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University of East Anglia
Motto:	Do Different
Established:	29 September 1963
Type:	Public
Endowment:	£5.6 million1
Chancellor:	Sir Brandon Gough
Vice-Chancellor:	Professor Bill MacMillan
Visitor:	The Lord President of the Council ex officio
Staff:	2,9662
Undergraduates:	15,1903
Postgraduates:	4,3953
Location:	Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
Campus:	320 acres (1.29km²)4
Colours:	Black and Blue5
Affiliations:	1994 Group ACU Universities UK
Website:	www.uea.ac.uk

The University of East Anglia is a campus-based university located in Norwich, England, and founded in 1963.⁶ The university is a member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.⁷ The University was ranked 20th in the The Times Good University Guide 2008,⁸ and joint first for student satisfaction among mainstream universities in the 2006 National Student Survey.⁹ The University was also ranked 57th in Europe, and one of the top 200 universities in the world, in the 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.¹⁰

History

Earlham Hall, childhood home of Elizabeth Fry, now home to Norwich Law School

Talk of establishing a university in Norwich began as early as the 19th century, but it wasn't until 1960, as the post-war "bulge" generation was bringing about an expansion in higher education, that the University of East Anglia finally got the go-ahead.⁶ UEA admitted its first students in 1963 in temporary accommodation in Earlham Hall, on the western edge of the city of Norwich about 3 miles from the city centre, and the permanent campus was built on the adjacent Earlham Golf Course, principally to a design by Sir Denys Lasdun.¹¹

The UEA campus evolved to exhibit some interesting architectural features. The main teaching building takes the form of a continuous wall running approximately west-east. The early student residences built in the 1960s take the form of distinctive "ziggurats", but financial cutbacks by the early 1970s meant that the full original plan for building ziggurat residences had to be abandoned, and replaced by the less inspiring north-south wall of Waveney Terrace (which was demolished in 2006). UEA also took over the former RAF/US Air Force barracks at Horsham St. Faith airfield, and used them as residences until the early 1990s. This outpost of campus life was formally known as "Fifers Lane" from the road it stood on, but was called "Horsham" or simply "Fifers" by its residents. It developed its own unique style of student life. Being adjacent to extant army accommodation, the on-site general shop was a branch of the NAAFI. Fifers Lane eventually closed in 1994, when further residences, again in an advanced architectural style, were built on campus.

In the mid-1970s, extraction of gravel in the valley of the River Yare, which runs to the south of the campus, resulted in the university acquiring its own lake or "Broad" as it is sometimes referred to. At more or less the same time, a bequest of tribal art and 20th century painting and sculpture, by artists such as Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, from Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury resulted in the construction of the striking Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the western end of the main teaching wall, one of the first major works of architect Norman Foster.

Academic reputation

The university has a strong academic reputation and consistently places highly in national and international league tables.

In 2008 The Times newspaper ranked UEA 20th in the UK,¹² while in the same year UEA ranked 22nd in The Sunday Times,¹³ 20th in The Telegraph,¹⁵ 40th in The Guardian,¹⁴ and 20th in The Independent.¹⁶

Internationally, in 2007 the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities placed UEA 57th in Europe and 151-200th in the world,¹⁹ while in the same year The G-Factor World Rankings placed UEA 239th in the world.¹⁸

UEA has also had notable successes in terms of courses taught. The university's highly regarded MA in Creative Writing was founded by Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Sir Angus Wilson in 1970 and has gone on to produce a plethora of distinguished authors including Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro. Sir Malcolm Bradbury's 1975 novel The History Man is believed to be based on his experiences at the university, satirising as it does life and work in a modern 1960s-built University campus. The German émigré novelist W. G. Sebald also taught in the School of Literature until his untimely death, from a car accident, in 2001.²⁰ In addition, the Climatic Research Unit in the School of Environmental Sciences founded in 1972 by Hubert Lamb and presently directed by Phil Jones has been an early centre of work for climate change research.

Faculties and Schools

The university offers over 300 courses across 4 Faculties and 23 Schools of Study.² They are as follows:

Faculty of Arts and Humanities American Studies Film and Television Studies History Language, Linguistics and Translation Studies Literature and Creative Writing Music Philosophy Political, Social and International Studies World Art Studies and Museology Faculty of Health Allied Health Professions Medicine, Health Policy and Practice Nursing and Midwifery

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts designed by Lord Norman Foster to house the art collection of Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury Faculty of Science Biological Sciences Chemical Sciences & Pharmacy Computing Sciences Environmental Sciences Mathematics Faculty of Social Sciences Development Studies Economics Education and Lifelong Learning Law Norwich Business School Social Work and Psychology

Campus

Notable features of the UEA campus include Earlham Hall which is home to Norwich Law School, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the western end of the main teaching wall designed by Norman Foster to house the art collection of Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury, and "Sportspark", one of the biggest multi-sports facilities in the country, built in 2001 thanks to a £14.5 million grant from Sport England Lottery Fund.²¹ Other features include the large university lake or "broad" at the southern edge of campus, "The Square", a popular central outdoor meeting place at the heart of campus flanked by concrete steps.

Constable Terrace, one of the university's halls of residence

In terms of accommodation the university campus is home to 8 en-suite residences, namely Constable Terrace, Nelson Court, and Britten, Colman, Victory, Kett, Browne, and Paston Houses. The residences are named after Horatio Nelson, John Constable, Benjamin Britten, Jeremiah Colman, Horatio Nelson's ship HMS Victory, Robert Kett, Sir Thomas Browne and the Paston family who wrote the Paston Letters. The university also offers en-suite accommodation at the University Village, located adjacent to the university campus. There are also 4 non en-suite residences on campus, namely Norfolk and Suffolk terrace's also known as the ziggurats, and Orwell and Wolfson Close. In addition the university manages Mary Chapman Court, a hall of residence located in Norwich city centre.²²

Facilities on campus include the "Union Pub and Bar", a concert and disco venue called the "The LCR", a canteen called "Zest", a cafe/coffee shop called "The Blend", a bar/coffee shop called "The Hive", a graduate bar called the "Graduate Students Club" and "The Street" which features a 24-hour launderette, the Union Food Outlet, Union Paper Shop, Union Post Office, an espresso bar called "DolcHe Vita", branches of NatWest and Barclays, and a Waterstone's book shop.

The campus is linked to the city centre and railway station by frequent buses, operated by First, via Unthank Road or Earlham Road. First also operate frequent buses from the campus to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and to Bowthorpe.

Union of UEA Students

Main article: Union of UEA Students

The university's campus is home to many sculptural works, including a number of pieces by Henry Moore

The UEA Union has a selection of sports clubs and societies ranging from football and rugby clubs to the independent student newspaper Concrete. Nexus UTV, the campus television station, broadcasts news, comedy, documentaries and various other programmes, and is one of the oldest still-running student television stations in the country having been established in 1968.²³ Livewire 1350AM, the award winning campus radio station, which transmits to air on 1350AM in the vicinity of the University as well as broadcasting on the internet, was established in 1989. A more recent society, 'The Campus Sustainability Initiative', founded The Sustainability Initiative Fund where UEA students each pay a £1 per year sustainability fee with the proceeds going towards sustainable projects on campus such as implementing renewable energies or energy conservation projects. The initiative was supported by UEA students in a campus referendum with a 78% majority, and the project was inspired by a similar initiaitve at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The UEA Student Union operates many of the services on the university campus which are open to all members of the university community and the general public. Connected to both "The Street" and "The Square" is one of the most popular Union venues, the "Union Pub and Bar" which underwent extension and refurbishment at the cost of £1.2 million in 2002. Other bars include "The Hive" (which, due to efforts from the Students' Union, was refurbished for the start of the 2004/05 academic year), and the "Graduate Students Club". In the same building is The LCR, known in full as either The Large ²⁴ or Lower ²⁵ Common Room. The LCR is home to weekly campus discos, as well as the many touring gigs. The students' union also run The Waterfront venue off campus in Norwich's King Street.

The UEA student body is one of the more politically active among UK universities, with turnout at ballots averaging around 20% (compared to a national average of around 15%).²⁶ In 2007 the Union Council voted to oppose the National Union of Students' no-platform policy which bans extremists such as the BNP and Hizb-ut Tahrir from standing in NUS elections. A letter was sent to NUS president Gemma Tumelty to inform her of this. She later voiced her disagreement but said she 'looked forward to having the debate' with the union's delegates at next years annual conference. The no-platform issue will now be put to a referendum of all students.

Recent developments

UEA Drama Studio

In 2005 the university, in partnership with the University of Essex, and with the support of Suffolk County Council, the East of England Development Agency, Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk College, and the Learning and Skills Council, secured £15 million funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the creation of a new campus in the Waterfront area of Ipswich, called University Campus Suffolk or UCS.²⁷ The campus opened in September 2007.²⁷

Corporate identity

On 18 February 2008 the University of East Anglia began rolling out a new corporate identity, which was developed in response to a brand positioning project conducted in late 2006, and the five-year Corporate Plan approved by the University's Council in January 2008. Design agency Blast were commissioned to create the new corporate identity, who had also won awards for the branding of the University of Sussex. All newly commissioned materials will use the new logo, but the roll-out will be implemented over a 12-18 month period to ensure there is no wastage of existing stocks.²⁸

Notable alumni

Main article: List of University of East Anglia alumni

Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos

Ian McEwan

UEA alumni who have gone on to sit in the House of Lords include the preceding Leader of the House of Lords Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos,²⁹ the Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde,³⁰ President of the Liberal Democrats Rosalind Scott, Baroness Scott of Needham Market,³¹ and the hereditary peer Tim Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland.³² Alumni elected to the House of Commons include Labour Member of Parliament and Minister of State for Europe Caroline Flint,³³ and the MPs Douglas Carswell,³⁴ Jon Owen Jones,³⁵ and Ivor Stanbrook.³⁶ The university is also the alma mater of the Governor of Gibraltar Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fulton,³⁷ former Iraqi Biological Weapons Chief Dr Rihab Taha,³⁸ Conservative blogger and co-founder and presenter of 18 Doughty Street Iain Dale,³⁹ and the former leader of the Icelandic Social Democratic Alliance Össur Skarphéðinsson.⁴⁰

The university has also produced a large number of distinguished authors and alumni include the Booker Prize winning author Ian McEwan,⁴¹ Whitbread and Booker Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro author of The Remains of the Day,⁴² Booker Prize winner Anne Enright,⁴³ and the Whitbread Award winning author's Rose Tremain,⁴⁴ Tash Aw,⁴⁵ and Susan Fletcher.⁴⁶

Kazuo Ishiguro

In media and entertainment UEA alumni include The Fast Show comedians Paul Whitehouse (did not graduate), Charlie Higson, Simon Day and David Cummings,⁴⁷⁴⁸⁴⁹ as well as the actors Jack Davenport,⁵⁰ and John Rhys-Davies.⁵¹ The university is also the alma mater of the explorer Benedict Allen,⁵² the comedian Arthur Smith,⁵³ the newsreaders Geraint Vincent and Selina Scott,⁵⁴⁵⁵ former Controller of BBC One Jonathan Powell,⁵⁶ former Controller of BBC Two Jane Root, and the football commentator Martin Tyler.⁵⁷

UEA is also the alma mater of the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Tito Mboweni,⁵⁸ former United Nations Commissioner for HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa Alan Whiteside,⁵⁹ Director of the Museum of London Jack Lohman,⁶⁰ former Commander of UK Maritime Forces and current Commandant of the Joint Services Command and Staff College Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, and President of the European Patent Office Alison Brimelow.⁶¹

UEA alumni in academia include the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and President of Rockefeller University Sir Paul Nurse,⁶² Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lancaster Paul Wellings,⁶³ and the former Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University Ibrahim H. Umar who also served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Authority.⁶⁴

Notable academics

For a more comprehensive list see Category:Academics of the University of East Anglia

• Sir Malcolm Bradbury, former Professor of American Studies, co-founder of the UEA Creative Writing Course
• Angela Carter, former writer in residence
• Richard J. Evans, former lecturer in Modern History
• Giles Foden, Professor of Creative Writing
• John Garrett, former lecturer in government
• Ian Gibson, former Dean of Biology
• Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, lecturer and Reader in Modern History (1967–1990)
• Phil Jones, Professor of Environmental Sciences, Director of the Climatic Research Unit
• Paul Kennedy, Professor of History (1970–1983)
• Sir David King, Lecturer in Chemical Physics (1963–1966)
• Hubert Lamb, founder and Director of the Climatic Research Unit
• Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, Professor of Creative Writing (1995–2002)
• Shirley Pearce, former Professor of Health Psychology and former Dean of the Institute of Health
• Jonathan Raban, lecturer in British and American literature (1967–1969)
• Tracy Ryan, former lecturer in Australian Literature and Film
• W. G. Sebald, former Professor of German Literature, founder of the British Centre for Literary Translation
• Steve Smith, former Director of the Centre for Public Choice Studies
• Robert Watson, Chair of Environmental Science and Science Director of the Tyndall Centre
• Sir Angus Wilson, lecturer in Creative Writing, co-founder of the UEA Creative Writing Course
• Solly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman, Professor of Anatomy (1969–1974)

Governance

The university is nominally led by a Chancellor, who is the titular head of the university, and is typically a well-known public figure. The day to day chief executive role is the responsibility of the Vice-Chancellor, a full time academic post.

Chancellors

• Harold Mackintosh, 1st Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax (1962–1964)
• Oliver Franks, Baron Franks (1965–1984)
• Professor Owen Chadwick (1984–1994)
• Sir Geoffrey Allen (1994–2003)
• Sir Brandon Gough (since 2003)

Vice Chancellors

• Frank Thistlethwaite (1961–1980)
• Sir Michael Thompson (1980–1986)
• Derek Burke (1987–1995)
• Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll (1995–1997)
• Vincent Watts (1997–2002)
• David Eastwood (2002–2006)
• Bill MacMillan (since 2006)

Facts & Figures

• According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa), in 2004 the proportion of students admitted to the University from independent schools was 11.6%.⁶⁵

References

Further reading

Dormer, P. and Muthesius, S. (2002) Architecture at the University of East Anglia, 1962-2000. Unicorn Press.
Sanderson, M. (2002) The History of the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Hambledon Continuum.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

University of East Anglia

• University of East Anglia
• Union of UEA Students

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