Royal Holloway, University of London
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Royal Holloway, University of London is one of the seven larger colleges of the University of London.
Originally called Royal Holloway College, the establishment was founded by Thomas Holloway as a women-only college in 1879. It became part of the University of London in 1900. Males were first admitted in 1965. In 1985, the college merged with Bedford College and became Royal Holloway and Bedford New College. This name was changed for day-to-day use to "Royal Holloway, University of London" by the College Council in 1992, although the registered title remains the same.
The college's campus is located at Egham, Surrey, just outside the boundary of Greater London. The campus is dominated by its original building, known as the "Founder's Building", designed by William Henry Crossland and inspired by the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France. The building was officially opened in 1886 by Queen Victoria, who allowed the use of "Royal" in the college's name. The Founder's Building is part of a campus which is set in 49 Ha (120 acres) of parkland and is within walking distance of Windsor Great Park. Because of its location and the open, green nature of the campus, Royal Holloway is often referred to as "the University of London's country campus". On-campus student accommodation is some of the most extensive available in the London area. The size of the campus has also allowed the college to develop some of the best sports facilities of any university institution in the London area, and helped build the college's reputation as one of the leading sporting institutions in the South-East of England. The campus is also well-known for its Picture Gallery, located within the Founder's Building, housing a collection of over seventy pieces of Victorian era art given to the college at the time of its founding by Thomas Holloway.
As of 2003, the college had 5,500 enrolled students. The results of the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) placed Royal Holloway in an elite group of ten university institutions whose departments all earned the top three ratings for research, with scores of 4, 5 and 5*. The University League Table published by The Times newspaper (17 May 2004) ranked Royal Holloway fifteenth among the universities and colleges in the United Kingdom. In the South-East region, Holloway was ranked second, after Oxford University. The table places Royal Holloway 4th in the University of London, after Imperial College, LSE and University College London. The Physics Department of Royal Holloway was ranked first in the United Kingdom by The Guardian newspaper. The departments of History, Geography, Music, Drama and Media Arts also have strong reputations, as do several of the European Language departments. In 1998 the college was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of the work of the Information Security Group (http://www.isg.rhul.ac.uk/). (This group was mentioned in the recent novel The Da Vinci Code.)
See also: Elizabeth Jesser Reid, founder of Bedford College
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Royal Holloway Students' Union
The Royal Holloway Students' Union (SURHUL) has a reputation for providing some of the best and most comprehensive on-campus social life, entertainment and student services of any students' union in the London area.
Like most students' unions in Britain, SURHUL is run entirely by the student body itself, headed by a team of elected student officers.
Within the local area around Egham, SURHUL is best known for its award-winning student radio station, Insanity (http://www.su.rhul.ac.uk/insanity). Established in 1997, Insanity broadcasts all-year round, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is available locally over 1287 AM and worldwide over the internet.
SURHUL also publishes a student magazine called The Orbital (http://www.su.rhul.ac.uk/orbital/), which is considered to be among Britain's best students' union magazines.
On-campus entertainment and social life includes three student-run campus bars, and a large function hall within the students' union building which hosts a wide variety of entertainment events most nights of the week duing term time. The highlight of the social calendar at the college is the annual RHUL Summer Ball, which is run by the students' union and reputed to be among the best such events at any university or college in Britain. In recent years the RHUL Summer Ball has booked many high-profile talents, including well-known rocks acts such as Wheatus and Atomic Kitten, and comedians such as Ali G.
The Summer Ball 2005 is set to include the singers Lemar and Liz McClarnon as well as the actor Alan Fletcher and his band.
Famous Alumni
- Sophie Neveu (fictional)
- Norman Baker
- David Bellamy
- Susan Bullock
- Ivy Compton-Burnett
- Richmal Crompton
- George Eliot
- Janet Fookes
- Emma Freud
- Kathleen Lonsdale
- Dame Felicity Lott CBE
- Dame Rosemary Murray
- Simon Nye
- Mark Strong
- Joby Talbot
- KT Tunstall
- Francis Wheen
- Roger Wright
Notable members of staff
- Dr Khizar Humayun Ansari OBE - Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies
- Professor David Bradby - Drama & Theatre
- Professor David Cesarani - History
- Professor Justin Champion - History
- Professor Felix Driver - Geography
- Professor Cindy Ebinger - Geology
- Professor Mandy Merck - Media Arts
- Professor Andrew Motion - English
- Professor Fred Piper - Mathematics / Information Technology
- Professor John Rink - Music
- Professor Kiernan Ryan - English
- Professor Dirk Matten - Centre for Research into Sustainability
External links
- Royal Holloway, University of London website (http://www.rhul.ac.uk/)
- Royal Holloway Students' Union website (http://www.su.rhul.ac.uk/)
- The Orbital - Royal Holloway Students' Union Magazine (http://www.su.rhul.ac.uk/orbital/)
- Insanity - Royal Holloway Students' Union Radio Station (http://www.su.rhul.ac.uk/insanity)
- Association of Student Radio Alumni - Royal Holloway (http://www.studentradioalumni.com/royalholloway/)
- Research Assessment Excercise website (http://www.rae.ac.uk)
- Two articles from The Guardian newspaper, positive (http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/universityguide/studentprofile/story/0,,715466,00.html) and negative (http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1407538,00.html).
| Recognized bodies of the University of London |
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Birkbeck | Goldsmiths | Heythrop | Imperial | Institute of Cancer Research | Institute of Education | King's | London Business School | LSE | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | Queen Mary | Royal Academy of Music | Royal Holloway | Royal Veterinary College | St George's | SOAS | School of Pharmacy | UCL |
| Listed bodies |
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British Institute in Paris | Courtauld Institute of Art | School of Advanced Study | University Marine Biological Station, Millport |