A Golden Globe Award-winning actress, China’s Athlete of the Century and the founder of the first women’s Hall of Residence at the University of Nottingham are among those whose pictures will hang in a new exhibition to diversify portraiture at the university.

The exhibition — titled ‘Women at Nottingham: Pressing for Progress’ — has been launched to coincide with International Women’s Day (Thursday 8 March 2018).

It is the start of a wider campaign to raise the visibility and profile of women in Nottingham including students, graduates, academics, managers and professional service staff. The campaign is being led by Professor Jeremy Gregory, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Arts. It builds on the success of Wonderful Women, a video which celebrates women’s achievements and emerging female leaders at the University, and the appointment of Professor Shearer West, the first female Vice-Chancellor at Nottingham.

The 14 photographic portraits feature inspiring women with a strong connection to the City and the University such as Florence Boot, former partner at Boots the Chemist and a campaigner for women’s rights to Higher Education. She provided the first hostel for University Students in Nottingham and the first female hall of residence at the University — Florence Boot Hall.

Olympic table tennis champion Deng Yaping, actress Ruth Wilson, Brigitte Scammell – Professor in Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, and Georgina Wilding the first Young Poet Laureate under the UNESCO City of Literature, also feature.

The project is one of a number of initiatives taking place at the University, and at its campuses in China and Malaysia, in celebration of International Women’s Day. A conference is being held with Nottingham Trent University along with the launch of the Nottingham Women Experts Network and Guide, and several other staff and student-focused events are taking place.

Read the ‘Celebrating Nottingham’s Women’ blog from Vice-Chancellor, Shearer West.

Watch our video from the exhibition launch event:

The Woman at Nottingham: Pressing for Progress exhibition will be in place until March 2019. After the exhibition ends the portraits will appear on the walls of relevant Schools and Faculties as a constant inspiration for those living, working and studying there.

The full list of sitters is as follows:

• Daphne Priestly OBE, JP, DL — BA Sociology 1954
• Dame Mary Marsh DBE — BSc Geography 1968
• Ruth Wilson — BA History, DLitt, 2003
• Professor Karen Cox — PhD Nursing 1999
• Dr Deng Yaping DLitt, — MRes Contemporary Chinese Studies 2002
• Kelly Vere — MA Higher Education 2011
• Stacy Johnson
• Professor Brigitte Scammell — MmedSci Clinical Education 2008
• Emma Barnett — BA History & Politics 2006
• Hannah Reid — BA Art History & English Studies 2011
• Dr Amanda Horton-Mastin — PhD Chemistry 1988 & BSc Chemistry 1983
• Georgina Wilding — BA Creative & Professional Writing 2015
• Florence Boot
• Dr Janet Folkes

Location and opening times

The portraits are currently on display at the Council Room, Trent Building, University Park. Throughout the year, thousands of people will see the portraits during meetings and other occasions.

There are also several dedicated dates when the room will be opened to public viewing:

• 4pm-5.30pm, Friday 9 March
• 4pm-5.30pm, Monday 19 March
• 11:30am-1pm, Tuesday 20 March
• 12 noon – 2pm, Thursday 29 March
• 4pm-5.30pm, Wednesday 13 June
• 12 noon – 2pm, Thursday 20 September

There’s no need to book in advance; just turn up on the day.

You can also view the images online at nottingham.ac.uk/women.