University of Essex
Encyclopedia
The University of Essex is a British campus university
whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester
, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter
in 1965. It now consists of 18 main teaching departments and 36 centres and institutes in a wide range of subject areas, including the fields of biological sciences, computer science, acting, economics, business, health/human sciences, history, language and linguistics, mathematical sciences, human rights, law, literature, film studies, theatre studies, philosophy/art history, psychology, sociology & government.
The university's main campus
is located within Wivenhoe Park
in the English county of Essex
, less than a mile (1.6 km) from the town of Wivenhoe
& 2 miles (3.2 km) from the town of Colchester. Apart from the Wivenhoe Park campus, there are campuses in Southend
, and Loughton
(home of the East 15 Acting School
) The University's motto
, Thought the harder, heart the keener, is adapted from the Anglo-Saxon poem The Battle of Maldon
.
The Uuiversity enjoys collaborative partnerships with a number of institutions across the eastern region. These are University Campus Suffolk
, Colchester Institute
, Kaplan Open Learning (KOL), South Essex College and Writtle College
.
The principal officers of the university (2011) are:
Chancellor: Lord Phillips of Sudbury OBE, Pro-Chancellor: Auriol Stevens BA, Pro-Chancellor: Mr David Boyle MA, JP, DL, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council: Lord Currie of Marylebone, BSc MSocSci PhD, Vice-Chancellor: Professor Colin Riordan BA, PhD
and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability and Resources): Professor Jules Pretty OBE, FRSA, FIBiol
Charles (later Lord) Leatherland that a University be established in the county. A University Promotion Committee was formed chaired by Lord Lieutenant of Essex
, Sir John Ruggles-Brise, which submitted a formal application to the University Grants Committee
requesting that a University of Essex should be established. Initial reports suggested that the Promotion Committee had recommended Hylands Park
in Chelmsford
as the site for the new University, however in May 1961, the foundation of the University was announced in the House of Commons
with Wivenhoe
as the preferred location and in December of the same year, Wivenhoe Park was selected and acquired for the new university. In July 1962, Dr Albert Sloman, MA, DPhil, Gilmour Professor of Spanish and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Liverpool
, was appointed as Vice-Chancellor and the Rt. Hon. R A (later Lord) Butler, CH, MP, was invited to be Chancellor, with Mr A Rowland-Jones appointed as Registrar.
The first Professors were appointed in May 1963: Alan Gibson in Physics, Peter Townsend in Sociology, Donald Davie
in Literature, Richard Lipsey
in Economics, Ian Proudman in Mathematics, Jean Blondel
in Government, and John Bradley in Chemistry. With its first staff appointed, a development plan for the university was published and a £1million Appeal Fund was launched, and within six months the Appeal Fund had exceeded its £1million target with The Queen Mother
and Sir Winston Churchill
among contributors, while work began on clearing the site for building work. In Autumn 1963, red was chosen as the University colour and the first prospectus was prepared and work began on the first permanent buildings; the science block and boiler room next to Wivenhoe House. In January 1964, Hardy Amies
designed the university's academic robes and temporary teaching huts had to be erected close to Wivenhoe House, while in March Sir John Ruggles-Brise was appointed the first Pro-Chancellor and Alderman Leatherland the first Treasurer of the University. Two months later the university's Armorial Bearings were published, with the motto "Thought the harder, heart the keener".
, Physics
, Government, Sociology
, Literature, Mathematics
and Economics open along with the Language Centre (later the Department of Language and Linguistics
) and the Computing Centre (later the Department of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering) with Denis Mesure elected as the first President of the Students' Council. Work started on the first residential tower, Rayleigh in December with The Queen
approving the grant of Charter to take effect from 11 January 1965.
1965 brought 399 students enrolling for the start of the new academic year; the number of academic staff more than doubled to 61; and the first degrees, five MSc and five MA
degrees were awarded. The Physics building opened and the first six floors of Rayleigh tower were ready for occupation, while work began on the Albert Sloman Library. The first female lecturer was appointed: Dr Dorothy E. Smith
in the Department of Sociology
. In December, University Court met for the first time with around 500 members. Six months later, work started on the Lecture Theatre Building, plus the 'Topping out' of Keynes tower.
In October 1966, the Hexagon Restaurant and General Store opened, with the number of students reaching 750. Lord Butler was installed as Chancellor at a ceremony held in Colchester's Moot Hall in 1967 and the first Honorary Degrees were presented, the University's Mace was carried for the first time, while the first annual Degree Congregation saw 135 degrees conferred in July. At the start of the next academic year, the departments of Computer Science and Electronic Systems Engineering accepted their first students, the SSRC Data Bank (later renamed the UK Data Archive) was established and the Lecture Theatre Building and Library opened along with the first phase of the Social and Comparative Studies building, while work proceeded on Tawney and William Morris residential towers.
, the student movement was taking off all over the world. In March 1968, a demonstration against a visit to the University by Enoch Powell
received national publicity. Seven students were summoned to a disciplinary hearings but student sit-ins prevented these hearings taking place.
On Tuesday, 7 May 1968, Dr Inch from Porton Down
came to give a lecture at the university. In a carefully planned demonstration, an indictment was read out as Dr Inch attempted to speak, citing chemical and biological warfare activities at Porton Down. University authorities called in police with dogs, probably for the first time in an English university. Students outnumbered police and managed to prevent arrests.
On Friday, 10 May, three students, Pete Archard, Raphael Halberstadt and David Triesman (now Lord Triesman) were suspended and ordered off the campus. No evidence or charges were notified to the students, and no opportunity was given for the students to present their defence.
Wyvern reported that on Monday, 13 May, “Students picket all entrances to the University from early morning distributing leaflets calling all students and staff to meeting to discuss suspension of the three students. A huge meeting attended by nearly all the University population, voted overwhelmingly to refuse to participate in the University – in its place a Free University was declared ”.
In the late 1970s, financial problems plagued the University and threatened its existence. During this later period of the 70s to the early 80s, the University began concentrating its teaching into large departments, allowing it to gain respect nationally and internationally in academics and teaching. Cooperation with local companies was forged, allowing the university to secure vital research contracts. Due to its growing international reputation, the University began to attract a sizable number of International Students.
In 1987 Professor Martin Harris was appointed Vice-Chancellor, taking over from the founding Vice-Chancellor, Albert Sloman. Also, in this year, University of Essex alumni Oscar Arias
won the Nobel Peace Prize
.
. By its 30th Anniversary in 1993, the University had built itself up into 17 key departments, providing education and research opportunities for 5,500 students, and employing 1,300 staff and faculty. The University also contained 5 industrial units and housed the Economic and Social Research Council's Data Archive. Further expansion continued to take place after 1993, with the £5.5 million expansion scheme for the provision of 234 new apartments for 1,200 students in a new student village.
and the Duke of Edinburgh
visited the University as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations (1964–2004). Some of the longest running members of staff etc. were invited to meet them at the presentation including the University's first student, John M. Dowden. Starting postgraduate research on fluid dynamics at the age of 23 in 1963, John later became a professor of mathematics and was the head of the University's Mathematics Department from 2001–2005. He retired in September 2008.
The University is constantly expanding. The Network Centre building opened in May 2004 housing the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering and parts of the Department of Computer Science (who merged in 2007 to create Computer and Electronic Systems). The University Quays, a student accommodation complex housing 770 students, opened in September 2003. The Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, with a 1,000 seat capacity, opened in 2006. In Southend the £26m Gateway Building opened in 2007, a former church been converted to the Clifftown Town Centre providing East 15 students with studios and workshop spaces. University Square, a 560 bedroom development near to the Gateway building opened in September 2010. At Wivenhoe Park, the 'Social Science Research Centre' was completed in February 2007, housing the University's Institute of Social and Economic Research and the UK Data Archive
. A new building for the School of Health and Human Sciences was opened in 2008, as was the 'Centre for Brain Science' housing part of the Psychology department. Work is currently underway on a multi-phase 'Knowledge Gateway' project on the Wivenhoe campus. In 2013 three major projects are due for completion on the Colchester campus: a new Student Centre and Library extension, a new Business School building and The Meadows, a new 540 bedroom student accommodation project. Also in 2013, a new building is due to be completed providing a new library and teaching facilities in Southend.
Wivenhoe House, an 18th century manor house on Wivenhoe Park, closed in December 2009 and is due to reopen in 2012 as the Edge Hotel School, a four star country house hotel which will also be the UKs first working hotel school dedicated to the development of future leaders of the hotel and hospitality industry.
Its departments of Economics, Government (Political Science
), Sociology
and Language and Linguistics
are particularly well-known and are among the best in Europe as well as its school of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. Essex's research in politics, economics and sociology received top (5*) ratings in the UK government's 2001 Research Assessment Exercise
.
The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) is a leading research centre for the analysis of panel data in Economics and Sociology. It opened in 1989 as the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change in Britain and now houses the ESRC-funded Understanding Society project, a world leading longitudinal study of the socio-economic circumstances and attitudes of 100,000 individuals in 40,000 British households.
In September 2000 the East 15 Acting School
became part of the University. The School is based in Loughton
in southwest Essex and has a branch in Southend.
The School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering was inaugurated on 1 August 2007. It was created by merging two long-established departments: The Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering which both began in 1966. It has particular strengths in Robotics
, Telecommunications, Artificial Intelligence
and Logic and Computation. In 1999 a robotic football team from the department came third in the RoboCup 99 - part of the Robot Wars (TV series)
. Current notable academics in this school include Richard Bartle
, best known as co-creator of MUD1
, Professor Ray Turner
for his numerous publication relating to Logic and Computation, Professor Vic Callaghan as head of the Intelligent Environments Group (IEG) and Simon Lucas for his research into Computational Intelligence
and Computer Games namely for his current research with the UK Research Network on Artificial Intelligence and Video Game technologies.
The Photonics Hyperhighway project began in 2010 and is planned to run for 6 years. It was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) with an aims to focus on energy-efficient ultra high capacity ICT infrastructure. The project plans to make broadband internet 100 times faster including partnership with the BBC to help broadcast ultra high definition content.
The Institute of Democracy and Conflict Resolution (IDCR), is planning a new flagship building on the Knowledge Gateway part of the Colchester campus, having appointed world-renowned architecht Daniel Libeskind, an alumnus of the University.
(near Chelmsford), the Tavistock and Portman Trust (in London) and University Campus Suffolk
, a joint venture with the University of East Anglia
, with a central campus in Ipswich
and five centres in Suffolk and Norfolk. Its latest partner is Kaplan
Open Learning, delivering on-line foundation degrees.
. Despite its small size, Essex has developed an international reputation for teaching and research. The annual Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection, now approaching its 41st year, attracts faculty and students from all over the world as does the world renowned human rights centre celebrating its 25th year.
The university was known as a left-wing
hotbed with respect to faculty and students, but today is characterized, as most UK campuses, by rather less radical student politics.
The University of Essex was rated ninth in the UK in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE, 2008) and was in the top 20 for student satisfaction, amongst mainstream English universities, following the National Student Survey (NSS, 2011).
The 2010 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Professor Christopher Pissarides who gained his BA and MA degrees in Economics at the University in the early 1970s.
In the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 the University of Essex scored notably well in Computer Science and Informatics
achieving 50% for research at level 3 of the RAE scale and 40% at level 3 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
.
places the University's Government Department 17th worldwide, ahead of the University of Cambridge & University of Oxford in the UK but behind the London School of Economics.
The University confirmed its position as one of the UK’s elite research universities when it was ranked as the 9th-best university in the UK for the quality of its research in The Times, The Guardian, and The Independent's 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) tables.
. With its concrete architecture, it is typical of England's 60s' universities. Wivenhoe Park houses the main 1960s buildings along with an 18th century house that also features in Constable's painting. Wivenhoe House was, until 2010, operated as a hotel and conference centre. It was closed in December 2010 for major refurbishment and will reopen in 2012 as a combined four-star country house hotel and hotel school.
There are 2 small lakes on campus (in the middle of one is the Vice-Chancellor's House).
The architect of the University of Essex campus took the Tuscan town of San Gimignano
with its squares and towers as an inspiration (the University has six residential towers mainly for undergraduates, but the original plan was to build 29). As well as the towers, South Courts and the University Quays residences provide enough space to guarantee every first year a place on campus as well as all overseas students. Due to its particular form of architecture involving the use of prefabricated concrete and glass, the University is referred to as a Plate Glass University
.
The library has one of the few remaining still operating continuous loop paternoster lifts in the country.
The Students Union employs about 380 student staff and 50 permanent staff to work in its shops, venues, etc. The University of Essex Students Union was the first SU in the UK to receive the 'Investors in people Gold' award in late 2009.
The Students' Union underwent a wide scale reform in 2007-8, in which the trustee and executive functions were separated, and greater voice was given to satellite campuses. The Executive Committee on the main Colchester campus is composed of 5 full time officers (the President and 4 vice-presidents) and 7 part-time officers. The current President of the Students' Union is Hentley Ignatius. The Students' Union is a member of the National Union of Students and many of its members are actively involved.
and American Football. Many of the University's Sports Clubs, known as the Essex Blades, achieve national success. In 2005–06, the Pool Team became the best in Britain winning the BUSA Championships defeating Cardiff in the final. In the 2007–08 season, the University of Essex Rugby Club won the BUSA Vase defeating Robert Gordon University 15–10 in the final as well as achieving promotion. The University's Basketball and Netball clubs also reached BUSA finals in the 2007–08 season. The University boasts a well-equipped sports centre, including a fitness suite, squash courts, netball and tennis courts and a 9 m climbing wall used by the University of Essex Mountaineering Club. The University has its own sailing clubhouse and boat-park at nearby Brightlingsea
. The gym surface was doubled in 2010 to allow more students to fit in and improve the quality and environment of the training facilities.
Once a year, a special event called 'Derby Day' sees a wide sport contest between the University of Essex clubs and the University of East Anglia sport teams. The event is hosted alternatively by Essex and UEA.
in April 2007, to mark his retirement from the position of vice chancellor, a position he had held since 1995.
The University's 'Gateway' building in Southend was opened in January 2007, housing the academic activities including business, health and acting, as well as being home to programmes operated in collaboration with Queen Mary Dental School, a GP practice and a business incubation centre.
New buildings have recently opened housing the departments of Psychology and Health and Human Sciences.
, the British Government has sought to strengthen the links between universities and industry as a means to contribute to economic growth and the technological capacity of companies through technology transfer and exploitation of university ideas. Essex University has received grants from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) delivered by HEFCE and other government departments to develop such capacity to link with industry. A Research and Enterprise Office has been established, which is to be complemented with the development of a research park adjacent to the campus. Links between the university and industry have mostly been found within the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE). CSEE has maintained a long standing relationship with the Japanese photography and printing company, Canon, as well as links with British Telecom.
The former President of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias
, completed his doctorate in Political Science at the University in 1973, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. Ex-Vice President of Costa Rica, Dr Kevin Roberto Casas Zamora, also completed his studies in Essex, earning a MA in Latin American Government & Politics in 1993. Other political figures educated at Essex include the foreign ministers of Slovenia (Dimitrij Rupel
) & Iraq (Hoshyar Zebari
), Conservative Party MPs Virginia Bottomley
& John Bercow
, now Speaker of the House of Commons, Labour Party MP Siobhain McDonagh
, Pakistani Social Activist Omar Asghar Khan
, South African politician Thozamile Botha
and Singapore social activist James Gomez
(MA 1994). Two of those convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions connected to The Angry Brigade
, Hilary Creek and Anna Mendleson
, had been to Essex University but left without taking their degrees.
Notable alumni in the field of the Humanities & Media include Stephen Daldry
& Mike Leigh
, who both studied at the East 15 Acting School (part of the University of Essex since 2001), the Artistic Director William Burdett-Coutts (MA Drama), the Documentary Filmmaker Nick Broomfield
, the TV comedy producer Geoff Posner, the Malaysian Poet Kee Thuan Chye
, the veteran BBC Correspondent Brian Hanrahan
, the novelists Lucy Ellman, Jonathan Wilson, Tim Binding, John Lawton, as well as the Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri
, and the jazz guitarist John Etheridge
.
In the field of architecture, world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind
, who was recently commissioned to rebuild the World Trade Center Site in New York City, attended Essex and completed an MA in the History and Theory of Architecture in 1972. The architectural historian Alberto Pérez-Gómez
, subsequently head of the History and Theory of Architecture program at McGill University
in Canada, obtained his M.A. and PhD degrees at Essex, graduating in 1975.
Many of the University's graduates have gone on to staff various university departments worldwide. Notable examples include the late Professor Erkin Bairam
(Economics, Otago), Professor Kusuma Karunaratne
(Sinhala, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and Vice-Chancellor, Colombo), Dr. Farish A. Noor
(NTU), Professor Michael Taylor
(Politics, Washington) and Professor Jean Drèze
(Economics, Delhi). It has been estimated that half of the sociology professors in UK Higher Education have completed all or part of their education at Essex. Some graduates have returned to Essex to hold positions within the University's various academic departments. These include the philosopher Simon Critchley
, Dean of International Development, Martin Henson
and the Director of Essex's Human Right's Centre, John Packer.
In 2009 it was reported that Essex University graduates go on to greater than average success in business when compared with other universities.
In Oct 2010, the Nobel Economics prize was jointly awarded to Christopher A. Pissarides
, who had completed his B.A and M.A in Economics at the University of Essex in the early 1970s.
Campus university
A campus university is a British term for a university situated on one site, with student accommodation, teaching and research facilities, and leisure activities all together...
whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 1965. It now consists of 18 main teaching departments and 36 centres and institutes in a wide range of subject areas, including the fields of biological sciences, computer science, acting, economics, business, health/human sciences, history, language and linguistics, mathematical sciences, human rights, law, literature, film studies, theatre studies, philosophy/art history, psychology, sociology & government.
The university's main campus
Campus university
A campus university is a British term for a university situated on one site, with student accommodation, teaching and research facilities, and leisure activities all together...
is located within Wivenhoe Park
Wivenhoe Park
Wivenhoe Park, located on the Eastern edge of Colchester is a multi-acre landscaped green space.Until the 1960s its main claim to fame was that it was the setting for one of Constable's landscape paintings. From the 1960s onwards, however, it has been home to the University of Essex. The park is...
in the English county of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, less than a mile (1.6 km) from the town of Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe is a town in north eastern Essex, England, approximately south east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two separate settlements but with considerable development in the 19th century the...
& 2 miles (3.2 km) from the town of Colchester. Apart from the Wivenhoe Park campus, there are campuses in Southend
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
, and Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
(home of the East 15 Acting School
East 15 Acting School
East 15 is a British drama school in Debden, Loughton, Essex. At the main campus, Loughton, it occupies an 18th century mansion, Hatfields, and has its own theatre, the Corbett, which is adjacent. The Corbett Theatre is an adaptation of a 15th-century barn...
) The University's motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
, Thought the harder, heart the keener, is adapted from the Anglo-Saxon poem The Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent a Viking invasion...
.
The Uuiversity enjoys collaborative partnerships with a number of institutions across the eastern region. These are University Campus Suffolk
University Campus Suffolk
University Campus Suffolk ' is an educational institution located in the county of Suffolk, United Kingdom that welcomed its first students in September 2007. Until then Suffolk was one of only three counties in England which did not have a University campus...
, Colchester Institute
Colchester Institute
Colchester Institute is a large provider of further and higher education based in the town of Colchester, and includes the Centre for Music and Performing Arts, Centre for Hospitality and Food Studies, and the Professional Training Centre. Higher Education courses are accredited by the University...
, Kaplan Open Learning (KOL), South Essex College and Writtle College
Writtle College
Writtle College is one of the largest land-based university colleges in the UK; it is also one of the oldest. Writtle, previously known as Writtle Agricultural College, is a Partner Institution of the University of Essex and teaches FE and HE programmes.- Writtle :The college has diversified over...
.
The principal officers of the university (2011) are:
Chancellor: Lord Phillips of Sudbury OBE, Pro-Chancellor: Auriol Stevens BA, Pro-Chancellor: Mr David Boyle MA, JP, DL, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council: Lord Currie of Marylebone, BSc MSocSci PhD, Vice-Chancellor: Professor Colin Riordan BA, PhD
and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability and Resources): Professor Jules Pretty OBE, FRSA, FIBiol
Founding
In July 1959, Essex County Council accepted a proposal from AldermanAlderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
Charles (later Lord) Leatherland that a University be established in the county. A University Promotion Committee was formed chaired by Lord Lieutenant of Essex
Lord Lieutenant of Essex
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Since 1688, all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Essex.*John Petre, 1st Baron Petre*John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford 1558–?...
, Sir John Ruggles-Brise, which submitted a formal application to the University Grants Committee
University Grants Committee (UK)
The University Grants Committee was an advisory committee of the British government, which advised on the distribution of grant funding amongst the British universities. It was in existence from 1919 until 1989...
requesting that a University of Essex should be established. Initial reports suggested that the Promotion Committee had recommended Hylands Park
Hylands Park
Hylands House is a Grade II* neo-classical villa situated within Hylands Park a 232-hectare park south-west of Chelmsford in Essex in South East England. It is owned and operated by Chelmsford Borough Council.-History:...
in Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
as the site for the new University, however in May 1961, the foundation of the University was announced in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
with Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe is a town in north eastern Essex, England, approximately south east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two separate settlements but with considerable development in the 19th century the...
as the preferred location and in December of the same year, Wivenhoe Park was selected and acquired for the new university. In July 1962, Dr Albert Sloman, MA, DPhil, Gilmour Professor of Spanish and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
, was appointed as Vice-Chancellor and the Rt. Hon. R A (later Lord) Butler, CH, MP, was invited to be Chancellor, with Mr A Rowland-Jones appointed as Registrar.
The first Professors were appointed in May 1963: Alan Gibson in Physics, Peter Townsend in Sociology, Donald Davie
Donald Davie
Donald Alfred Davie was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes.-Biography:...
in Literature, Richard Lipsey
Richard Lipsey
Richard George Lipsey, OC, FRSC is a Canadian academic and economist. He is best known for his work on the economics of the second-best, a theory of constrained optimization by government of the tax system, which he co-authored with Kelvin Lancaster, a mathematical economist of high...
in Economics, Ian Proudman in Mathematics, Jean Blondel
Jean Blondel
Jean Blondel is a French political scientist specialising in comparative politics. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, and visiting professor at the University of Siena....
in Government, and John Bradley in Chemistry. With its first staff appointed, a development plan for the university was published and a £1million Appeal Fund was launched, and within six months the Appeal Fund had exceeded its £1million target with The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
and Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
among contributors, while work began on clearing the site for building work. In Autumn 1963, red was chosen as the University colour and the first prospectus was prepared and work began on the first permanent buildings; the science block and boiler room next to Wivenhoe House. In January 1964, Hardy Amies
Hardy Amies
Hardy Amies, Ltd. is a British-based fashion house specialising in modern luxury menswear.-Sir Edwin Hardy Amies:Sir Edwin Hardy Amies, KCVO , was a British fashion designer, best known for his official title as dressmaker for Queen Elizabeth II, from her accession to the throne until his...
designed the university's academic robes and temporary teaching huts had to be erected close to Wivenhoe House, while in March Sir John Ruggles-Brise was appointed the first Pro-Chancellor and Alderman Leatherland the first Treasurer of the University. Two months later the university's Armorial Bearings were published, with the motto "Thought the harder, heart the keener".
Expansion
In October 1964, the first 122 students arrived with 28 teaching staff in three schools: Comparative Studies, Physical Sciences and Social Studies. Departments of ChemistryChemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Government, Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, Literature, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and Economics open along with the Language Centre (later the Department of Language and Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
) and the Computing Centre (later the Department of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering) with Denis Mesure elected as the first President of the Students' Council. Work started on the first residential tower, Rayleigh in December with The Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
approving the grant of Charter to take effect from 11 January 1965.
1965 brought 399 students enrolling for the start of the new academic year; the number of academic staff more than doubled to 61; and the first degrees, five MSc and five MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degrees were awarded. The Physics building opened and the first six floors of Rayleigh tower were ready for occupation, while work began on the Albert Sloman Library. The first female lecturer was appointed: Dr Dorothy E. Smith
Dorothy E. Smith
Dorothy Edith Smith is a Canadian sociologist with research interests, besides in sociology, in many disciplines including women's studies, psychology, and educational studies, as well as sub-fields of sociology including feminist theory, family studies, and methodology...
in the Department of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. In December, University Court met for the first time with around 500 members. Six months later, work started on the Lecture Theatre Building, plus the 'Topping out' of Keynes tower.
In October 1966, the Hexagon Restaurant and General Store opened, with the number of students reaching 750. Lord Butler was installed as Chancellor at a ceremony held in Colchester's Moot Hall in 1967 and the first Honorary Degrees were presented, the University's Mace was carried for the first time, while the first annual Degree Congregation saw 135 degrees conferred in July. At the start of the next academic year, the departments of Computer Science and Electronic Systems Engineering accepted their first students, the SSRC Data Bank (later renamed the UK Data Archive) was established and the Lecture Theatre Building and Library opened along with the first phase of the Social and Comparative Studies building, while work proceeded on Tawney and William Morris residential towers.
The 1960s
Essex University was at the forefront of 1960s student unrest. At a time of worldwide protest against the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the student movement was taking off all over the world. In March 1968, a demonstration against a visit to the University by Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
received national publicity. Seven students were summoned to a disciplinary hearings but student sit-ins prevented these hearings taking place.
On Tuesday, 7 May 1968, Dr Inch from Porton Down
Porton Down
Porton Down is a United Kingdom government and military science park. It is situated slightly northeast of Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility which is operated by QinetiQ...
came to give a lecture at the university. In a carefully planned demonstration, an indictment was read out as Dr Inch attempted to speak, citing chemical and biological warfare activities at Porton Down. University authorities called in police with dogs, probably for the first time in an English university. Students outnumbered police and managed to prevent arrests.
On Friday, 10 May, three students, Pete Archard, Raphael Halberstadt and David Triesman (now Lord Triesman) were suspended and ordered off the campus. No evidence or charges were notified to the students, and no opportunity was given for the students to present their defence.
Wyvern reported that on Monday, 13 May, “Students picket all entrances to the University from early morning distributing leaflets calling all students and staff to meeting to discuss suspension of the three students. A huge meeting attended by nearly all the University population, voted overwhelmingly to refuse to participate in the University – in its place a Free University was declared ”.
The 1970s and the 1980s
Between the 1970s and the 1980s, the University added a health Centre, day nursery, printing centre, bookstore, exhibition gallery and expanded the current student residences. New student residences were also constructed during this time. The departments of philosophy, school of law, human rights centre and the department of biological sciences were also opened.In the late 1970s, financial problems plagued the University and threatened its existence. During this later period of the 70s to the early 80s, the University began concentrating its teaching into large departments, allowing it to gain respect nationally and internationally in academics and teaching. Cooperation with local companies was forged, allowing the university to secure vital research contracts. Due to its growing international reputation, the University began to attract a sizable number of International Students.
In 1987 Professor Martin Harris was appointed Vice-Chancellor, taking over from the founding Vice-Chancellor, Albert Sloman. Also, in this year, University of Essex alumni Oscar Arias
Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as President from 1986 to 1990 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars then raging in several other Central American countries.He is also a...
won the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
.
The 1990s
The University entered the 1990s with the expansion of its facilities, adding new residential blocks to provide further living space for its student population between 1991 and 1992. The Rab Butler building was opened in 1991 as the headquarters for the British Household Panel SurveyBritish Household Panel Survey
The British Household Panel Survey , carried out at the Institute for Social and Economic Research of the University of Essex, is an instrument for social and economic research. A sample of British households was drawn and first interviewed in 1991. The members of these original households have...
. By its 30th Anniversary in 1993, the University had built itself up into 17 key departments, providing education and research opportunities for 5,500 students, and employing 1,300 staff and faculty. The University also contained 5 industrial units and housed the Economic and Social Research Council's Data Archive. Further expansion continued to take place after 1993, with the £5.5 million expansion scheme for the provision of 234 new apartments for 1,200 students in a new student village.
Recent developments
On 25 November 2004, Her Majesty the QueenElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and the Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
visited the University as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations (1964–2004). Some of the longest running members of staff etc. were invited to meet them at the presentation including the University's first student, John M. Dowden. Starting postgraduate research on fluid dynamics at the age of 23 in 1963, John later became a professor of mathematics and was the head of the University's Mathematics Department from 2001–2005. He retired in September 2008.
The University is constantly expanding. The Network Centre building opened in May 2004 housing the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering and parts of the Department of Computer Science (who merged in 2007 to create Computer and Electronic Systems). The University Quays, a student accommodation complex housing 770 students, opened in September 2003. The Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, with a 1,000 seat capacity, opened in 2006. In Southend the £26m Gateway Building opened in 2007, a former church been converted to the Clifftown Town Centre providing East 15 students with studios and workshop spaces. University Square, a 560 bedroom development near to the Gateway building opened in September 2010. At Wivenhoe Park, the 'Social Science Research Centre' was completed in February 2007, housing the University's Institute of Social and Economic Research and the UK Data Archive
UK Data Archive
The UK Data Archive is a national centre of expertise in data archiving in the United Kingdom . It houses the largest collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities in the UK....
. A new building for the School of Health and Human Sciences was opened in 2008, as was the 'Centre for Brain Science' housing part of the Psychology department. Work is currently underway on a multi-phase 'Knowledge Gateway' project on the Wivenhoe campus. In 2013 three major projects are due for completion on the Colchester campus: a new Student Centre and Library extension, a new Business School building and The Meadows, a new 540 bedroom student accommodation project. Also in 2013, a new building is due to be completed providing a new library and teaching facilities in Southend.
Wivenhoe House, an 18th century manor house on Wivenhoe Park, closed in December 2009 and is due to reopen in 2012 as the Edge Hotel School, a four star country house hotel which will also be the UKs first working hotel school dedicated to the development of future leaders of the hotel and hospitality industry.
Departments and Research Centres
The University is organised into four faculties, comprising 18 schools and departments, spanning the Humanities, Law and Management, Social Sciences and Science and Engineering. In the last national Research Assessment Exercise the University of Essex was ranked ninth overall, with many schools and departments confirmed as amongst the best in the country.Its departments of Economics, Government (Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
), Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and Language and Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
are particularly well-known and are among the best in Europe as well as its school of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. Essex's research in politics, economics and sociology received top (5*) ratings in the UK government's 2001 Research Assessment Exercise
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise is an exercise undertaken approximately every 5 years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British higher education institutions...
.
The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) is a leading research centre for the analysis of panel data in Economics and Sociology. It opened in 1989 as the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change in Britain and now houses the ESRC-funded Understanding Society project, a world leading longitudinal study of the socio-economic circumstances and attitudes of 100,000 individuals in 40,000 British households.
In September 2000 the East 15 Acting School
East 15 Acting School
East 15 is a British drama school in Debden, Loughton, Essex. At the main campus, Loughton, it occupies an 18th century mansion, Hatfields, and has its own theatre, the Corbett, which is adjacent. The Corbett Theatre is an adaptation of a 15th-century barn...
became part of the University. The School is based in Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
in southwest Essex and has a branch in Southend.
The School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering was inaugurated on 1 August 2007. It was created by merging two long-established departments: The Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering which both began in 1966. It has particular strengths in Robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
, Telecommunications, Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
and Logic and Computation. In 1999 a robotic football team from the department came third in the RoboCup 99 - part of the Robot Wars (TV series)
Robot Wars (TV series)
Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
. Current notable academics in this school include Richard Bartle
Richard Bartle
Richard Allan Bartle is a British writer, professor and game researcher, best known for being the co-creator of MUD1 and the author of the seminal Designing Virtual Worlds. He is one of the pioneers of the massively multiplayer online game industry.-Life and career:Bartle received a Ph.D...
, best known as co-creator of MUD1
MUD1
Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
, Professor Ray Turner
Ray Turner
Professor Raymond Turner is an English logician and theoretical computer scientist based at the University of Essex. He is best known for his work on logic in computer science and for his pioneering work in the philosophy of computer science...
for his numerous publication relating to Logic and Computation, Professor Vic Callaghan as head of the Intelligent Environments Group (IEG) and Simon Lucas for his research into Computational Intelligence
Computational Intelligence
Computational Intelligence is an international, peer-reviewed journal, published by Wiley-Blackwell.The editors for 2009 are Ali Ghorbani, and Evangelos Milios.- External links :* — official website...
and Computer Games namely for his current research with the UK Research Network on Artificial Intelligence and Video Game technologies.
The Photonics Hyperhighway project began in 2010 and is planned to run for 6 years. It was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) with an aims to focus on energy-efficient ultra high capacity ICT infrastructure. The project plans to make broadband internet 100 times faster including partnership with the BBC to help broadcast ultra high definition content.
The Institute of Democracy and Conflict Resolution (IDCR), is planning a new flagship building on the Knowledge Gateway part of the Colchester campus, having appointed world-renowned architecht Daniel Libeskind, an alumnus of the University.
Partner institutions
The University has strong regional agenda and a number of partner institutions in the region: Colchester Institute, South Essex College (in Southend), Writtle CollegeWrittle College
Writtle College is one of the largest land-based university colleges in the UK; it is also one of the oldest. Writtle, previously known as Writtle Agricultural College, is a Partner Institution of the University of Essex and teaches FE and HE programmes.- Writtle :The college has diversified over...
(near Chelmsford), the Tavistock and Portman Trust (in London) and University Campus Suffolk
University Campus Suffolk
University Campus Suffolk ' is an educational institution located in the county of Suffolk, United Kingdom that welcomed its first students in September 2007. Until then Suffolk was one of only three counties in England which did not have a University campus...
, a joint venture with the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
, with a central campus in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
and five centres in Suffolk and Norfolk. Its latest partner is Kaplan
Kaplan, Inc.
Kaplan, Inc. is a for-profit corporation headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation materials and other services for various levels of education...
Open Learning, delivering on-line foundation degrees.
Reputation
Essex is among the smallest multi-faculty universities in Britain and is a member of the 1994 Group1994 Group
The 1994 Group is a coalition of 19 top "smaller research-intensive universities" in the United Kingdom founded in 1994 to defend their interests following the creation of the Russell Group by larger research-intensive universities earlier that year...
. Despite its small size, Essex has developed an international reputation for teaching and research. The annual Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection, now approaching its 41st year, attracts faculty and students from all over the world as does the world renowned human rights centre celebrating its 25th year.
The university was known as a left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
hotbed with respect to faculty and students, but today is characterized, as most UK campuses, by rather less radical student politics.
The University of Essex was rated ninth in the UK in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE, 2008) and was in the top 20 for student satisfaction, amongst mainstream English universities, following the National Student Survey (NSS, 2011).
The 2010 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Professor Christopher Pissarides who gained his BA and MA degrees in Economics at the University in the early 1970s.
In the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 the University of Essex scored notably well in Computer Science and Informatics
achieving 50% for research at level 3 of the RAE scale and 40% at level 3 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
.
Rankings
According to an annual Times Higher-QS world ranking exercise, the University is ranked amongst the world's top-300 universities, placed at 258. The University also performs relatively well in the Guardian, Times & The Independent Rankings for Universities. It recently placed 31st in the Guardian's 2009 League Table, 34th in the Times 2009 Good University Guides, and 25th in The Independent's University Guide 2009. A separate Subject Ranking of Political Science Departments by Simon Hix of the London School of EconomicsLondon School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
places the University's Government Department 17th worldwide, ahead of the University of Cambridge & University of Oxford in the UK but behind the London School of Economics.
The University confirmed its position as one of the UK’s elite research universities when it was ranked as the 9th-best university in the UK for the quality of its research in The Times, The Guardian, and The Independent's 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) tables.
| 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times Good University Guide | 41st | 43rd | 42nd | 36th | 30th | 29th | 27th | 30th | 25th | 31st | 29th | 29th | 29th | 24th | 20th | 29th | 36th= | 32nd= | 46th= | |
| Guardian University Guide | 39th | 43rd | 48th | 36th | 43rd | – | 31st | 47th | 48th | 17th | 10th | |||||||||
| Sunday Times University Guide | 42nd | 46th | 39th | 40th | 36th | 33rd | 33rd | 32nd | 36th | 30th | 28th | 30th= | 30th | |||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 34nd | 23rd | ||||||||||||||||||
| Independent – Complete University Guide | 37th | 30th | 25th | 34th | ||||||||||||||||
| FT | 29th | 17th | 25th | 25th |
Wivenhoe Park campus
The main campus, Wivenhoe Park, was once painted by famous landscape painter John ConstableJohn Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
. With its concrete architecture, it is typical of England's 60s' universities. Wivenhoe Park houses the main 1960s buildings along with an 18th century house that also features in Constable's painting. Wivenhoe House was, until 2010, operated as a hotel and conference centre. It was closed in December 2010 for major refurbishment and will reopen in 2012 as a combined four-star country house hotel and hotel school.
There are 2 small lakes on campus (in the middle of one is the Vice-Chancellor's House).
The architect of the University of Essex campus took the Tuscan town of San Gimignano
San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town....
with its squares and towers as an inspiration (the University has six residential towers mainly for undergraduates, but the original plan was to build 29). As well as the towers, South Courts and the University Quays residences provide enough space to guarantee every first year a place on campus as well as all overseas students. Due to its particular form of architecture involving the use of prefabricated concrete and glass, the University is referred to as a Plate Glass University
Plate glass university
The term plate glass university has come into use by some to refer to one of the several universities founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s in the era of the Robbins Report on higher education. In some cases these were older schools with new Royal Charters, now making them universities...
.
The library has one of the few remaining still operating continuous loop paternoster lifts in the country.
Student body
The University has a very large population of international students, with over 2,500 international students in 2011. . Nearly 50% of postgraduates, and a quarter of undergraduates are students whose country of origin is outside of the UK (including EU). The University boasts a large proportion of local students from state schools, and a third of its undergraduates are from working class homes.Students' Union
The University of Essex Students' Union is well regarded nationally with awards including: officially recognised as a leading Students’ Union by the Students’ Union Evaluation Initiative, awarded Investors In People status as a good employer, winner of Sound Impact Environmental Award for ethical and environmental performance, Sub Zero was voted ‘Best Student Venue in the UK’ at the Smirnoff BEDA Awards. It has been successful in expanding services offered including considerable expansion and relocation of its Advice Centre. The Students' Union runs the majority of commercial services on campus. Its shops stock a great deal of imported food products, reflecting the University's international community. It has many licensed venues including the SU bar and club-style venues: Mondo, Level 2, and the newly refurbished Sub Zero (formerly the Underground and before that the Dancehall), which have hosted many bands and DJ's. Sub Zero was voted best student union venue upon its refurbishment and is one of the biggest in the country, with a capacity of over 1,200. The Students' Union Bar underwent a £400,000 refurbishment in the summer of 2010.The Students Union employs about 380 student staff and 50 permanent staff to work in its shops, venues, etc. The University of Essex Students Union was the first SU in the UK to receive the 'Investors in people Gold' award in late 2009.
The Students' Union underwent a wide scale reform in 2007-8, in which the trustee and executive functions were separated, and greater voice was given to satellite campuses. The Executive Committee on the main Colchester campus is composed of 5 full time officers (the President and 4 vice-presidents) and 7 part-time officers. The current President of the Students' Union is Hentley Ignatius. The Students' Union is a member of the National Union of Students and many of its members are actively involved.
Sports
The University has a wide range of sports clubs, including many unusual sports such as disc golfDisc golf
Disc golf is a disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc into a basket or at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, "The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc." Of the more than 3000...
and American Football. Many of the University's Sports Clubs, known as the Essex Blades, achieve national success. In 2005–06, the Pool Team became the best in Britain winning the BUSA Championships defeating Cardiff in the final. In the 2007–08 season, the University of Essex Rugby Club won the BUSA Vase defeating Robert Gordon University 15–10 in the final as well as achieving promotion. The University's Basketball and Netball clubs also reached BUSA finals in the 2007–08 season. The University boasts a well-equipped sports centre, including a fitness suite, squash courts, netball and tennis courts and a 9 m climbing wall used by the University of Essex Mountaineering Club. The University has its own sailing clubhouse and boat-park at nearby Brightlingsea
Brightlingsea
Brightlingsea is a coastal town in the Tendring district of Essex, England, located between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, situated at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. It has an estimated population of 8500....
. The gym surface was doubled in 2010 to allow more students to fit in and improve the quality and environment of the training facilities.
Once a year, a special event called 'Derby Day' sees a wide sport contest between the University of Essex clubs and the University of East Anglia sport teams. The event is hosted alternatively by Essex and UEA.
Recent buildings
The Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, which opened in October 2006 and was designed by the architect Patel Taylor, has attracted a mixed response, with Prince Charles reputedly referring to it as 'like a dustbin'., while the Civic Trust, a charity of which he is patron, have awarded it a Civic Trust award (2008) for making 'an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment', some students affectionately call the building 'the tuna can'. The building was named after Professor Sir Ivor CreweIvor Crewe
Sir Ivor Martin Crewe is the Master of University College, Oxford. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex and Professor in the Department of Government....
in April 2007, to mark his retirement from the position of vice chancellor, a position he had held since 1995.
The University's 'Gateway' building in Southend was opened in January 2007, housing the academic activities including business, health and acting, as well as being home to programmes operated in collaboration with Queen Mary Dental School, a GP practice and a business incubation centre.
New buildings have recently opened housing the departments of Psychology and Health and Human Sciences.
Links with industry
Through the 1990s, and the influence of policy activity in the United States stimulated by the Bayh-Dole ActBayh-Dole Act
The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act is United States legislation dealing with intellectual property arising from federal government-funded research. Adopted in 1980, Bayh-Dole is codified in -212, and implemented by 37 C.F.R. 401. Among other things, it gave U.S...
, the British Government has sought to strengthen the links between universities and industry as a means to contribute to economic growth and the technological capacity of companies through technology transfer and exploitation of university ideas. Essex University has received grants from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) delivered by HEFCE and other government departments to develop such capacity to link with industry. A Research and Enterprise Office has been established, which is to be complemented with the development of a research park adjacent to the campus. Links between the university and industry have mostly been found within the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE). CSEE has maintained a long standing relationship with the Japanese photography and printing company, Canon, as well as links with British Telecom.
Notable alumni
In its relatively short history, the University of Essex has produced many accomplished graduates in the field of politics, social science, technology and the arts, as well as two Nobel Prize winners.The former President of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as President from 1986 to 1990 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars then raging in several other Central American countries.He is also a...
, completed his doctorate in Political Science at the University in 1973, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. Ex-Vice President of Costa Rica, Dr Kevin Roberto Casas Zamora, also completed his studies in Essex, earning a MA in Latin American Government & Politics in 1993. Other political figures educated at Essex include the foreign ministers of Slovenia (Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel is a Slovenian politician.- Biography :Rupel was born in Ljubljana, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, into a bourgeois family of former anti-fascist political emigrants from the Julian March .After receiving a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and...
) & Iraq (Hoshyar Zebari
Hoshyar Zebari
Hoshyar Zebari is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq. A Kurd originally from Aqrah, a city in Iraqi Kurdistan, Zebari holds a masters degree in sociology from the University of Essex, England and studied political science in Jordan...
), Conservative Party MPs Virginia Bottomley
Virginia Bottomley
Virginia Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, PC, DL is a British Conservative Party politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1984 to 2005. She was raised to the peerage in 2005...
& John Bercow
John Bercow
John Simon Bercow is a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker he was a member of the Conservative party....
, now Speaker of the House of Commons, Labour Party MP Siobhain McDonagh
Siobhain McDonagh
Siobhain Ann McDonagh is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden since 1997. She previously served as an Assistant Whip in the Labour Government, but was fired following comments regarding a leadership contest to replace PM Gordon Brown.She...
, Pakistani Social Activist Omar Asghar Khan
Omar Asghar Khan
Omar Asghar Khan was a Pakistani economist, social, political scientist. A professor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Quaid-i-Azam University, he was the founder of Qaumi Jamhoori Party ....
, South African politician Thozamile Botha
Thozamile Botha
Thozamile Botha is a South African politician. He started his political career as a trade unionist and was an executive member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Due to the apartheid government he went into exile in 1980 to Lesotho where he worked with Chris Hani...
and Singapore social activist James Gomez
James Gomez
Dr. James Gomez is an academic from Singapore and he manages an online consultancy – The GOMEZ Centre. A prominent public intellectual in the country, he is currently the Executive Director of Singaporeans for Democracy and a member of the Singapore Democratic Party .-Biography:Gomez was born in...
(MA 1994). Two of those convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions connected to The Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade was a small British militant group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in Britain between 1970 and 1972.-History:During the summer of 1968 there were a number of demonstrations in London against the American involvement in the Vietnam War, centred on the American Embassy in...
, Hilary Creek and Anna Mendleson
Anna Mendelssohn
Anna Mendelssohn , who wrote under the name Grace Lake, was a British writer, poet and political activist...
, had been to Essex University but left without taking their degrees.
Notable alumni in the field of the Humanities & Media include Stephen Daldry
Stephen Daldry
Stephen David Daldry, CBE is an English theatre and film director and producer, as well as a three-time Academy Award nominated and Tony Award winning director.-Early years:...
& Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, who both studied at the East 15 Acting School (part of the University of Essex since 2001), the Artistic Director William Burdett-Coutts (MA Drama), the Documentary Filmmaker Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas "Nick" Broomfield is an English documentary film-maker. He is the son of Maurice Broomfield, a photographer.Broomfield works with a minimal crew, recording sound himself and using one or two camera operators...
, the TV comedy producer Geoff Posner, the Malaysian Poet Kee Thuan Chye
Kee Thuan Chye
Kee Thuan Chye is a prominent Malaysian actor, dramatist, poet and journalist. Acting in theatre, films, and on television for more than 30 years, he continues to do so. In 1981, Kee co-founded the theatre group, KAMI, in Kuala Lumpur...
, the veteran BBC Correspondent Brian Hanrahan
Brian Hanrahan
Brian Hanrahan was the Diplomatic Editor for BBC News and a well known correspondent. He also presented The World at One on BBC Radio Four and appeared on regular cover shifts on the rolling news channel BBC News 24...
, the novelists Lucy Ellman, Jonathan Wilson, Tim Binding, John Lawton, as well as the Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri
Ben Okri
Ben Okri OBE FRSL is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Okri has become the leading figure of his generation of Nigerian writers who have largely abandoned the social and historical themes of Chinua Achebe, and brought together modernist narrative strategies and Nigerian oral and literary...
, and the jazz guitarist John Etheridge
John Etheridge
John Michael Glyn Etheridge is a British jazz/fusion guitarist associated with the Canterbury Scene....
.
In the field of architecture, world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind, is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect...
, who was recently commissioned to rebuild the World Trade Center Site in New York City, attended Essex and completed an MA in the History and Theory of Architecture in 1972. The architectural historian Alberto Pérez-Gómez
Alberto Pérez-Gómez
Alberto Pérez-Gómez is an architectural historian and is also known as a theorist and a promoter of phenomenology. Born December 24, 1949 in Mexico City, Mexico, he graduated as an engineer and architect from the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico and pursued graduate studies in the history...
, subsequently head of the History and Theory of Architecture program at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Canada, obtained his M.A. and PhD degrees at Essex, graduating in 1975.
Many of the University's graduates have gone on to staff various university departments worldwide. Notable examples include the late Professor Erkin Bairam
Erkin Bairam
Erkin Bairam was a Cypriot-born economist who spent most of his working life in the Department of Economics at the University of Otago, New Zealand, where he was Professor in Economics....
(Economics, Otago), Professor Kusuma Karunaratne
Kusuma Karunaratne
Kusuma Karunaratne nee Ediriweera Jayasooriya is a Sri Lankan academic, university administrator, Professor and scholar of Sinhalese language and literature.-Personal life:...
(Sinhala, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and Vice-Chancellor, Colombo), Dr. Farish A. Noor
Farish A. Noor
Dr. Farish Ahmad Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and historian and is presently a Senior Fellow at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore...
(NTU), Professor Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor (political scientist)
Michael Taylor is a political theorist and political economist, who is currently a professor at the University of Washington. His research interests include rational choice theory, moral motivation and game theory....
(Politics, Washington) and Professor Jean Drèze
Jean Drèze
Jean Drèze is a development economist who has been influential in Indian economic policymaking. He is a naturalized Indian of Belgian origin. His work in India include issues like hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health and education, and the NREGA...
(Economics, Delhi). It has been estimated that half of the sociology professors in UK Higher Education have completed all or part of their education at Essex. Some graduates have returned to Essex to hold positions within the University's various academic departments. These include the philosopher Simon Critchley
Simon Critchley
Simon Critchley is an English philosopher currently teaching at The New School. He works in continental philosophy. Critchley argues that philosophy commences in disappointment, either religious or political...
, Dean of International Development, Martin Henson
Martin Henson
Professor Martin C. Henson FBCS FRSA is an English computer scientist based at the University of Essex. He is Dean of International Development and is affiliated to the School of Computer Science & Electronic Engineering....
and the Director of Essex's Human Right's Centre, John Packer.
In 2009 it was reported that Essex University graduates go on to greater than average success in business when compared with other universities.
In Oct 2010, the Nobel Economics prize was jointly awarded to Christopher A. Pissarides
Christopher A. Pissarides
Christopher Antoniou Pissarides F.B.A. is a Cypriot economist. He currently holds the Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics at the London School of Economics. His research interests focus on several topics of macroeconomics, notably labor, economic growth, and economic policy. In 2010, he was awarded...
, who had completed his B.A and M.A in Economics at the University of Essex in the early 1970s.