Category: Uncategorized

Get your 2019 goals off to a running start this year by running the Great Bristol 10k with the University of Bristol team.  On 5 May, Bristol students, staff and alumni will come together to run The Great Bristol Run 10K. Whether you’re looking to get fit for 2019 or looking for that next challenge, together we can make sure it’s a home run for everyone. 

We have discounted places for all our runners as well as training plans, Run Leaders and more, to keep you lacing up your shoes and flying the flag for Bristol. Never run before? No worries! The Great Bristol 10K is for everyone, from complete beginners to elite athletes. 

Why run with the University of Bristol? 

• You’ll get a limited-edition t-shirt to wear during the run, and exclusive access to our couch-to-10k package. 
• You can meet and train with people just like you by joining one of our social running groups to support your 10K journey and meet people from across the University, including our students, staff and alumni like you. You can choose a run group aimed at your ability, led by a friendly, England Athletics Certified Run Leader.  
• Get access to a selection of Training Plans online to help you prepare for race day. 
• New to running? Join in with the 5K fun run on Sunday 24 March 2019, a great first test of your fitness and support to your training. 
• Explore inspiring case studies from our community, describing personal journeys where exercise has brought real benefits to the lives of our students, staff and alumni. 
• You can run alongside students, staff and other alumni on the day if you chose to be part of the Bristol Wave. You’ll have the same start time together and will take part in a group warm-up beforehand. 

Sign up with friends and colleagues to make the most of a package of activities and resources, all of which are included in the cost of your entry fee. 

Our 10K runners have the option to combine their training with fundraising for the University of Bristol’s Healthy Minds programme. Physical activity has been proven to boost mood and reduce feelings of anxiety, stress and depression, and this idea is at the heart of Healthy Minds: it taps into the proven benefits of exercise to support Bristol students affected by mental health difficulties. 

If you choose to get involved, you’ll receive regular updates on the programme as well as fundraising tips. It’s easy to find out more and get started – after booking your place in the race, just go to our JustGiving page and click ‘start fundraising’.  

Sign up today! 

_________________________________________________________

Any questions? 

• Read our FAQs or contact Kirsty.tomlinson@bristol.ac.uk 
• Introductory 10K 16-week training plan (PDF, 167kB)  

The Healthy Minds programme helps University of Bristol students affected by mental ill health to get more active and maintain this behaviour in a supported, friendly environment. The three-month user-led programme includes sessions with a mentor, a tailored plan and support for future health maintenance, as well as access to a range of classes, clubs and sporting opportunities. The programme has yielded clinically significant improvements in wellbeing, positively impacting on more than 150 students over the past two years. You can choose to raise money for Healthy Minds by running the Great Bristol 10k, find out more on the JustGiving page. 

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Professor Helen Wodehouse, the first female Chair at the University of Bristol, with Dr Peggy Styles, the University’s oldest graduate aged 86

“Helen was appointed Chair of Education in 1919 – one of the first women in any British university to hold such a post. She went on to shape the University’s teaching of education and, as someone who studied for my postdoctorate within the School of Education, I can testify that her work has had a lasting legacy.

“In 1925, she led the merger of the separate men’s and women’s Departments for Education against some opposition. She also initiated a system of regular assessment instead of a final examination for the Diploma of Education. This system has continued ever since. She established one of the leading departments in the country, both for professional education and for research.

“In 1964, when she died, Helen Wodehouse was still the only woman to have held a Chair at the University and it was therefore fitting that the new Graduate School of Education building in Berkeley Square was named after her that year.

“My dissertation looked at how attitudes towards the education of women have changed in living memory. Helen played a major role in this; her teaching not only inspired future generations of teachers, but her attitude showed that women were able to achieve senior roles and influence positive and lasting change.”

________________________________________

The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Following the announcement of the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list, we’re delighted to congratulate Bristol alumni and staff who have been recognised for their outstanding achievements and service.

CBE       

• Julia Donaldson MBE (BA 1970, Hon DLitt 2011), Author, for services to Literature.
• Professor Frederick Hobbs (MBChB 1977), Director of the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research, Oxford, for services to Medical Research.
• Dr Claire Stevens (BDS 2000), Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, for services to Children.

OBE

• Paul Lindley (BSc 1989), Entrepreneur and Founder of Ella’s Kitchen, for services to Exports in the Food and Drink Sector and to Children’s Welfare.
• Professor Helen Margetts (BSc 1983), Professor of Society and the Internet and lately Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, for services to Social and Political Science.
• Professor David Martin (BSc 1986) Professor of Geography at the University of Southampton, for services to Geography and Population Studies.
• Louisa Rolfe (BSc 1991) Deputy Chief Constable at the West Midlands Police, for services to Policing.

MBE     

• Katie Alcott (Hon LLD 2018) Chief Executive Officer at FRANK Water, for services to International Development.

CVO

• Annabel Dunkels LVO (BA 1978) Director of Communications and Business Development at the Royal Collection.

____________________________

If you’re a Bristol graduate and we haven’t listed you here, it may be that we don’t have your details. We’d love to hear from you, so please do get in touch with us at alumni@bristol.ac.uk to share your achievements.

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Winifred Shapland, Registrar of the University of Bristol, with Professor Judith Squires, Pro Vice-Chancellor

“Not only was Winfred the Registrar at the University of Bristol for nearly 20 years (1931 to 1950), she was the first female Registrar of any British university. Both are significant achievements. The Registrar of a university has overall responsibility for all its administrative
staff, enabling the university to deliver its core academic functions. Winfred held this, the most senior professional services role, at a time when universities were led almost exclusively by men. She was a pioneer in the world of higher education, and I am proud the University of Bristol showed its commitment to gender equality from its earliest days by appointing her to the role.

“Winifred was born and educated in Bristol and worked at the University for over 40 years. She joined the University as a secretary to Sir Isambard Owen, who became the first Vice-Chancellor when our Charter was granted in 1909. Eighteen years later she was appointed Secretary of the University and in 1931 became Registrar, shaping the University as it grew into the institution that we would recognise today.

“Winifred is a quietly inspiring figure whose contribution is worthy of celebration. She was a local woman, who dedicated her working life to one institution, but whose legacy rippled across the globe. At her retirement, friends, former colleagues and students from all over the world contributed to her testimonial. She was a professional woman who reached the highest ranks of the University, while displaying huge integrity and humility. At her memorial service, the then Vice-Chancellor noted that Winifred had ‘a rare gift of combining unswerving loyalty with complete candour.

“Her legacy is an important one, reflecting the University’s early and continuing commitment to gender equality and showing generations of women who followed her in higher education that no job is beyond their reach.”

________________________________________

The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

A festive message from Gary Nott, our Santa and Estates Assistant in the Wills Memorial building.

Do you see what I see?

It’s not the same anywhere else, is it? There’s something different about Bristol…

I’ve seen hundreds of people swing open the big, wooden doors of the Wills Building. I’ve seen our students start out with big eyes and big ideas, running off to lectures. I stood back amazed when earlier this year students clubbed together to send our cleaner on holiday. I watch them graduate, dancing down the steps, off out to change the world, to jet off into space.

I see them come back as alumni like you, full of excitement when they meet their old mates, when I walk them through their memories in the Wills Memorial Tower tours, or get messages on Twitter. They open up their hearts and share their experiences, hoping to give someone the same chances they had. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of.

There’s something here in Bristol. And it’s not in the bricks or buildings or in the water. It’s in the people. It’s a Bristol spirit.

The people who come here, it sparks a fire in them, a passion. And they have it in bucket loads. They want to change the world for the better. And you know what? They are. You are! All around the world.

Every year, I dress up as Santa. Every year, I put up that tree. Week in and week out, I take people on tours around the Wills Building. And I do it because of the Bristol spirit. To see people light up. Bristol is powered by people, people like you, and I’m proud to be one of them.

Here’s to a year filled with Bristol spirit, and many more to come!

Gary Nott
Estates Assistant
Wills Memorial Building

Tweets by wills_memorial

A groundbreaking ‘living laboratory’ for livestock will be established at the Bristol Veterinary School thanks to a £1 million donation from the John Oldacre Foundation. The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production will tackle the global challenge of ethical food security and train the next generation of vets and agriculturalists to help address the major issues facing agriculture.

 

Our very own star, Anne C. McClain (MSc 2005), will shoot up into space this week with NASA to serve on the International Space Station. 

Anne McClain beat more than 6,100 other applicants to be part NASA’s 2015 class of astronauts – the first graduating class in which the group has been evenly split along gender lines. Anne, a Major in the US Army, is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the US Naval Test Pilot School, as well as an OH-58 helicopter pilot.

In an interview with Glamour, Anne said: ‘Wanting to be an astronaut feels more like my destiny. With so much conflict in the world, space exploration can be a beacon of hope. No one cares about race or religion or nationality in space travel. We’re all just part of Team Human.’

She will spend six months on the international Space Station with two other astronauts. The Expedition 58 will work on experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science in an environment not possible on Earth. The crew is also expected to be present on the International Space Station when Boeing conducts its first unmanned test flights to the ISS. It is the first time 100 orbital launches have taken place in a year since 1990.

 

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Dr Gaositwe Chiepe,
First female cabinet member in Botswana
with Samantha Budd,
Chief Executive of Bristol SU

“As the first black woman to be a Chief Executive of a students’ union in the UK at the union that also had the first black President, it makes me proud to learn that our University has among its alumni such a distinguished pioneer as Dr Gaositwe Chiepe.

Gaositwe was the first woman from Botswana to earn both an undergraduate and postgraduate degree, completing her Master’s degree here in 1959. In 1966 she became Botswana’s first director of education and she laid down reforms that transformed the education system such that today Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa with equally high progression rates from primary through to higher education.

Known as the ‘woman of many firsts’, Gaositwe became the first female African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1970 and the country’s first female cabinet member in 1974. Access to education has long been recognised as an essential requirement for the emancipation and empowerment of women. It is therefore particularly inspiring that Gaositwe has dedicated her life to improving the life chances of so many girls and to ensure that African people, and in particular women, are able to take their seats at tables previously denied them.

Gaositwe is an inspiration who deserves to be recognised and celebrated alongside the other great women whose stories and portraits adorn the walls of this great University.”

________________________________________

This month, Sam Budd won the Diversity Champion Award for the Education Sector at the 2018 Inclusive Companies Awards.

We were the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Dr Bhikhu Patel (BA Hons Architecture 1973, Hon LLD 2006) and his wife Shashi have just donated £1 million towards Bristol’s transformational new campus at Temple Quarter.

Bhikhu himself describes the education he received at Bristol as ‘first-class’ and he also personally understands the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship, key elements of the teaching at the new campus:

My father died when I was young, and my mother set up her own business whilst also caring for her family. I learnt self-reliance at a very early age from her as well as a strong belief in philanthropic giving and helping others who are less well off.

Now, thanks to Bhikhu and Shashi’s incredibly generous gift, future generations of students are set to benefit as this donation will be essential to the creation of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (TQEC).

This new campus is set to revolutionise teaching and learning at Bristol. Business education will sit alongside world-class science and engineering research and development. There will be a focus on large-scale digital innovation and provision to increase the skills pipeline to support the burgeoning digital economy. Education will be challenge-based and enterprise focussed with students working with key industry partners to tackle real-world problems.

The new campus is planned to be an open, green, inclusive centre. It will be relevant to international, national and local communities. It will inspire and connect local people, social enterprises, businesses, academics and students. And it will create jobs and celebrate Bristol culture.

Bhikhu graduated from Bristol in 1973 with a degree in architecture. After leaving Bristol he followed a career as an architect before taking on a couple of small businesses with Shashi. In the early 80s he joined forces with his brother Vijay to work in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2001, they were jointly voted Ernst and Young’s ‘UK Entrepreneur of the Year’ having already won numerous accolades from various top organisations and institutions including ‘Europe’s Top 500 fastest growing companies’.

I fell in love with Bristol – the University and city. I couldn’t have achieved what I have in my business and personal life without my degree. I’ve always followed the University and been very proud of its research and teaching successes. I wanted to give something back to Bristol. Entrepreneurship is in my blood and so many modern institutions don’t cater for this. TQEC will answer this in a very exciting way. The new campus will also be accessible to the wider communities of Bristol – inviting them to be part of University life. It will also put the University and Bristol on the global map and will bring tremendous benefits to the city and society as a whole.

As well as supporting the new campus, which will attract the best and brightest from around the world, Bhikhu and Shashi are also providing support to students most in financial need. Bhikhu said: “I came to the UK from Kenya with virtually nothing and was the beneficiary of a first-class education at the University of Bristol. Education is very important to me. I am so grateful for everything education has given me in life. I want others to benefit in the same way – helping the next generation to become entrepreneurs and innovators of the future.”

Through scholarships and bursaries, the Bhikhu and Shashikala Patel Student Support Fund will give much needed support to students, both international and from the UK, to help them during their time at Bristol.

The Development and Alumni Relations Office greatly values the expertise, involvement and philanthropic support of all our alumni and friends which is helping to power our researchers, our academy, our students and our contribution to this great city and worldwide.