University turns 30

An Illustrious History...

Explore the changing face of the University of Sunderland as we take a look back at its 30 year history, from 1992 to 2022.

In 1992, HM The Queen granted Sunderland city status to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession to the throne. It was then that Sunderland Polytechnic became the University of Sunderland. Dr Anne Wright, who had been the Rector of the Polytechnic, became the first Vice-Chancellor of the University – and one of the very first female VCs. Thirty years on, the University is today changing the lives of students regionally, nationally and internationally. Throughout September staff and students will mark the anniversary with a series of celebration events across the city. When the University was looking at creative ways to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Sunderland becoming a university, we turned to one of our own, Sunderland graduate and Live Illustrator Katie Chappell. 2012 Illustration and Design graduate Katie has worked as an illustrator for the last decade. Now Katie is employing two additional illustrators, and has big clients including the NHS, Facebook and Apple. “When the Pandemic happened I moved the business completely online, and it went bonkers. People were suddenly meeting online all the time, and they needed a way to make meetings more exciting, and live illustration became really popular," said Katie. Katie’s innovative idea was an immediate hit, and she quickly picked up high-profile clients, including Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Johnson and Johnson, ITV, NSPCC, The National Trust, The World Health Organisation, BT, and the NHS. Now, Katie has contributed her skills to our celebration of the 30th anniversary of Sunderland becoming a university. Katie’s illustration traces a path from 1992, with the founding of the university by our first ViceChancellor Dr Anne Wright and continues over the next 30 years with the development of St Peter’s Campus (1994) and London Campus (2012) right up to the opening of our innovative new Anatomy Centre in 2022.