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Welcome from Professor Wendy Thomson CBE
It gives me great pleasure to introduce the fifth edition of WC1E: the magazine for alumni and friends of the University of London.
It has been an extraordinary and challenging year for all in our community affected by the unprecedented global events of 2020. My thoughts are with those who have been impacted, or have suffered loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The University’s Centre for the study of the Senses, part of the School of Advanced Study, played a key role bringing together the evidence that identified loss of smell and taste as an official symptom of COVID-19, and many of the University’s member institutions have contributed their expertise in response to the pandemic. You can read about the work of one of these member institutions – the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – in this edition of the magazine.
As a pioneer in flexible learning for more than 160 years, the University of London has been uniquely positioned to be able to support its community by continuing to provide worldwide access to education during this time of crisis. I am proud of the way the institution has been able to adapt so quickly to these new circumstances, redesigning assessment and examinations for our distance learning students around the world, as well as for our other programmes at the School of Advanced Study in London and the University of London Institute in Paris. We have also been able to support many of our world-class member institutions as they transitioned to online teaching at very short notice.
In the coming weeks we will be publishing Transforming Education…Creating Futures, the University’s strategy for the next five years. This will build on our nearly 200 years of history in pioneering new ways of delivering education and broadening access, and will guide the University as we develop new ways of learning to meet the evolving needs of students. Changes to the School of Advanced Study will place the School at the heart of developments in humanities research.
We are incredibly proud of our global community of alumni. Our graduates enhance the reputation of the University, helping to influence and shape the world in which we live to enable social good. In this edition of WC1E, you can read about alumnus and human rights champion Patrick Canagasingham and the work he is doing as COO of Habitat for Humanity International. We also shine a spotlight on alumna Tanzie Turel, who supports the University by volunteering as an Alumni Group leader.
In this edition, we also share some of the work undertaken by academics in the University’s School of Advanced Study. Dr Juanita Cox highlights important research undertaken to capture the oral history of the ‘Windrush Generation’, and Dr Michael Eades explains why this year’s Being Human festival theme of ‘New Worlds’ is more relevant now than ever.
Our alumni play an important role in supporting the University’s mission and ensuring that we can remain a world leader in higher education. In this issue, we interview LLM alumnus József Váradi, who this year made a landmark gift of £1.2 million to establish the Váradi Scholarships, which will have a life-changing impact on 100 students around the world. Many of our alumni also supported our first Student Support Appeal, which provided bursaries to current students who were experiencing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring they could continue their studies. It is thanks to the support of our alumni and friends that we can continue our mission to provide education for all who wish to learn.
Looking ahead, summer 2021 sees the Institute of Historical Research start celebrations to mark 100 years since its creation and, in this edition of the magazine, you can read more about the Institute’s founding and future plans. In the meantime, I am delighted to share more about the University’s strategy with you on page 12. As higher education faces new and unique challenges, our strategy will harness the strengths of our history to define what a university is for the future, looking forward with optimism toward the University’s 200th anniversary. Our alumni and friends will be key to helping realise the University’s vision, and I look forward to working with you to achieve that vision.
I hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine. I encourage you to keep in touch with us via the University of London Development Office and be an active member of our thriving community.
