University of Strathclyde

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The University of Strathclyde is a university in Glasgow, Scotland.

Contents

1 History
2 Organization
3 Campus development
4 Royal College Building
5 Other facts
6 External links

History

The university originated as Anderson's Institution in 1796. Its establishment was based on the vision of John Anderson, professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow who left instructions in his will for a university which would focus on "Useful Learning" — specialising in practical and vocational subjects. The university received a royal charter in 1964.

Anderson's Institution — 1796
Anderson's University — 1828
Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College — 1887
Royal Technical College — 1912
Royal College of Science and Technology — 1956
merger with Scottish College of Commerce — 1964
University of Strathclyde founded — 1964
merger with Jordanhill College of Education — 1993

Until 1964 the institution was primarily a technological institute concentrating on science and engineering teaching and research. Undergraduate students could qualify for degrees of the University of Glasgow or the equivalent Associate of the Royal College of Science and Technology (ARCST). The university has developed its reputation and grown from approximately 4,000 full-time students in 1964 to over 20,000 students in 2003, when it celebrated the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the original Royal College building. Today, the university is a major educational centre for post-graduate studies and research, with scholars from around 90 countries.

Organization

Departments are organized into five faculties:

Law Arts & Social Sciences,
Education,
Engineering,
Science and
Strathclyde Business School.

The university delivers teaching to over 22,000 full-time and part-time students: 15,000 undergraduates and 7,000 postgraduates. Another 34,000 people take part in continuing education and professional development programmes. Strathclyde enjoys a reputation for excellence in commercially relevant research and innovation, with commitment to entrepreneurship education, and links with business and industry. The university's main campus is located in the centre of Glasgow, near George Square, and it has an education campus in the suburb of Jordanhill, at the site of the previous Jordanhill Teacher Training College.

Campus development

The Curran Building - University Library

Andrew Ure Halls of Residence

The campus changed very little from its humble beginnings to the creation of the University of Strathclyde in 1964. The centrepiece building has long been the massive Royal College Building, begun in 1903, and building work took nine years to complete. The 1960s and 1970s saw a huge programme of new academic buildings being built, while the 1980s concentrated on developing the student residences. Below is a synopsis of the campus history, along with the current occupiers of each building in brackets:

1912 Completion of Royal College Building
1958 James Weir Building (Mechanical, Design, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering)
1959 Students Union Building
1959 Opening of Marland House by its owner, Post Office Telephones
1962 Thomas Graham Building (Chemistry)
1963 McCance Building (houses central administration, History, Politics, Registry)
1965 Livingstone Tower (Mathematics, Statistics, Languages, Computer Science)
1967 Colville Building (Civil Engineering, Metallurgy, Physics)
1969 Architecture Building
1971 John Anderson Building (Physics, Civil Engineering)
1972 Wolfson Centre (Bioengineering), Birkbeck Court residences
1973 Collins Building (Collins Gallery, Senate/Court suites)
1975 University Centre (Refectory, Staff Club, Sports Centre)
1976 Todd Centre (Pharmacology)
1977 William Duncan Building (Strathclyde Business School)
1981 Curran Building created from former Collins warehouse (houses Andersonian Library)
1983 EAC Building (later Lord Hope Building)
1984 Lord Todd restaurant, acquisition of the Barony Hall
1987 Marland House acquired from British Telecom, is renamed Graham Hills Building
1990 Opening of James Blyth and Thomas Campbell student residences
1991 Opening of Chancellors' Hall student residences
1992 Graduate Business School building opens
1997 Opening of James Goold student residences
1998 John Arbuthnott Building (Strathclyde Institute for Biomedical Sciences)
2001 Acquisition of the Rottenrow maternity hospital site
2002 Thomas Graham Building extension completed
2004 Rottenrow Gardens Opened

Royal College Building

The Royal College Building is the oldest building on the John Anderson Campus. Started in 1903 and completed in 1912, it was partially opened in 1910. Originally built as the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College Building, it now houses Bioscience, Chemistry, Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

Other facts

The University of Strathclyde has over 22,000 full and part-time students, and over 34,000 students in continuing education and professional development with over 3,200 staff. The University offers over 200 undergraduate degree combinations and more than 160 postgraduate taught across five faculties.

The University's total research patent royalty income topped £30m in 2003, placing Strathclyde in the UK's top ten universities for patent income.

The Strathclyde Business School is the only business school in Scotland – and one of the twenty-one worldwide – to win the "triple crown" of accreditation by the world's top business school accreditation bodies: the AACSB (USA), the AMBA (UK), and the EQUIS (European)

The University is one of Glasgow's largest employers.

The University has been designated one of only six regional Fulbright Centres in the UK, encouraging staff and student links with the U.S..

Strathclyde established Europe's first interactive classroom in 1997, became the first IBM ThinkPad University in 2001, and was the first university in Scotland to invest in multimedia wired and wireless teaching spaces.

Strathclyde is the only Scottish university in the top ten UK university careers services cited by employers in a 2004 survey of excellence.

Thirty spin-out companies have been created from Strathclyde research and technology, and the Cabinet Office of Science and Technology has cited Strathclyde as one of the UK's most successful universities for working with industry and commercialising research.

The University has used Anderson Lion, Kim Possible and Professor Bright as mascots.

Alex Kapranos, lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, studied at the University.

Ross Renton, educationalist is an alumnus of the University

Chris Sawyer, creator of the popular 'Tycoon' computer game series which included the famous game RollerCoaster Tycoon studied a degree in computing information science in the top floors of the Livingstone Tower in the 1980's. A graphical replica of the Livingstone Tower, or Livi Tower as its called by staff and students, made an appearance in Transport Tycoon.

John Logie Baird, inventor of the first working television system was educated at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College (which later became the University of Strathclyde).

The Centre for Forensic Science (part of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry) is seen as the leading educator of forensic science in the UK.

Among a minority of Glasgow University students, the university is still known by the nickname "The Tech". The term "Techie" is used as a derogatory name by students of Glasgow University (who see themselves as being superior) towards students and alumni of Strathclyde.

The fourth floor of Livingstone Tower is referred to affectionately by students and staff as 'The LivMeister' as most German classes take place there.

External links

Universities in Scotland
Aberdeen \| Abertay \| Dundee \| Edinburgh \| Glasgow \| Glasgow Caledonian \| Heriot-Watt \| Napier \| Paisley \| Robert Gordon \| St Andrews \| Stirling \| Strathclyde

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