Kent Magazine - Summer 2013 | University of Kent

Alumni

KENT The Magazine for the University of Kent | June 2013

New MA programme for Athens Stacey Fund launched

Welcome Dear alumni, friends and colleagues, Having recently returned from a tour of Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, where I met with a number of alumni, I write with a renewed sense of the important contribution that our graduates, at home and around the world, continue to make to our University. My colleagues, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Mander and Director of Development Alison Coles, who recently visited the USA share the same view.

Our alumni community continues to be a key part of Kent’s success. You are our advocates and supporters, promoting the University by sharing your own authentic experiences. You contribute through volunteering as advisors and mentors for students beginning to think about their career options, supporting our fundraising, and acting as ambassadors for the University in your field of industry. This issue of KENT Alumni magazine celebrates the variety of ways in which you make a difference. It features a focus on volunteering (page 12), news of how you contributed to our most recent fundraising campaign (page 16) and an update from some of the scholars who have benefited from your support (page 19).

With your impact on the lives of our students in mind, we can all celebrate the news that Kent achieved a ranking in the top thirty UK institutions in the most recent Complete University Guide, and Sunday Times University Guide. Given the large numbers of UK universities this is a substantial achievement which reflects well upon all staff.

This is an exciting time for Kent, as we move toward the launch of our programme to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2015. We will share more information with you about the range of events, activities and projects that we have lined up to commemorate this milestone in future issues, and let you know how you can get involved.

Our University has much to celebrate, and I hope that you enjoy reading about our shared successes in this issue of KENT Alumni magazine.

Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow, DBE, CBE Vice-Chancellor

3 News 4 Feature: Ancient city promises bright future for Kent 8 Feature: A Rake’s Progress 10 Research 12 Feature: How alumni help current students 13 50th anniversary ‘I am Kent’ days 14 News from the Colleges 16 Fundraising: The Stacey Fund 18 Events 20 Feature: Sharing memories of Kent with Dr Shirley Barlow 21 Kent Life 22 Class Notes 23 Obituary Special thanks to Lesley Farr, University Design and Print Centre, and Wendy Raeside, Corporate Communications.

Photography by Simon Jarrett, Matt Wilson, Silvia Olsen photography

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KENT We are keen to have your feedback and letters are welcome from all our readers. Simply email us at alumni@kent.ac.uk

Kent consolidates position as top 30 university

Kent is also available online at www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/news/kent/index.html Editorial team: Michelle Ulyatt, Development & Alumni Relations Officer and Fiona Jones, Development & Alumni Relations Manager (Development Office)

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The University of Kent has been ranked 28th out of 124 UK institutions in the Complete University Guide 2014 – a rise of five places from last year.

in the world by the Times Higher Education, in what the publication describes as a celebration of universities ‘that have reached the top of the global academy in decades, not centuries’.

This rise, combined with the University’s third place for overall satisfaction in the most recent National Student Survey (2012) and other recent league table achievements, confirms Kent’s position in the top tier of UK universities.

David Nightingale, Kent’s Senior Deputy ViceChancellor, said: ‘Once again, this is excellent news for the University. Our league table positions, together with our reputation for research-led teaching and student experience, confirm that Kent is a first choice destination for prospective students.’

tinyurl.com/kentlinked youtube.com/user/UniversityofKent flickr.com/photos/universityofkentalumni/

As Kent approaches its 50th anniversary it is also ranked among the top 80 ‘under 50’ universities

Alumni

KENT The Magazine for the University of Kent | June 2013

New MA programme for Athens Stacey Fund launched

Cover story The Acropolis in Athens. Athens feature (see page 4).

National Student Pride award for Kent

Union, and Emily Simpson, President of Kent LGBT society.

Kent was named ‘University of the Year’ at the inaugural National Student Pride awards.

Presented in association with the National Union of Students, the National Student Pride awards are designed to celebrate the positive work around LGBT issues in the student movement.

Nominations for the awards were submitted by students, with the winners voted for by students attending the event.

The event, which took place in Brighton, involved LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) students from colleges and universities across the UK. Among those representing Kent were Colm Maguire, Vice-President (Welfare) of Kent

News continued on page 6

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Feature

Ancient city promises bright future for Kent A unique programme of study offered in the spectacular city of Athens offers the University of Kent an opportunity to be at the forefront of world cultural heritage research.

The East Mediterranean is gifted with many popular tourist destinations, a rich cultural heritage and invaluable archaeological sites relevant to history as well as modern civilisation.

However, some of the greatest archaeological sites are closed to the public, devoid of visitors or damaged because of extreme tourism. Some are deteriorating because of lack of maintenance, erosion, environmental changes, looting or vandalism.

Managing archaeological heritage Each archaeological site should be a unique source of education, culture, local pride and development. Archaeological heritage site managers require business skills and access to both expert and local information tailored to their unique circumstances. However, many graduates lack the resources, education and training to sustain or develop their sites.

Heritage managers are typically archaeologists who have a profound interest in the scientific exploration of the sites they manage. In their day to day business however, they manage projects and human resources, create budgets, plan the conservation of their sites, engage with local communities, promote their sites as destinations and create content for different groups of visitors.

They also have to collaborate with an enormous range of specialisms such as conservators and architects, educators, anthropologists, visualisation specialists and technicians. None of these skills come with an archaeology degree, meaning that heritage managers have to cope in this environment with insufficient training.

For this reason the University of Kent and the Athens University of Economics and Business, southern Europe’s most innovative university

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according to the European CEO journal, have collaborated to run the MA in Heritage Management, offered at our Athens centre.

A unique combination This unique programme is taught in Athens at Eleusis, an area of world-class archaeological significance. It teaches the skills required for managing heritage sites around the world by offering hands-on experience that covers areas including fundraising and project supervision.

The new course sits within the Classical and Archaeological Studies programme in the School of European Culture and Languages at Kent,

‘This MA programme in Heritage Management provides professionals with the unique opportunity to finetune their skills and knowledge so that they are able to manage archaeological sites anywhere in the world, thus making local heritage relevant to a global audience.’ Professor Gregory P Prastacos, Dean, Howe School of Technology Management, Stevens Institute of Technology, and former Rector of Athens University of Economics and Business

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and is co-ordinated by Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis, Senior Lecturer in Aegean Prehistory and Leventis Senior Fellow in Heritage Management.

The Initiative for Heritage Conservancy, a dynamic new research and education hub with international funding creating its own opportunities in the field, also contributes to the programme.

The MA aims to provide current and future heritage managers with the skills to realise their vision in the archaeological site management and planning, therefore making a profound contribution to the effectiveness of managing world cultural heritage. The aim is to make Greece one of the international centres of research in this field.

The programme currently has students from a number of countries including South Korea, the United States, Croatia and Malawi, and this year they have participated in the organisation of an exhibition on climate change and how it affects monuments. Last year their projects ranged from a management plan for an Ephorate of Antiquities in Arcadia (ancient Trabizon) to a project on the legal protection of monuments.

This coming year they will be working on a feasibility study of a dark tourism trail around sites in Sarajevo and Srebrenica; a management plan for an important site in Belize; a project on immigrants and heritage in Athens and the management plan of Olympia.

Supporting excellence In addition to the invaluable support that the University has received from its alumni and friends in Greece, Kent has been fortunate to receive the support of the A.G. Leventis Foundation, which has provided funding for the MA in Heritage Management. We are also grateful to have been awarded funding by the Bodossakis Foundation, the Fulbright Association, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Paul & Alexandra Canellopoulos Foundation, and the John S Latsis Public Benefit Foundation.

It is hoped that the success of the programme so far, and the support that we have received for our activities in Greece, will enable the University to grow its course portfolio and increase the number of students who are able to benefit from the experience of studying in Athens.

For more information about the University of Kent in Athens and the MA Heritage Management, visit www.kent.ac.uk/locations/athens/

Connecting with our Athens alumni To celebrate the success of the new MA in Heritage Management programme, Athens played host to a major alumni event, attended by 200 people.

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor David Nightingale Alumni at our Athens event

Guests were welcomed to a reception at the British Embassy Residence by Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor David Nightingale. The building was used with the kind permission of His Excellency the British Ambassador to Greece, Mr John Kittmer. Alumni heard from David about the University’s plans for its 50th anniversary, including details of the alumni reunion weekend that will take place on 4-6 September 2015. This year’s applicants from Greece were also invited and they listened to a brief talk prior to the event about studying in the UK. Many of them then chose to attend the reception to speak with alumni about their experiences at Kent.

Our alumni community in Greece is the thirdlargest of our overall total of 128,000 alumni worldwide. The event was also an opportunity for them to catch up with old friends, and to network with Kent staff and students, as well as to find out more about our new Masters programme in Heritage Management, launched in September 2011 and taught at Athens, one of our four European Centres.

The University now has four specialist postgraduate centres in four exciting, cosmopolitan European cities: Paris, Brussels, Rome, and Athens. They offer a variety of programmes in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

‘The MA in Heritage Management is a very rewarding programme, which provides you with a background in both archaeology and business.

It relies on experts that teach the management of heritage sites from an entrepreneurial and business perspective to equip you with the relevant marketable skills. The programme includes field trips, expert visits and many hands-on experiences in one of the world’s renowned archaeological hotspots.’

Nader Ayadi, MA Heritage Management student 2

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News

New MA with Institute of Contemporary Arts A new Master’s programme in the Contemporary will be offered by the University of Kent in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London.

The programme will provide students with a deep understanding of the relationship between disciplines in the arts and an appreciation of how interdisciplinary thinking makes it possible to grasp and respond to key issues in contemporary culture. The degree will be offered by the School of English, in collaboration with the School of Arts and the ICA. Students taking the course will be taught at both the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus and the ICA in London, choosing modules from English Literature, Creative Writing, Film, Drama and History and Philosophy of Art. The new programme will also offer students an internship and free ICA membership throughout their studies. The Master’s degree aims to provide students with an unparalleled opportunity to pursue postgraduate study in the contemporary period, while gaining invaluable experience at a prestigious arts venue.

Double shortlisting for major architecture award The University has received a double shortlisting for the 2013 RIBA (Royal Institution of British Architects) South East Regional Awards.

Kent has been shortlisted for its new ColyerFergusson Music Building, and its Crit Building within the Kent School of Architecture (KSA), both of which opened in autumn 2012. Winners will be announced on 12 June.

Gold Investors in People success for Kent Hospitality

SSPSSR Employability initiative a success

Kent Hospitality has become the first employer in the county to be reaccredited with a highly coveted Investors in People (IiP) gold award.

More than 800 students attended the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR) Employability Fair to learn about career paths for graduates from the School.

The department was commended for its commitment to staff development and training, continuous improvement and its engagement with social responsibility programmes.

Simon Westerman, Kent’s Director of Commercial Services, said: ‘This award is thoroughly deserved recognition of my staff’s dedication to delivering excellent customer service with passion, pride and professionalism.’

With a team of over 260 people, Kent Hospitality provides housekeeping, catering, bar and reception services for the University. It manages residential accommodation across the Canterbury and Medway campuses for more than 5,500 students and operates a thriving conference and events business during vacation periods. The department was first recognised as an IiP organisation almost 14 years ago, achieving gold status in March 2010.

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The month-long event brought together speakers and alumni from the Department for International Development, Ministry of Justice, Counter Terrorism, the National Centre for Social Research and NHS Trusts. Speakers addressed students’ questions about transferable skills, career options and how to make the most of their degrees. A range of workshops providing support with volunteering, enterprise and job applications was also provided.

The fair is a new initiative from the School and was introduced in response to student concerns about employment opportunities in the current economic climate. It included a networking event opened by the Lord Mayor of Canterbury. For more information about SSPSSR’s employability initiatives, please contact Rejane Gwynne, Employability Support Officer on: R.Gwynne@kent.ac.uk

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Business Executives Forums Kent Business School is offering a series of networking events for business executives in the South East of England to share ideas and learn the latest in management theory.

The informal events bring together key decisionmakers from large or small businesses to discuss ideas and make connections over dinner. Recent gatherings in Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells featured Kent expert Dr Marian Garcia, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, talking about ‘Open Innovation’ and how its principles can be applied to boost profitability.

The next Business Executives Forum is in Canterbury on 22 October and the theme will be ‘Managing Cultures: a guide to international expansion’. For more information go to the Kent Business School website at www.kent.ac.uk/kbs.

Construction of new college begins Cartoon archive among top 100 websites to preserve for future generations The website of the British Cartoon Archive (BCA) at the University of Kent has been chosen as one of the top 100 websites worth preserving for future generations.

Library curators and experts at the Capturing the Digital Universe project selected the website as a ‘voluminous and essential resource into social and political history’ and ‘essential reading for future generations researching our life and times in 2013’.

The BCA is based at the University’s Templeman Library. Dedicated to the history of British magazine and newspaper cartooning over the last 200 years, it holds the national collection of political and social commentary cartoons with more than 150,000 original drawings by over 350 cartoonists.

It is always encouraging to have such support from the major national and copyright libraries and I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in making the BCA website such a success.’

Templeman Library redevelopment begins

Work has begun to lay the foundations for a new college at the Canterbury campus. The new building will open for student use in 2014, ready for the academic year that will see us mark our 50th anniversary. Located to the west of the existing Keynes College, the new building will include accommodation and facilities for students. It will be named for Alan Turing, the British founding-father of computer science.

The redevelopment of the Templeman Library at the University’s Canterbury campus has started.

A number of trees have been removed from the area adjacent to the Library to allow for extension of the current building. Pictured is an artist’s impression of how the building will look once work is completed. The building work is due to finish during 2015, in time for the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Alumni can keep up-to-date with the progress of the redevelopment work by checking the regular posts on the alumni Facebook page.

Dr Nicholas Hiley, Head of the BCA, welcomed the news. He said: ‘I am pleased that the archive has made it onto this interesting and diverse list.

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Feature

A Rake’s Progress Michael Irwin talks to David Clark about his new novel, a dark and intriguing tale of manipulation and seduction in eighteenthcentury England.

The eighteenth century was a period of social and intellectual transformation: Enlightenment philosophy had led to the Age of Reason while scientific discoveries were challenging traditional ideas and overturning conventional wisdom. The century saw the beginning of the industrial revolution, the upheavals of the French and the American Revolutions and the birth of the novel.

It’s an age that fascinates Michael Irwin, and one in which he specialised during his academic career as Professor of English at Kent. It’s also the period that provides the setting for his latest novel, The Skull and the Nightingale.

Michael has combined a long academic career with an equally lengthy though intermittent novelwriting career. His first, Working Orders was published in 1969 and the second, Striker, in 1985. These big gaps between novels, he explains, were largely brought about by the pressure of academic work and university administration. Meanwhile, much of his leisure time was taken up with translating libretti for Kent Opera.

Since Michael retired he has had more time to devote to creative endeavours and the result is this long-planned novel. ‘I’ve wanted to write it for 20 years at least,’ he says.

‘The eighteenth century was an age of great elegance in terms of dress and manners, and yet at the same time there was a lot of drunkenness, disease, filth and stench. What particularly intrigued me were the tensions between the surface aspiration and the ugliness of much of the everyday life - on the one hand the pastoral or the heroic, on the other Hogarthian squalor.’

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A curious experiment The Skull and the Nightingale is set in the 1760s and its narrator is 23-year-old Richard Fenwick.

Orphaned at an early age, he has grown up in the patronage of his wealthy and enigmatic godfather, James Gilbert. After Fenwick’s education and Grand Tour are completed, Gilbert proposes a curious experiment.

Fenwick is to have all the financial means necessary to live a carefree life as a gentleman in London, in exchange for relaying detailed reports of his adventures, especially his sexual exploits, for his elderly godfather’s vicarious enjoyment. Fenwick readily agrees to the plan, despite the manipulative Gilbert’s warning that they may ‘lead each other into dark territory.’

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It’s a novel which brims with eighteenth century ideas, is populated with a diverse cast of characters and which vividly evokes the events, sights, sounds, and smells of London at the time.

Its compelling storyline incorporates numerous twists on its journey to an unexpected denouement.

At the book’s centre is the obsession with experimentation that preoccupied intellectuals in the period. ‘The eighteenth century was very much a scientific age,’ says Michael. ‘Newton’s ideas were dominant and the Royal Society was founded. There was a whole new sense of what the word ‘experiment’ might mean. New sciences such as Economics were springing up and people were trying to understand human behaviour in a quasi-scientific way.’

Steeped in time The Skull demonstrates a detailed knowledge of the speech, behaviour and manners of the period. ‘After years of teaching eighteenthcentury literature, I was pleased to find that I was steeped in the language of the time,’ he says. ‘I wanted to write a novel such that, in theory, if someone from that period could come alive and read it, they would think it was indeed an eighteenth-century work.’

Michael felt that the accurate replication of language was crucial to the novel’s authenticity.

‘The style of speech represented a mode of thought,’ he continues. ‘They wanted things to be logical, tidy and elegant. Unless I got that style right, the reader wouldn’t feel the contrast and the tensions with the disorderly aspects of the world.

‘Sometimes I’d use a particular word and look it up in the OED and find it wasn’t introduced until 50 years later; but I could write quite comfortably and fast, and the odd mistakes that crept in could be pruned out later.’

Michael says that the restrictions of the period setting actually helped when plotting the novel. ‘I myself didn’t know how it was going to end, but suddenly one thing followed another in a very neat way,’ he says.

‘I think this arose out of the ‘eighteenthcenturyness’ of it. The characters are in effect operating within a set of rules. In a given situation, the pressures of the age would make you likely to behave in a certain way. So they imposed a kind of pattern, as in a game. This helped shape the thing formally, which I found very interesting and pleasing.’

The Skull is being compared to historical novels such as Patrick Suskind’s Perfume and Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White; it has already drawn praise from, among others, the formidable literary editor and novelist Diana Athill, who said, ‘This is a surprising and thrilling Rake’s Progress. I enjoyed every word.’

Biography Born in London in 1934, Michael Irwin was a visiting lecturer in Poland, Japan and at Smith College, Massachusetts, before taking up a lecturing post at Kent in 1967. He retired in 2001. At various times he served as Chairman of the English Board, Dean of the Humanities Faculty and Pro-Vice-Chancellor. He was made a Professor in 1979. From 2004-8 he was Chairman of the Thomas Hardy Society.

He published two contemporary workingclass novels, Working Orders (1969) and Striker (1985). His academic work includes Henry Fielding: The Tentative Realist (1967), Picturing: Description and Illusion in the 19th Century Novel (1979) and Reading Hardy’s Landscapes (2000).

Michael, despite approaching his 80th birthday next year, remains as intellectually sharp and incisive as ever and, encouraged by the novel’s enthusiastic reception from his publisher, has plans for two or three more novels. After spending much of his working life studying the novels of other writers, he is clearly enjoying the challenges and pleasures of his own, lateblooming, novelist’s career.

The Skull and the Nightingale is published in hardback by HarperCollins on 20 June, price £16.99. There will be a special launch event for the book at Waterstone’s, 20-21 St Margaret’s Street, Canterbury on 11 July at 6.30pm.

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Research

Kent research reveals lost lion populations going unnoticed

New research by conservationists from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) has revealed that not only could the now-extinct Barbary Lion have persisted until the 1960s in North Africa, but also that this unique sub-species was left unnoticed for over a decade towards the end of its existence.

Published in open access journal, PLoS ONE, the research found authentic records of lions existing in North Africa as late as 1956; considerably later than the well-quoted accounts of the 1920s and 1940s.

Using information gathered from old hunting records, photographs, museum specimens, published articles and recent interviews, the research by Dr Simon Black and Dr David Roberts also revealed a lion’s behaviour does not change as populations get smaller. Instead, lions continue to form prides even up until they become extinct.

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Dr Black, Conservation Research Associate, said: ‘Colonial hunters such as Sir Harry Johnston (who famously discovered the Okapi) embarked on trips to Algeria specifically to hunt the last Barbary Lions, but never saw them. Even though Johnston suspected a few lions still existed there in the early 1900s, he would never have guessed that a small population could have clung on for a further 50 years.’

Dr Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Biodiversity Conservation, said: ‘When a species becomes very rare as it heads towards extinction, it can go unnoticed for a long period of time. Because of this, it is unlikely that the last record of a species was the time it became extinct; it probably existed for years or even decades before finally disappearing.’

Using statistical models developed by Dr Roberts, it is thought that the Barbary Lion may have survived into the 1960s. The few remaining lions descended directly from the Moroccan Royal Collection, and still living in a few zoos in Morocco and Europe, may therefore be more closely related to wild Barbary Lions than previously thought.

Dr Black added: ‘The research will not only help us manage lions descended from the Moroccan Royal Collection, possibly the last of the Barbary Lions, but highlights the need for continued conservation of the extremely threatened and rarely observed remnant lion populations in Central and West Africa.’

The research paper – available at http://dx.plos. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060174 – is coauthored by Dr Amina Fellous, Agence Nationale pour la Conservation de la Nature, Algeria and Dr Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, University of Qatar.

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Life-size puppet explores man’s links with objects An impressive, life-size puppet was attached to a Kent student for two weeks in an exceptional art project to explore the literal relationship people have with objects.

‘LIFE-SIZE ME’, by Peter John-Morton from the School of Arts, consisted of a self-made puppet permanently attached to his body for 14 consecutive days in March. During this time, the puppet chose a name, explored Canterbury, and slept, showered and lived through Peter.

Made predominantly from wood and bamboo, the puppet’s body comprises over 34 components, which are connected by bolts to replicate joints, allowing it to move in a similar way to a human.

The puppet was attached to the front of Peter’s body using belt-like straps, which were then padlocked. The face of the puppet, a latex, skinlike replica of Peter’s face, was attached to a solid band which went around his head. In total, the puppet took over 150 hours to make within an intensive six-week period. Find out more at: peterjohn-morton.weebly.com/life-size-me or facebook.com/LifeSizeMe

Kent research could shape new Common Agricultural Policy Research from the University could help shape changes to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) being considered by the European Parliament.

Professor Sophia Davidova, of the School of Economics, is leading an international team of researchers looking at proposals for a new CAP package for the period 2013-20.

Professor Davidova is studying the value of semisubsistence and small family farming to communities across Europe, using case studies in countries such as Italy, Portugal and Poland – as well as the example of Scotland’s crofters. Her colleague, Dr Alastair Bailey, will investigate the contribution of small farms to the rural environment and traditional landscapes.

Around 66 per cent of Europe’s farmers – 8 million out of a total 12 million – receive direct payments under the current CAP arrangements.

Around 70 per cent of farm holdings in the EU area are less than five hectares. However, very small farms are currently excluded from the CAP. The research – to be presented to the European Parliament in May 2013 – will evaluate the effectiveness of the proposals on the table for the CAP after 2013 and make recommendations on policy measures to enhance the capacity of small farmers across Europe to deliver public good.

University invited to join UK’s new cyber research institute The University has been selected to join the UK’s new Academic Research Institute for cyber threats.

Funded by a £4.5 million grant, a School of Computing team will work alongside other worldleading researchers to investigate new ways of automatically analysing computer software to reduce its vulnerability to cyber threats.

The University’s involvement in the institute will focus on two research projects. One will look at

malware – malicious programs – and how to automatically assess the threat they pose. The second project will focus on the development of scientific techniques to pinpoint in computer code where memory handling can inadvertently leak secret information.

The Research Institute has been established by GCHQ, one of the three UK intelligence agencies, in partnership with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through the Research Councils UK Global Uncertainties Programme and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Recent research awards Professor Mark Smales (Centre for Molecular Processing), £342,147 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council for ‘Tailor-made expression hosts depleted in protease activity for recombinant protein production’.

Dr Stéphane Launois (School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science), £199,484 from the European Commission for ‘RTQASL: Representation theory of quantum algebras and their semiclassical limits’.

Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby (School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research), £188,766 from the European Commission for ‘Innovation and Policy Learning for Resilient Labour Markets in Europe (INSPIRES)’.

Dr Konstantinos Sirlantzis (School of Engineering and Digital Arts), £166,877 from Interreg IV Channel Programme (South) for ‘COgnitive Assisted Living Ambient System (COALAS)’.

Dr Jim Ang (School of Engineering and Digital Arts), £162,689 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for ‘Creativity Greenhouse: Digital Brain Switch’.

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Evan Page Mario Christodoulou Student volunteers

How alumni help current students Alumni Careers Network Alumni have a wealth of experience of the working world and expertise in a variety of business areas. When shared, this knowledge helps give current students the edge as they start their working lives and the Alumni Careers Network gives both groups a chance to benefit.

The global alumni network of more than 128,000 professionals can all make a difference to the 20,000 students currently studying at Kent.

Employability skills are an increasingly important strategic focus for the University to help students prepare for the working world. The Alumni Careers Network is vital to providing an effective resource for students by offering: • Work placement or internship opportunities • Work shadowing • Informal advice and mentoring • On campus careers advice Alumni from all fields of professional life can join the network and help students from their former Schools broaden their horizons and raise their expectations.

Spotlight on Anthropology alumni The School of Anthropology and Conservation arranged for a group of alumni to share their experiences and advice with second and third year students at an on campus careers event.

The volunteers were Mario Christodoulou (R04) from charity MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Elizabeth Waters (K08) from Tropical Wings Zoo,

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Evan Page (R08) from defence company Watchkeeper, Sammy Field (D08) from the University of Reading and Alan Bicker (K83), who runs an organisation called The Mentoring Foundation. The event, arranged through the Careers and Employability Service and supported by the Alumni Careers Network, showcased the range of choices that the alumni have made and gave students an idea of the options available to them when they graduate.

The group shared tales about the competitive jobs market and encouraged students to make the most of opportunities such as work placements, volunteering and internships to help them stand out from the crowd.

Find out more about the Careers Network at www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/services/careers.html, email us at alumni@kent.ac.uk or call on 01227 824345.

Ambassador birthday conference Seventy current students and alumni gathered to mark the tenth year of the University’s Student Ambassador Scheme.

The day-long conference included a series of employability workshops to enhance the career skills of those attending, in addition to fun activities to celebrate the success of the scheme and thank the participants for their contribution.

More than 1,000 students have taken part in the Ambassador Scheme since it started in 2003.

Their activities as ambassadors include

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representing the University of Kent in outreach and recruitment work with local schools, colleges and the community, such as assisting with UCAS visit days and running summer schools. Isabelle Sawtell, Ambassador Curriculum Manager at the University, said: ‘Our Ambassador Scheme has grown from strength to strength over the past decade and we were delighted to see so many former ambassadors joining us to celebrate.’

Alumni profiles Abigail Smith (D07) studied French and History and is now a History teacher. She said: ‘I volunteered for the History department at Kent, running the History Society as well as helping out on visit days or with summer schools. The best thing about the ambassador scheme was the opportunity to work with others, whether that was staff or students. We were always treated with respect as equals.’

Ugochukwu ‘Chuks’ Santos-Oputa (E06) is a Computing & Business graduate who works for Serco as a Quality Assurance Analyst. He said: ‘I applied to help out with the summer schools during my first year and it was one of the most enjoyable things that I did at Kent. Everyone involved in the ambassador scheme had the same mentality; we’re bubbly, approachable and like learning about other people. The scheme boosted my confidence and I’ve definitely caught the volunteering bug. I’ve since spent time at Camp America and doing voluntary work in Nepal.’

50th Anniversary

‘I am Kent’ days kick-off 50th anniversary activities Celebrating our First 500 The first 500 students to attend the University of Kent following its opening in 1965 are key figures during the 50th anniversary. The milestone is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that this group of pioneers has made, not just as founding members of our alumni community, but also as mentors for students in the years since and generous benefactors for some of the key projects that have improved student life at Kent.

Members of the first 500 group attended a dinner reception in London on the eve of the University’s ‘I am Kent’ days. They took part in the ‘I am Kent’ film and heard details of the vast number of projects and the programme of events that is in place for the next two years as the momentum builds towards 2015.

The University will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its foundation in 2014-15, starting with a launch event on 27 September 2014, and culminating in a celebratory weekend on 4-6 September 2015.

The 50th Anniversary offers a rare opportunity to celebrate the past and inspire the future through a range of projects and events over the next two years.

Alumni, staff and students took part in the University’s first ‘I am Kent’ days in May to kickoff the programme of events for the anniversary.

The two days of activities took place at the Canterbury campus and included opportunities for all those who attended to share memories of their time at Kent.

I am Kent film The centrepiece of the two-day event was an opportunity to take part in the University’s ‘I am Kent’ film. The film will feature alumni, staff and students talking about how Kent has made a difference to their lives, what being involved in

the 50th anniversary means to them and how they would like to see the University develop over the next 50 years. The theme, 'I am Kent', reflects our strong sense of identity and the importance of our people to the past, present and future of the University. Further filming dates will be communicated over the coming months and the finished product will be hosted at the dedicated 50th anniversary website that will be launched later in the year.

Alumni attending the ‘I am Kent’ days also made the most of the chance to reunite with some of their old friends and colleagues. They shared details of their favourite moments at Kent and encouraged each other to post memory cards to the University’s timeline of memories. A team of history students were on hand to conduct oral histories, capturing stories of student life at Kent for an archive project that will run throughout the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Some alumni also enjoyed reminiscing about their favourite haunts during campus tours. The tours featured Eliot College – the first college to open to students in 1965; the new ColyerFergusson music building; the imposing Templeman Library at the heart of the campus; and the site of Turing College, which will open in the anniversary year.

During the summer there will be a ‘First 500’ day to invite this group and founding members of staff back to campus for a day of celebrations and activities. Plans include a re-enactment of the iconic photograph of the first students entering Eliot College, pictured above, and interviews with history students for the archive project. Further details will follow by email. If you are not on our email list but would like to receive information about this event please contact the alumni team at alumni@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 824345.

50th Anniversary Alumni Reunion Weekend Alumni can register an interest in the 50th Anniversary Alumni Reunion Weekend that will take place from 4 to 6 September 2015. If you are interested in attending the event and would like to give your feedback on what activities should be included in the programme for the weekend, please sign up online at www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/ events/index.html, email alumni@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 824345.

News

News from the colleges Keynes news: spring clean!

Greetings once more to all Keynes alumni, I write with an update on our spring activities.

Architecture students are involved in planning phase one of the senior common room refurbishment. We hope to update the room, maintaining it as a welcoming space for staff to relax during the day, while also providing a place that can host evening and weekend events. We are raising funds to lay a roof terrace over La Dolche Vita, providing fresh air and great views of Canterbury and our duck family. A programme of lunchtime music events are in discussion for 2013-14.

The student-led Duck Squad takes flight next term to begin a clean-up of the environment in and around the pond. Alumni donations will help with landscaping the area to create an accessible walkway, allowing people to get closer to the ducks. To celebrate the University’s 50th anniversary, we are also seeking donations from alumni and community members for our ‘sponsor a plank’ scheme, which will create a bridge over the pond. If you would like to support us with a donation please contact the alumni relations team at alumni@kent.ac.uk or on 01304 824345 for more information.

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Bobby Baker’s internationally acclaimed Diary Drawings exhibition came to Keynes last term and was enjoyed by many. The exhibition generated lots of discussion around mental health issues via events including a ‘meet the artist’ session and training with our disability and counselling teams. Next up in the arts programme is Canterbury College’s BA in Visual Arts final year show and an installation in the atrium created by a group of young people from St Nicholas special needs school in collaboration with two local performance artists.

The Keynes committee is extremely busy in the run up to Keynes-stock. Auditions are in progress and we hope this year will be the biggest and best yet.

We welcome your thoughts on events you would like to attend at Keynes. Our plans are varied and range from an ‘Alumni Fair’ to annual comedy lectures. Please share your ideas with us at s.stevenson@kent.ac.uk or g.harris217@kent.ac.uk.

Best wishes, Sian Stevenson Master of Keynes College

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Darwin and Woolf news: new Master makes an impact I’d like to introduce myself as the new Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges. I’m a Senior Tutor in the Drama Department at the School of Arts, a post that I’ll continue to hold during my time as Master. Before joining the University, I worked with local authorities in building arts strategies and was Director of Performing Arts at the Arts Council in the South East. I hope that my skills and experience will help create a wonderful student experience for both undergraduates and postgraduates in the two colleges.

Over the past few months we have introduced or re-established several initiatives in the hope of encouraging greater engagement with our students. This has been facilitated by our close relationship with the Darwin Student Committee, the Kent Graduate School Association and George Temple, the excellent Student Support Officer in Woolf College.

The highlight of our year so far was the Darwin College Annual Lecture and Feast. Our speaker Rebecca Stott, Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, presented her theory that “masterpieces are not single and solitary births” and discussed her research on the writers, scientists and philosophers who influenced Darwin. The feast that followed her lecture featured Fairtrade food and wines, a first for a High Table event.

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Rutherford news: reinstating our traditions Hello everybody, I’m Peter Klappa and I have the enormous pleasure of being the Master of Rutherford College.

Having spoken to alumni at our House of Commons reception, it’s clear that many of you still have very strong connections not only to the University, but also to your colleges. I’m therefore making it my mission to strengthen the bond between Rutherford College and its wonderful alumni. We’re always happy to welcome you back to your college, to meet with staff, have a chat over a cup of tea and remember the good times.

Every term we offer a lecture in our Rutherford Grass Roots series. We invite speakers to give entertaining talks about interesting or controversial topics. These lectures are followed by a drinks reception or support, giving guests the chance to continue their discussions over good food and wine.

Our staff common room hosted the Drama Society’s captivating performance of Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. Directed by Steven Laverty, the play ran for two nights and was a resounding success. The room has now been temporarily handed over to the University as a boardroom for the Executive Group while the Senate Chamber is used by students during the major redevelopment of the Templeman Library.

If you are in the area, we look forward to welcoming you to see the new layout.

Keynes College Darwin College Woolf College Rutherford College Sian Stevenson Dr Peter Klappa Dermot O’Brien

I know that many of you tremendously enjoyed your time in the college. I’d like to see alumni and current students taking part in more termly events together at Rutherford College, giving both an opportunity to learn from and support each other and cementing our bonds as a community.

We are now working on plans for a programme of events to encourage our alumni to return to the college. If you have any ideas please share them with me by email at P.Klappa@kent.ac.uk, through our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RC.UoK or on Twitter @RCUoK. You can also contact me through the alumni team. I hope to see as many of you as possible at our events.

Best wishes, Peter Klappa Master of Rutherford College

Best wishes, Dermot O’Brien Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges

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Fundraising 1 2

Dr Barbara Brockway Stacey Symposium 2013 participants

Third Stacey Symposium sees return of successful Biosciences alumni Stories of science alumni who have successful careers outside of the laboratory were the focus of the Third Stacey Symposium, hosted by the School of Biosciences.

The annual event, which started in September 2010, commemorates the life and work of Professor Ken Stacey who was a founder of the School and an early member of Eliot College.

Under Professor Stacey’s guidance as Director, the Biological Laboratory at Kent gained recognition as one of the most successful departments in the country. In keeping with this spirit of progress, the theme for this year’s event was ‘Careers beyond the laboratory’ and a group of the School’s alumni returned to campus to share their success stories. Many have gone on to build careers in science, medicine, teaching, government and publishing.

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The symposium was designed to benefit current students by providing careers advice and guidance to them from those who have followed similar paths. It was an opportunity to open their eyes to potential careers outside of the laboratory and show them that the skills they learn on a Biosciences degree can take them in a variety of directions later in life.

Successful alumni Among the alumni speaking at the event was Garry Rogerson who studied Biochemistry at Kent from 1971 and earned a PhD before starting a career in research. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Energy, a power conversion company that provides components for the solar energy industry, among others. Also speaking about her experiences was Barbara Brockway, who started a BSc honours in General Biochemistry at the University in 1976 and followed this up with a PhD. Barbara was a leading scientist at cosmetics firm The Body Shop and is now Scientific Adviser at IMCD UK, which is a specialist distribution company in the chemical and food ingredient industries. She will become President of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists (SCS) later this year.

Ted Jenkins, a first year PhD student who attended the symposium said: ‘This was a really interesting event with a wide range of people in careers I hadn’t really thought about before. It was an eye-opener to hear about the speakers’ career paths and it certainly gives me something to consider when I finish my PhD.’

The Stacey Fund The event was also an opportunity for guests to find out more about the University’s new initiative to support Biosciences students. The Stacey Fund helps those from low-income families by providing opportunities to develop their skills through practical work experience in laboratories around the world. Working in these laboratories gives Biosciences students at Kent the edge in a highly competitive job market. By helping those who often need to work to support themselves during university vacations, the Stacey Fund gives more students the chance to gain experience free from financial worries.

£6,000, making contributions go further and help more students. With gift aid included too, each £1 donation to the fund is worth £2.25 and because administration costs are covered by the University every penny goes towards supporting students.

During our recent telephone campaign student callers spoke to 108 Biosciences alumni about the new Stacey Fund. Of those called, 15 generous alumni made a donation, including seven who chose to set up a regular gift to the fund. You can also make a donation to the fund by filling out the donation form enclosed with this magazine.

Thanks to a donation from one of our Biosciences alumni, gifts to the Stacey Fund are matched pound-for-pound up to a value of 2

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Fundraising

Alumni make a difference during telephone campaign Student callers spoke to 1,500 alumni during our recent telephone campaign and shared stories of how you are helping our work.

Over a four-week period the team of callers shared their experiences of Kent and listened to advice from alumni on life after university.

The students also spoke about the Kent Opportunity Fund, which increases academic and career opportunities for students; the new Stacey Fund, providing work experience for Biosciences students; and the Kent Law campaign, funding a new Law Clinic.

The response was fantastic and a number of alumni volunteered to help with coaching, work placements and careers advice as a result of the campaign. In addition, many alumni chose to make a one-off donation or agreed to make new regular donations to funds that directly help students.

Many thanks to all alumni who have supported our work or who spoke to a caller this year; you really do make a difference.

Kent Opportunity Fund Donations from individuals and organisations have been crucial to the University’s growth and success since 1965. They have helped to build new facilities, provide scholarships to gifted students and develop new student services. As the University approaches its 50th anniversary in 2015, it needs support from its graduates,

current and former staff and friends, to continue to improve the University and the lives of students who choose to study at Kent for generations to come.

The Kent Opportunity Fund has been developed to increase opportunities for students at Kent by offering them the support and opportunities that they really need. It continues the excellent work of the Kent Scholarships Campaign by raising money in support of postgraduate research scholarships and bursaries. But further to this, it builds a new framework of practical support for students by spreading support wider to fund projects and activities that give hundreds of them potentially life-changing opportunities to both grow as individuals and develop new skills.

To find out more about these projects or to make a donation to support our work please visit our website at www.kent.ac.uk/giving, email us at alumni@kent.ac.uk or call on +44 (0)1227 827830.

This year your support for the Kent Opportunity Fund will allow a student to fulfil their potential at Kent. With your help this student will receive a bursary to continue to study at the University without the worry of financial hardship. Gaining a place at the University of Kent has turned this young person’s life around. Our recipient said:

‘The bursary I have received will help me by allowing me to be a lot more worry free. Sleepless nights about my financial difficulties have affected my work and university experience throughout this year.

Coming from a single-parent family, this bursary helps my financial situation tremendously covering all sorts of basic costs that I can’t fund myself, including travel, clothing and healthcare. Thank you so much for helping me.’

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Events

Alumni events First International Open lecture hosted in Hong Kong The University’s first International Open Lecture was held in Hong Kong and received a warm reception from alumni. The lecture by Loba Van der Bijl from the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences provided a light-hearted look at the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the lessons that should be learned from it. Her speech was followed by a cocktail reception for guests. More than 70 alumni attended the event, jointly hosted by Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, ViceChancellor, and Professor Eddy Fong, President of the Hong Kong Alumni Association.

Dame Julia took time during the occasion to thank guests for their support and to update alumni on the work of the Hong Kong and China Portal, which raises funds for scholarships to assist students from the region who study at Kent; to help fund student exchange programmes between Kent and universities in Hong Kong and mainland China; and to support staff and research interaction between the universities.

US trip

House of Commons reception

Alumni in three US cities attended reunion events to meet up with old friends and find out more about the University’s progress.

More than 130 alumni and guests attended a reception hosted by Kent Law alumnus Emily Thornberry MP (D79) at the House of Commons.

A delegation from Kent visited New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to update alumni on the latest news from our campuses and share some of our initial plans for our 50th anniversary celebrations in 2015. The events were hosted by Professor Keith Mander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Alison Coles, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, from the University.

The event saw alumni from the last five decades gather to hear more about the University’s plans to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015. Co-host Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow also updated guests on the progress of the Kent Law Campaign, which is raising funds to build a new Law Clinic and supporting the Law School’s Mooting Programme.

Kicking-off the trip at the British Consulate in New York and ending with an informal gathering in a British pub in LA, the team shared news with alumni who were keen to hear about the latest work to develop the Canterbury campus including the redevelopment of the Templeman Library and plans for a new college. They also gave an update on student recruitment figures, which are holding up well across the board despite new student finance arrangements, and spoke about the University’s search for a new Chancellor, with Sir Robert Worcester completing his term of office this July.

Among the alumni at the event was Murad Jetha (E84), a Mathematics and Computing graduate.

He said: ‘Thank you for hosting the terrific evening at the House of Commons. I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The memories and tales shared by other alumni were so similar to my own and finding out how much we have all achieved made me feel really proud to be a UKC alumnus.’

Malaysia and Singapore Alumni in Kuala Lumpur provided a warm welcome for the University of Kent team at a reception organised by the Malaysia Alumni Association. Hosted by Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, the event saw 100 alumni gather to hear a lecture by Loba van der Bijl and to find out the latest news from the University. The final stop on the itinerary this Spring was Singapore, where 30 alumni enjoyed an informal reception and reunion event with Professor Alex Hughes, Pro-Vice-Chancellor External.

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Loba van der Bijl Emily Thornberry MP 1

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Events

US scholars update

Introducing our 2013-14 Fulbright Scholar The University is delighted to welcome the first University of Kent in America-funded Fulbright Scholar in 2013-14.The scholarship allows an American student to study a Masters degree in any discipline at a UK University and provides a stipend to cover living costs.

The Fulbright Scholar is J Meade Klingensmith, known to friends as Meade. The 23-year-old from Pittsburgh, PA, graduated from Ohio’s Oberlin College in 2012 with a BA honours in History and a minor in Politics. He currently lives in New York, NY, and works as a reporter for Remapping Debate, an online public policy magazine.

The latest news from our UKA Scholar Elizabeth Eckert has enjoyed an eventful and productive year of graduate study at the Brussels School of International Studies.

As the University of Kent in America (UKA) 201213 Scholar, Elizabeth is studying a Masters in Political Communication and Strategy funded by contributions from our alumni in the US. Reflecting on her year, she said: ‘I came away from the end of the formal teaching term with an excellent foundation in the role of political communication in the European Union today.

My modules in Political Strategy and Public Policy Analysis have also given me a thorough understanding of the public policy process here in Europe.’

Elizabeth chose to participate in a special course on Contemporary Energy Security in Europe, which covered European energy and environmental policy. She was invited by the course leader, Dr Amelia Hadfield, to assist with research at the Institute for European Studies.

As a result, Elizabeth co-authored a chapter on energy security in the European Union (EU), which will be published in a book on EU policy later this year.

During the rest of the academic year Elizabeth will write a dissertation exploring the political momentum and agenda-setting process in the run-up to the adoption of the EU Renewable Energy Directive in 2009. She said: ‘Being in Brussels is particularly useful at this point, as I hope to interview in person some of the leading experts in the field. Once my studies are complete I plan to secure a traineeship within the European institutions and in the long run I’d like to work on European environmental policy from a political communication standpoint.’

Meade will enrol in the MA Modern History programme at Kent later this year. He plans to research British perspectives of Middle Eastern nationalism during World War I and the early inter-war period. His work will provide a new perspective on the persistent failure of communication and understanding between the English-speaking world and the Middle East by examining how British views of the Middle East assumed their modern form. On his reason for choosing to study at Kent, Meade said: ‘The University’s excellent history programme and strong international orientation made it seem a perfect fit, and after a hectic year in New York, the change of pace Canterbury will provide couldn’t be more welcome.’

Meade’s Fulbright scholarship is only possible thanks to the generous support of our US alumni, who have facilitated the programme by making donations to the University of Kent in America (UKA).

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Feature 1 2.

Grimond ‘Living Wall’ Templeman Library artists’ impression

Sharing memories of Kent with Dr Shirley Barlow As the University makes plans to celebrate its 50th anniversary year in 2015 its focus naturally falls on celebrating the past as well as looking to the future. Here Dr Shirley Barlow, former staff member, a founder of the Classics Department in 1965 and Master of Eliot College from 1985-1990, shares memories of her time at Kent.

‘Early in 1964 I received a letter from an English friend enclosing an advertisement for a lecturer in Classics at the forthcoming new University of Kent at Canterbury. I was working at the University of Michigan in the US, had just acquired tenure and would not have contemplated returning to England to a traditional university, but the idea of being part of a new university set in such an ancient and beautiful city was quite another thing.

Almost before I knew what I was doing I had applied.

I was interviewed at Westgate House by a panel of, if I remember rightly, eight men and one woman who was from outside. At the end I asked if there was anything to see yet up the hill. Eric Fox, the Registrar said: ‘We think there is but you will need Wellington boots’ I duly went up to see and was met with a vast expanse of mud dotted all over with small pools upon which floated many noisy seagulls. A few white bricks emerged out of this mud on the site where Eliot College was to be. From here down the hill was a magnificent view of Canterbury Cathedral. This spectacular juxtaposition of new and old strengthened my hope to be appointed to the job even if it would mean a cut in salary, which it did.

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Founding Classics

Collegiate working

There were three of us in Classics: the first Dean of Humanities, Professor Guy Chilver, Chris Collard, and I. It was to prove a very enjoyable and productive working relationship and an added bonus was that Chris and I shared the same research interest in Greek Tragedy and were able to make it an important focus in our new degree programme. Guy wanted Classics as an honours subject here, although there were one or two who did not feel that it had a place in the modern Part I interdisciplinary curriculum being devised. After a while however I was able to introduce Ancient Greece and the Modern World, a course that dealt with 19th and 20th century views of ancient Greek literature and art.

And this fitted in quite well.

The early days involved setting up almost everything from new degree syllabuses, to committee structures, a tutorial system, plans for new colleges and backing for many student activities. In addition to fostering the interplay of research and teaching in our own specialist subjects, what I particularly cherished from those days was the opportunity to work with colleagues in other disciplines in a creative way.

This and the collegiate system distinguished Kent from other universities at that time. The tutorial system and the interdisciplinary nature of some of the academic fare then offered were well served by the college structure. Time of course brought changes and new policies. Over the 48 years of its existence Classics expanded and developed hugely, bringing interesting ideas and emphases as different appointments came in. Almost all of my 34 years in the job were enjoyable, but for me the early years will always have a special place.’

For many years we offered degrees in both Latin and Greek and before long in Classical Civilisation without the languages as well. Both kinds of degree did well and also enriched each other, but in 1994 the small numbers of the former led the then Vice-Chancellor to instruct us to stop offering them and to concentrate instead on the popular Classical Civilisation degree.

Since that politically rationalising time and in spite of it the Department has made interesting new additions to the staff and among other things encouraged a developing interest in archaeology.

Kent life

Kent Sport New sports facilities now open New sports facilities are up and running at the Canterbury campus and available for use by alumni.

The new buildings and equipment result from a £4.8 million Olympic legacy investment programme that provides indoor courts, a larger dance studio, a multi-purpose sports hall, an improved fitness suite and a physiotherapy clinic.

The new Functional Wellness and Strength and High Performance suites include a selection of cardio equipment, cutting-edge resistance machines, plate-loaded lifting stations, and a dedicated zone offering Olympic-standard lifting equipment. Kent Sport now offers the best equipped strength and conditioning facility in the county.

A larger fitness studio features the latest in light and sound technology, plus more room for a

range of classes. The timetable includes Spinning (Studio Cycling), Boxercise, High Intensity Interval Training, Yoga and Pilates in addition to more established exercise activities.

Online booking and more new facilities including the third sports hall and physiotherapy clinic will be available to members later in the year. Alumni are welcome to use the facilities, which are open as follows:

Sports Centre Term-time Mon-Fri 09.00-22.30 Sat 09.00-17.30 Sun 10.00-17.30

Vacation Mon-Fri 09.00-21.30 Sat 09.00-17.30 Sund 10.00-17.30

Fitness Suite/Cardio Theatre Term-time Mon-Fri 07.30-22.00 Sat 09.00-17.15 Sun 10.00-17.15

Vacation Mon-Fri 07.30-21.15 Sat 09.00-17.15 Sun 10.00-17.15

Membership is from £287 (off-peak) or £313 (peak) per year; a saving of £97 on the public rate. You can also pay monthly with an initial fee of £88 followed by 11 payments of £20 (off-peak) or £91 followed by 11 payments of £22 (peak).

Kent Union Building a better future for students Kent Union has had a busy first six months of the year focusing on progressing campaigns, introducing new schemes, developing our sports brand and celebrating our achievements.

Top of the list of campaign priorities has been action to tackle hidden course costs. With student finance an ever-growing concern, we have surveyed our members and will present the results to the University to discuss the way ahead in terms of easing the financial burden on students. Our campaign work has also seen us join the Canterbury City Council Housing Accreditation Scheme, working with other higher education institutions to improve the quality of student housing in the city.

Year’ award, presented to us at the first National Student Pride awards. Our efforts to make the Union a more inclusive organisation and the proactive work of student groups were highlighted for particular praise.

On the social side, we’ve enjoyed success in our campaign to secure more space for student societies with confirmation of a new Student Media Centre. It will be installed in The Attic and

will house InQuire, KTV and CSR FM. The Venue will be adapted to cater for student groups hosting their own events and live music. This term also saw the election of new full-time Union officers for the coming year, with a new team in place to work on behalf of our student body.

The new officers are: Union President, Chelsea Moore Vice President Welfare, Megan Wells Vice President Activities, Amy Gilchrist Vice President Sports, Christopher Bull Vice President Education, Alex Murray And finally, Team Kent has unified our sports club under one name and enjoyed its first major victory. We retained our title at this year’s Varsity event and were crowned champions for the 17th year running with a 30-10 win against Canterbury Christchurch University. Go Team Kent!

Our work to support LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) staff and students has been recognised with a ‘University of the KENT Magazine

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Books

Class notes Class Notes are also available online at www.kent.ac.uk/alumni

Moral Crusades in an Age of Mistrust: The Jimmy Savile Scandal Frank Furedi, Palgrave Macmillan In his latest book Frank Furedi, Honorary Professor of Sociology at Kent, explores the precarious status of trust in the aftermath of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

The book examines the sociological meaning of the sudden transformation of Jimmy Savile – charity fundraiser, household name, cultural icon – into the personification of evil. It also considers the important role scandals play in clarifying the moral issues preoccupying society and how, in the wake of the Savile affair, the absence of moral consensus bred uncertainty instead of restoring moral order.

Professor Furedi forms a surprising conclusion: that the concerns unleashed by the Savile affair will intensify the climate of mistrust and encourage moral crusaders to expand their activities.

Find out more at www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=675020

The King’s Jockey Lesley Gray, Solis Press This debut novel by mature student, Lesley Gray, offers a fresh perspective on the death of a suffragette at the 1913 Derby. It tells the story of the life of royal jockey Herbert “Bertie” Jones and the dramatic events that followed his fatal collision with suffragette Emily Wilding Davison 100 years ago.

The book was written whilst Lesley studied part-time for a BA (Hons) in Comparative Literature at the University of Kent. She said: ‘The course covers such a range of beautiful literature; exploring these works has helped enormously in the struggle to find my own voice as a writer.’

Find out more at www.solispress.com/9781907947612.html

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The Noise Next Door Take five School of Film, Drama and Visual Arts alumni, form a comedy troupe and get set for success. Improvised comedy team The Noise Next Door have headlined the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a host of top comedy clubs since getting together at the University of Kent nine years ago.

The guys in ties, as they like to be known, are Charlie Granville (R04), Sam Pacelli (E04), Tom Livingstone (E04), Matt Grant (E03) and Tom Houghton.

This year the lads returned to campus to perform their original and hilariously funny show at the Gulbenkian theatre during their first UK national tour. Relying on audience interaction to determine the content of their comedy sketches, each of the shows that The Noise Next Door performs is different. Their fusing of witty oneliners, epic stories and unusual characters showcases their versatility and razor-sharp comic talent.

Sam said: ‘It was a joy to return to our spiritual home and birthplace.

We wouldn’t exist without the University of Kent, so to come back on our national tour to a packed Gulbenkian was both a delight and an honour.’

The lads have performed on BBC Radio 4’s Sketchorama and appeared alongside leading UK comedians including Harry Hill, Al Murray and Jason Manford since starting out in 2006. They regularly headline top venues including Jongleurs in Covent Garden and have made five sell-out appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2010 the Daily Telegraph described their show as ‘riotously enjoyable… a superior kind of chaos.’

To find out more about The Noise Next Door, see when they will be performing in your area or to get your hands on their latest DVD visit www.thenoisenextdoor.co.uk.

In memoriam

Obituary He was also keen to develop the social interaction among staff and students, and ensured that a social area existed in the Physics Building in which many scientific and teaching questions were discussed informally. Jack gave the occasional fun lecture for youngsters and lay people, often at Christmas. These would involve tricks with liquid air where he would freeze grapes and smash them with a hammer, or demonstrate the peculiar effects of rubber elasticity using party balloons. In one lecture entitled ‘the tea pot effect’ he would analyse the problem of pouring liquid from a spout without spillage.

Professor Jack Powles Jack Powles, founding Professor of Physics at the University of Kent, died on February 19th 2013 at the age of 88. He will be remembered by many as an inspirational teacher and enthusiastic physicist whose organisational skills, efficiency and close attention to detail and accuracy were impressive. The hundreds of undergraduates that experienced his teaching will recall his carefully prepared lectures, delivered at a rather rapid rate, and a chalkboard covered with detailed mathematical notes. Sometimes he would start writing with his left hand and finish using his right hand – then turn to see if anyone had noticed that he was ambidextrous!

Jack was one of the first academics to be appointed at Kent and took up his post in the summer of 1964. He joined from Queen Mary College, London, where he had been Reader in Experimental Physics. During his first year he planned the Physical Sciences laboratory (now the Marlowe building) with architect Lord Holford, to be built and ready for the first intake of Physics and Chemistry undergraduates in October 1965.

He wrote an innovative first year physics text book, Particles, which was published in time for the arrival of the first students. It was used as a core text here and in other universities for many years.

The Physics Laboratory developed rapidly and strongly under its dynamic Laboratory Director, who led the department throughout the next decade, overseeing its development and growing reputation. Jack continued as Professor of Physics until he retired in 1991 and then as an emeritus professor he remained an active member of the department until he moved to South Wales about ten years ago.

Jack’s early education at the Marlin School Stroud, Gloucester, was followed by a state scholarship to Manchester University to study Electrical Engineering. He was awarded the Fairburn prize as top student of his year. His graduate studies under Sir Willis Jackson were on the dielectric properties of liquids, a subject of critical importance to the effective operation of RADAR. His interest in molecular motion and structure of liquids became a theme of his research and he seized on new techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, light scattering, neutron scattering and computer simulation, as they became available. Jack’s scientific insight and mathematical ability allowed him to make significant contributions to the early development of each in turn. One of his early research students and Kent honorary graduate, Peter Mansfield, took magnetic resonance on to fame and fortune with the development of MRI, (magnetic resonance imaging) a medical diagnostic facility that brought Mansfield a knighthood and Nobel Prize.

celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary with their son, daughter and grandchildren. Their hospitality was always most generous. Past research students and colleagues will remember with affection the regular June garden parties, started in London and continued at their home in Beverley Farmhouse. A grand party in 1994, to mark his 70th birthday, was attended by nearly all his 40 past research students and fellows, with whom he had maintained contact over the years.

Jack is survived by Jill, son Simon, daughter Tamsin and two grandsons.

Professor John H Strange

In memoriam Since the last issue of KENT Magazine went to press, the University has learned of the deaths of the following alumni, honorary graduates and former staff.

If you would like to be put in touch with the families or friends of anyone listed here please let us know – we may be able to help.

Sir Richard Bennett (Honorary Graduate 00) Jon Chipperton R82 Dr Cyril Cooper K84 David Cunningham R67 Dr Valerie Eliot (Honorary Graduate 90) David Houghton K01 Geoffrey Hughes E74 Bob Hunter R65 Ronald Jarvis D02 Kathryn Jenden D74 George Juzwin E69 Dr Frank Panton CBE D85 Professor Jack Powles (former staff) Nigel Robinson R97 George Stone E94 Dr Rosalyn Themsitocleus K78 Dr Joan Wain (Honorary Graduate 09) Bruce Webster (former staff)

At Imperial College, London, a romance, which had started at school in Stroud, blossomed as childhood sweetheart Jill was by then an undergraduate at Royal Holloway College. The couple became inseparable and recently KENT Magazine

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What’s on

Music Sunday 30 June, 3pm, ColyerFergusson Hall, Centrally Heated Knickers presented by The Homemade Orchestra. A compelling new production performed by legendary children’s poet Michael Rosen.

Saturday 6 July, 7.30pm, ColyerFergusson Hall, The Canterbury Orchestra performing Arnold, Elgar and Dvorak. Featuring the fabulous cellist Pei-Jee Ng.

Gulbenkian Theatre

Sunday 29 June, The Incredible Book Eating Boy This exciting theatre adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ award-winning children’s book follows the story of a boy with a voracious appetite for books.

Wednesday 17 – Sunday 21 July, Sandwich Technology School performance of Miss Saigon.

Following the sell-out success of their award winning Les Miserables, Sandwich Technology School return with another Boublil and Schnberg classic, Miss Saigon.

www.kent.ac.uk/gulbenkian

Gulbenkian Cinema

Saturday 22 June, AJTC Theatre Company – Bin Men Written by multi-award winner Mike Kenny and directed by Rosamunde Hutt, this theatre production is a story of music, movement, recycling, puppetry and fun.

Wednesday 12 June, Chasing Ice (12A) Acclaimed National Geographic photographer James Balog discovers evidence of our changing planet. Revolutionary time-lapse cameras capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

Sunday 23 June, Long Nose Puppets – Arthur’s Dream Boat A magical playful children’s show with breath-taking puppets, so enchanting that everyone will want to sail away with Arthur in his dream boat!

Thursday 13 June, NT Live: The Audience Helen Mirren reprises her Academy Award winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in the highly-anticipated West End production of The Audience, broadcast as part of National Theatre Live.

Friday 14 – Thursday 20 June, The Great Gatsby (3D) (12A) Baz Luhrmann directs a starstudded cast in this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic. Set at the height of the roaring twenties, Nick Carraway is fascinated by the mysterious and lavish lifestyle of his millionaire neighbour, Jay Gatsby.

Friday 21 June, Star Trek: Into Darkness (3D) (12A) When the crew of the USS Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror within their own organisation, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt which spirals into an epic chess game of life and death.

Tuesday 2 – Thursday 4 July, Mud (12A) Two young boys discover a dangerous but charismatic fugitive, known as Mud, hiding on their remote island home on the Mississippi.

Monday 22 July, Royal Opera House – Rigoletto (recorded) Verdi’s opera charts the fate of a tormented jester trying to avenge his heartless playboy employer, the Duke of Mantua, who seduced Rigoletto’s innocent daughter Gilda.

Alumni events Istanbul alumni reception Friday 21 June, Kabatas Motor Iskelesi A reception for Turkish alumni, hosted on board the boat the Incisu Teknesi. Learn the latest news from your university and meet up with old friends over cocktails and dinner.

London to Brighton Cycle Challenge Saturday 6 July Join the Kent Law Campaign Young Alumni Group on a challenging 54 mile bike ride from London to Brighton. The ride is raising funds to support the campaign to build a new Kent Law Clinic.

Madrid alumni reception Tuesday 3 September A reception for alumni in Spain.

For more information about any of the alumni events listed here please email alumni@kent.ac.uk. To register for an event visit www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/events