The University of Nottingham

It is 65 years since the appointment of John Campbell Boot, the second Baron Trent, as the first Chancellor of The University of Nottingham. We have had only six Chancellors since we received our Royal Charter in 1948. I have had the privilege of knowing three of them; Sir Gordon Hobday, Lord Dearing and Professor Yang Fujia. I worked especially closely with the last two.

Yang Fujia, our most recent former Chancellor, has been fundamental to our pioneering internationalisation over the last decade. He commands extraordinary respect globally, but especially in China as an Academician and adviser on higher education. His stature is such that he now has a statue in Ningbo. When we appointed Yang Fujia we broke the mould. We have broken the mould again: at 48, Sir Andrew Witty is the youngest Chancellor we have ever appointed and one of the youngest in the UK, and he has a day job as CEO of GSK, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company.

In Sir Andrew we identified someone who is a natural leader; someone with an acute sense of social responsibility; someone who is clear on the vital role universities like ours play in building social capital and generating economic value; someone who cares about sustainability and has a global perspective; someone who is an alumnus of The University of Nottingham. And I cannot tell you how proud I am of the fact that he is a graduate of our University. I am genuinely excited by this appointment. I am confident Sir Andrew will be an inspiration to our students, a font of wise counsel to me, and an outstanding ambassador for our University.

Meanwhile, this summer I will find myself back in the saddle with 11 colleagues for our third Life Cycle bike ride. This year’s 1,100-mile challenge will take in every capital city in the UK and Republic of Ireland in aid of Stroke Rehabilitation Research. Our previous rides have raised more than £500,000. This year’s target is to raise £300,000 to address the often-neglected needs of stroke survivors after hospital care and the need for home-based stroke-specialist rehabilitation. If you can support me and the team we will be grateful, as will the thousands of stroke survivors whose lives are transformed through stroke rehabilitation.

Visit: www.justgiving.com/LifeCycle3-Team

I am very proud of what the first two rides achieved. The generosity and support of those who donated to the cause has been outstanding, and we know how strongly people feel about palliative care and educational disadvantage. Thank you all for your support. Last year’s ride raised money for Nottingham Potential (pictured above), a key theme in our fundraising campaign Impact: The Nottingham Campaign. Our first learning centre, run in conjunction with the charity IntoUniversity, opened in Broxtowe a year ago and I’m delighted to say, as this magazine goes to press, we’re very much looking forward to the opening of the second of our three centres, this time in St Ann’s. I genuinely believe these centres, along with our many other widening participation initiatives, are helping transform aspiration and opportunities for the young people of our city and our region.

In October, the University community will be celebrating 100 years of the Students’ Union. We’ll be commemorating this with an appeal for alumni and friends to help us find One Hundred Heroes of Nottingham. We plan to display biographies and memorabilia of those alumni who have made a significant contribution to SU activities during their time here. If you’d like to nominate a hero or heroine please contact: alumni-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk.