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.