director
of Physical Recreation at the University, performed the opening.
 New Curator for Latin American Art
Collection
Gabriela Salgado is
the new part-time Curator of the University of Essex Collection of Latin American Art
(UECLAA).
Gabriela was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her
past experience includes working as the Director of Llorens Artigas Private Foundation in
Barcelona, where she conducted a programme of artist’s residencies and related
exhibitions.
Essex postgraduates
celebrate their success
More than 600 former postgraduate students of the
University were awarded their degrees over two ceremonies on Thursday 15 April.
At the ceremonies in the Lecture Theatre
Building, the University’s Chancellor, Lord Nolan, conferred degrees on graduating
students across the University’s wide range of postgraduate schemes.
During the ceremonies, the University also
awarded honorary degrees to two distinguished figures, who have made major contributions
to scholarship: the Honorable Miriam Rothschild, an expert in the study of insects, and
Professor Stephen Jones, Professor of Genetics at
University College London.
Honorary Graduand - Professor Stephen Jones
The award to the Honorable Miriam Rothschild, who
is now in her nineties, was made in absentia, as unfortunately the scientist was unable to
attend in person due to ill health.
In proposing the Honorary Doctorate to Professor
Stephen Jones, the University’s Public Orator, Professor Peter Frank, described the
leading genetics expert and best-selling author as ‘a distinguished scholar,
populariser, communicator.’
The audience heard that the main research
interests of Professor Jones lie in genetics of evolutionary process in animals, from
snails to fruitflies to humans, but his work extends far beyond the laboratory, as is
evident from his media work, his teaching and fieldwork in Africa and elsewhere.
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