University of Warwick

The University of Warwick is a world-class campus university which, despite its name, is located mainly inside the southern boundary of Coventry, England, some 11 km (c. 7 miles) from the town of Warwick, the remainder of the campus (the Cryfield site) being situated across Gibbet Hill Road on land donated by Warwickshire.

Despite being one of the UK's younger universities (founded in 1965), Warwick University has quickly established itself as a global heavyweight in higher education. Departments with a particularly strong reputation include Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Warwick-Horticulture Research International (http://www.warwickhri.ac.uk/), Computer Science, Economics and Business. It is also home to the Modern Records Centre, Britain's largest repository of the archives of trade unions and industrial relations.

A recent addition is the Leicester-Warwick Medical School, one of the first graduate medical schools opened in an attempt to respond to the chronic lack of doctors in the UK.

It is a member of both the Russell Group and the 1994 Group.

Attainment

The University was ranked 5th among the UK's 100 universities for quality of research in the UK Funding Councils' 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Over 91% of the University's academic staff are located in departments with top research ratings of 5 or 5*.

22 of the 24 University academic departments which have been assessed under the Subject Review process conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education have been rated 'excellent' (scored 21 or more points out of 24) for the quality of their teaching. Seven departments have achieved the maximum score of 24 out of 24.

The Guardian University Guide ranks Warwick eighth overall. The Times Good University Guide 2004 ranks Warwick fifth overall.

Staff

Famous lecturers at Warwick include:

• Germaine Greer, the feminist author
• Ian Stewart, the popular science author
• Mike Cowlishaw, creator of the REXX programming language.
• Andrew Davies, the television screenwriter.
• Stephen Houlgate, Bill Brewer, Keith Ansell-Pearson, philosophers
• Andrew Oswald, economist

The Mathematics Department and Mathematics Institute was founded by Sir Christopher Zeeman, famous topologist and exponent of Catastrophe theory.

Alumni

The following famous people attended the University of Warwick:

• Jennie Bond (French and European Literature ? - 1968) - former BBC Royal Correspondent
• Jonathan Coe - novelist
• David Davis (Molecular Science/Computer Science, 1968 - 1971) - Conservative politician
• Kim Howells - Minister for Higher Education at the Department for Education and Skills
• Timmy Mallett (History) - 1980s children's television presenter
• The Baroness Amos (Sociology, ?1973? - 1976) - Britain's first female black Cabinet Minister, currently Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council.
• Yakubu Gowon (PhD in Political Science) - Nigerian leader
• Estelle Morris - former Labour Education Secretary of State and currently a junior Minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
• Hannah Waterman - actor
• Alex Jennings - actor who has performed in many lead roles at the RSC
• Sting (did not graduate) - lead singer of The Police band and solo artist
• Paul W. S. Anderson - film director
• Frank Skinner - comedian
• Simon Mayo - radio DJ
• Brian Deer - journalist
• David Wood - philosopher at Vanderbilt University
• Andrew Benjamin - philosopher at Monash University

Chancellors

• Lord Radcliffe (1965 - 1977)
• Lord Scarman (1977 - 1989)
• Sir Shridath Ramphal (1989 - 2002)
• Sir Nicholas Scheele (2003- present )

Vice-Chancellors

• Lord Butterworth 1965-1985
• Dr C.L. Brundin (1985 - 1992)
• Sir Brian K. Follet (1993 - 2001)
• Professor David VandeLinde (2001 - present)

Students' Union

The University of Warwick Students' Union is the largest and one of the more active Students' Unions in the UK, with a vibrant range of over 150 student-run societies and sports clubs. The Union building features 4 club venues and 7 bars, with many 'full union' nights giving you free run of the entire building.

The Union has a nationally-renowned Equal Opportunities policy, and is a member of NUS (the National Union of Students) and WMANUS (West Midlands Area NUS).

University Arts Centre

Situated in the centre of the University, the Warwick Arts Centre is the second largest arts centre in the UK (after London's Barbican).

The centre comprises:

• The Butterworth Hall, a 1500 seat capacity concert hall
• A 550 seat Theatre
• A 180 seat Studio
• A 220 seat Cinema
• The Mead Gallery, an art gallery

Information

In 2002, the total number of students was 17,904. This figure comprises:

undergraduates: 10,077

postgraduates: 6,272

overseas undergraduate and postgraduate students: 2,948

other programmes: 1,555

overseas students on other programmes: 1,484

Total number of staff: 4,354

including:

academic: 824

other research: 728

Size of campus:

2.9 km² (720 acres)

The University's coat of arms includes atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear of Warwickshire (NB the bear is not chained in the University's current coat of arms - although it was in earlier versions) and the Elephant of Coventry. The current crest can be seen at: University of Warwick crest page (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/corporate/guidelines/identity/core/crest/)

External links

• University of Warwick website (http://www.warwick.ac.uk/)
• University of Warwick Students' Union website (http://www.sunion.warwick.ac.uk)
• RaW - Multi award winning Student Radio Station (http://www.radio.warwick.ac.uk)
• Warwick Television: Student TV Station (http://www.warwicktv.co.uk)
• Warwick Video Game Design Society (http://www.warwickgamedesign.co.uk)
• Warwick Boar: Student Newspaper (http://www.warwickboar.co.uk)
• Warwick-HRI (http://www.warwickhri.ac.uk/)