University of Warwick

Template:Infobox British University

The University of Warwick is a campus university which, despite its name, is located mainly inside the southern boundary of Coventry, England, some 11 km (c. 7 miles) from the town of Warwick. Part of the campus (the Cryfield site) is built on land donated by Warwickshire.

Despite being one of the UK's younger universities (founded in 1965), the University of Warwick has, in recent years, established a reputation in UK Higher Education. Tony Blair characterised the university as "the university of the future" and US President Bill Clinton chose Warwick to deliver his last public speech. Departments with a particularly strong reputation include Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Warwick-Horticulture Research International (http://www.warwickhri.ac.uk/), Computer Science, International Law, Economics and Business. It is also home to the Modern Records Centre, Britain's largest repository of the archives of trade unions and industrial relations.

A recent addition is the Leicester-Warwick Medical School, one of the first graduate medical schools opened in an attempt to respond to the chronic lack of doctors in the UK.

It is a member of both the Russell Group and the 1994 Group.

Contents

1 Attainment 2 Staff 3 Alumni 4 Chancellors 5 Vice-Chancellors 6 Students' Union 7 University Arts Centre 8 Hospitality Services 9 Information 10 External links

Attainment

The University was ranked 5th among the UK's 100 universities for quality of research in the UK Funding Councils' 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Over 91% of the University's academic staff are located in departments with top research ratings of 5 or 5*.

22 of the 24 University academic departments which have been assessed under the Subject Review process conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education have been rated 'excellent' (scored 21 or more points out of 24) for the quality of their teaching. Seven departments have achieved the maximum score of 24 out of 24.

The Guardian University Guide ranked Warwick ninth overall in 2005, from eighth in 2004, and The Times Good University Guide ranked Warwick eighth overall in 2005, from fifth in 2004.

Staff

Famous members of staff at Warwick have included:

• Germaine Greer, the feminist author
• Ian Stewart, the popular science author
• Mike Cowlishaw, creator of the REXX programming language.
• Andrew Davies, the television screenwriter
• Stephen Houlgate, Bill Brewer and Keith Ansell-Pearson, philosophers
• Andrew Oswald, economist
• Nick Land, cybernetics theorist

The Mathematics Department and Mathematics Institute was founded by Sir Christopher Zeeman, famous topologist and exponent of Catastrophe theory. The Coull String Quartet have been quartet-in-residence since 1977.

Alumni

Prominent people to have attended the University of Warwick include:

• Jennie Bond (French and European Literature, grad. 1968) - former BBC Royal Correspondent
• Jonathan Coe - novelist
• David Davis (Molecular Science/Computer Science, 1968–1971) - Conservative Shadow Home Secretary
• Kim Howells - Minister for Higher Education at the Department for Education and Skills
• Timmy Mallett (History) - 1980s children's television presenter
• Baroness Amos (Sociology, grad. 1976) - Britain's first female black Cabinet Minister, currently Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council
• Yakubu Gowon (PhD in Political Science) - Nigerian leader
• Baroness Morris - former Labour Secretary of State for Education
• Hannah Waterman - actor
• Alex Jennings - actor who has performed in many lead roles at the RSC
• Sting (did not graduate) - lead singer of The Police and solo artist
• Paul W. S. Anderson - film director
• Frank Skinner - comedian
• Wendy Alexander - politician
• Simon Mayo - radio DJ
• Brian Deer - journalist
• David Wood - philosopher at Vanderbilt University
• Andrew Benjamin - philosopher at Monash University
• Merfyn Jones, member of the Board of Governors of the BBC
• DJ Yoda - hiphop DJ
• Ainsley Harriott - chef famous for Ready Steady Cook
• Sir Gus O'Donnell (Economics, grad. 1973) - Cabinet Secretary

Chancellors

• Lord Radcliffe (1965–1977)
• Lord Scarman (1977–1989)
• Sir Shridath Ramphal (1989–2002)
• Sir Nicholas Scheele (2003–present)

Vice-Chancellors

• Lord Butterworth (1965–1985)
• Dr C.L. Brundin (1985–1992)
• Professor Sir Brian K. Follet (1993–2001)
• Professor David VandeLinde (2001–present)

N.B. Professor VandeLinde has announced that he intends to retire at the expiry of his current contract in Summer 2006.

Students' Union

The University of Warwick Students' Union is the largest and one of the more active Students' Unions in the UK, currently having over 200 societies and around 70 sports clubs. It has an annual turnover of approximately £3 million, which is used to improve its services and employ its Sabbatical Officers. The Union building features four club venues and seven bars, with many 'full union' nights giving free run of the entire building.

The Union has a nationally renowned Equal Opportunities policy, and is a member of the National Union of Students (NUS) and West Midlands Area NUS (WMANUS).

University Arts Centre

Situated at the centre of the University, the Warwick Arts Centre is the second largest arts centre in the UK (after London's Barbican).

The centre comprises:

• The Butterworth Hall, a 1500-seat capacity concert hall
• A 550-seat theatre
• A 180-seat theatre studio
• A 220-seat cinema
• The Mead Gallery, an art gallery

Hospitality Services

Warwick was a pioneer among UK Universities in opening its halls and lecture facilities to outside organisations, for profit, during the summer holidays. Warwick Conferences is now a thriving internal business unit, with its profits contributing to the University's financial independence, with a dedicated, year-round conference centre, Scarman House, built on campus.

Information

In 2002, the total number of students was 17,904. This figure comprised:

undergraduates: 10,077

postgraduates: 6,272

overseas undergraduate and postgraduate students: 2,948

other programmes: 1,555

overseas students on other programmes: 1,484

Total number of staff: 4,354, including:

academic: 824

other research: 728

Size of campus:

2.9 km² (720 acres)

The University's coat of arms includes atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear of Warwickshire (N.B. the bear is not chained in the University's current coat of arms - although it was in earlier versions) and the Elephant of Coventry. The current crest can be seen at: University of Warwick crest page (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/corporate/guidelines/identity/core/crest/)

External links

• University of Warwick website (http://www.warwick.ac.uk/)
• University of Warwick Students' Union website (http://www.sunion.warwick.ac.uk)
• University of Warwick One World Week (http://www.oneworldweek.net/)
• Association of Student Radio Alumni - Warwick (http://www.studentradioalumni.com/warwick/)
• Warwick Television: Student TV Station (http://www.warwicktv.co.uk)
• Warwick Video Game Design Society (http://www.warwickgamedesign.co.uk)
• Warwick Boar: Student Newspaper (http://www.warwickboar.co.uk)
• Warwick-HRI (http://www.warwickhri.ac.uk/)
• University of Warwick Computing Society (http://www.uwcs.co.uk/)
• Warwick Revelation Rock-Gospel Choir (http://www.warwickrev.org/)
• Warwick Music Centre (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/musiccentre/)
• The University of Warwick Big Band (http://www.thebigband.co.uk)
• Female student raped June 2003. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/3149426.stm)
• 12 year old boy and his 16 year old sister start as maths undergraduates. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/186917.stm)
• Union bar inexplicably loses £34,000. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/736063.stm)
• Campus security guards set bait for burglars. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14825807%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• Student Union gives every undergraduate free condoms, even the computer science students. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14690159%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• 22 year old male computing student jailed for one year at Coventry Crown Court for blackmailing female student after finding revealing pictures of her. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14531175%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• PhD student develops musical wallpaper. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14077100%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• Girls hockey team pose for a popular calendar. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=13551377%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• University Barclays Bank outside Student Union is robbed by armed gang in daylight. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=13497459%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• University scientists use the idea of 'death by chocolate' to improve the mousetrap. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=13201069%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• University bans St George flags from being flown on the campus. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=11878305%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)
• University students calling the fire brigade for amusement. (http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=11289202%26method=full%26siteid=50003-name_page.html)de:University of Warwick