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EspañolQUEEN MARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
'Queen Mary, University of London' ('QMUL') (until 2000 'Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London' and still called that in its charter and occasionally still abbreviated to 'QMW') is the fourth largest College of the University of London. It is organised into four faculties: Arts; Engineering and Mathematical Sciences; Law and Social Sciences; and Natural Sciences, in addition to Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
It is a research-based university, with a strong international reputation, and with 20 percent of its students coming from abroad. Queen Mary incorporates several leading international research units such as the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, as well as many centres for medical and dental teaching and research. In particular the university is very highly rated for Law, Medicine and Dentistry. The School of Law boasts renowned academics and practitioners as its lecturers. It has been given a five star (highest) rating in an RAE assessment. QMUL is known for student employability, The Sunday Times ranked it second highest for graduate starting salaries.
History
The university has a rich history and diverse roots. Queen Mary's origins are in the mergers over the years of four older colleges: Queen Mary College, Westfield College, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College. In 1989 Queen Mary merged with Westfield College to form ''Queen Mary & Westfield College''. Although teaching had begun at the London Hospital Medical College in 1785, it was not part of QMUL until 1995. In that year the two medical schools merged together and into QMW to form the School of Medicine and Dentistry, although to a large extent a separate Barts and The London identity has been maintained. In 2000, the college adopted the present title of ''Queen Mary, University of London'' for day to day purposes, although the official name in the charter has not been changed.
Queen Mary College
Formative years
The origins of Queen Mary College began in the mid Victorian era when growing awareness of conditions in London's East End led to drives to provide facilities for local inhabitants, popularised in the 1882 novel ''All Sorts of Conditions of Men - An Impossible Story'' by Walter Besant, which told of how a rich and clever couple from Mayfair went to the East End to build a "Palace of Delight, with concert halls, reading rooms, picture galleries, art and designing schools."[3] Although not directly responsible for the conception of the People's Palace, the novel did much to popularise it.
The trustees of the Beaumont Trust, administering funds left by Barber Beaumont, purchased the site of the former Bancroft's School from the Drapers' Company. On May 20 1885 the Drapers' Court of Assistants resolved to grant £20,000 "for the provision of the technical schools of the People's Palace."[4] The foundation stone was laid on June 28 1886 and on May 14 1887 Queen Victoria opened the palace's Queen's Hall as well as laying the foundation stone for the technical schools in the palace's east wing.
The technical schools were opened on October 5 1888, with the entire palace completed by 1892. When opening them, the Master of the Drapers' Company declared their aims to be "to improve the scientific and technical knowledge of apprentices and workmen engaged in industrial life". However others saw the technical schools as one day becoming a technical university for the East End.[5] The conflicting demands of pleasure and education were identified by the Assistant Charity Commissioner as early as 1891 and for the next forty years this was to dog the People's Palace. In 1892 the Drapers' Company provided £7000 a year for ten years to guarantee the educational side income.
Into the University of London
The classes reached a peak of 8000 tickets in 1892–1893 but fell to less than half for the following year, due to competition from the London School Board, despite the Palace's classes being more advanced. With the level of teaching grew, in 1895 John Hatton, Director of Evening Classes (1892–1896; later Director of Studies 1896–1908 and Principal 1908–1933) proposed introducing a course of study leading to the University of London (then a degree awarding body) Bachelor of Science degree. By the turn of the century the first degrees were awarded and Hatton, along with several other Professors, were recognised as Teachers of the University of London. In 1906 an application for Parliamentary funds "for the aid of Educational Institutions engaged in work of a University nature", led to the College being told it was "of the highest importance that there should be a School of the University in the faculties of Arts, Science and Engineering within easy reach of the very large population of the East End of London." The educational part of the People's Palace was admitted on an initial three year trial basis as a School of the University of London on May 15 1907 as ''East London College''. In 1910 the College's status in the University was extended for a further five years, with unlimited membership achieved in May 1915. During this period the organisation of the governors of the People's Palace was rearranged, creating the separate People's Palace Committee and East London College Committee, both under the Palace Governors, as a sign of the growing separation of the two concepts within a single complex.[6]
During the First World War the College admitted students from the London Hospital Medical College who were preparing for the preliminary medical examination, the first step in a long process that would eventually bring the two institutions together. After the war, the College grew, albeit constrained by the rest of the People's Palace to the west and a burial ground immediately to the east. In 1920 it obtained both the Palace's Rotunda (now the Octagon) and rooms under the winter gardens at the west of the palace, which became chemical laboratories. The College's status was also unique, being the only School of the University of London that was subject to both the Charity Commissioners and the Board of Education. In April 1929 the College Council decided it would take the steps towards applying to the Privy Council for a Royal Charter, but on the advice of the Drapers' Company first devised a scheme for development and expansion, which recommended amongst other things to reamalgamate the People's Palace and the College, with guaranteed provision of the Queen's Hall for recreational purposes, offering at least freedom of governance if not in space.[7]
In the early hours of February 25 1931 a fire destroyed the Queen's Hall, though both the College and the winter gardens escaped. In the coming days discussions on reconstruction led to the proposal that the entire site be transferred to the College which would then apply for a Charter alone. The Drapers' Company obtained St Helen's Terrace, a row of six houses neighbouring the site, and in July 1931 it was agreed to give these over to the People's Palace for a new site adjacent to the old, which would now become entirely the domain of the College. Separation was now achieved. The Charter was now pursued, but the Academic Board asked for a name change, feeling that "East London" carried unfortunate associations that would hinder the College and its graduates. With the initial proposed name, "Queen's College", having already been taken by another institution and "Victoria College" felt to be unoriginal, "Queen Mary College" was settled on. The Charter of Incorporation was presented on December 12 1934 by Queen Mary herself.[8]
Under the Charter
During the Second World War the College was evacuated to Cambridge, where it shared with King's College. Meanwhile the Mile End site was requisitioned for war work and was for a time used as the Municipal Offices of Stepney Borough Council. After the war the College returned to London, facing many of the same problems but with prospects for westward expansion.[9]
The East End had suffered considerable bomb damage (although the College itself had incurred little) and consequently several areas of land near to the College site now became vacant. The former church of St Benets' to the immediate east of the College was now defunct and was demolished in 1950, with the space used to build a new block for physics, but most of the acquisitions in the immediate post war years were to the west of the college. Even the new People's Palace was no longer able to meet its needs and it was acquired by the College along with several pieces of land that together formed a significant continuous stretch along the Mile End Road. New buildings for engineering, biology and chemistry were built on the new sites, whilst the arts took over the space vacated in the original building, now renamed the Queens' Building (to reflect the support and patronage of both Queen Mary and now Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother).
Limited accommodation resulted in the acquisition of further land in South Woodford (now directly connected to Mile End tube station by means of the Central Line's eastward extension), upon which tower blocks were established. Consequently, student numbers continued to expand. The College also obtained the Co-operative Wholesale Society's clothing factory on the Mile End Road which was converted into a building for the Faculty of Laws (and some other teaching), despite being physically separated from what was now a campus to the west. [10]
From the mid 1960s until the mid 1980s the College was in a period of uncertainty and flux. Much planning was dominated by the "BLQ scheme" which proposed to link Queen Mary College with the London Hospital Medical College and St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College with a joint facility in Mile End, but the land was not yet available. Over the period land that come onto the market was purchased with the intention to consolidate as soon as possible. The Queen Mary College Act, 1973 was passed "to authorise the disposal of the Nuevo burial ground in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and to authorise the use for other purposes thereof..." and gave the authority to disinter and reinter most of the graves to Dytchleys. A further link with both The London and St. Bartholomew's was made in 1974 when an anonymous donor provided for the establishment of a further hall of residence in Woodford, to be divided equally between Queen Mary College students and the two medical colleges.[11]
At the start of the 1980s changing demographics and finances caused much concern through the university sector and led to a reorganisation of the University of London. At Queen Mary some subjects, such as Russian and Classics were discontinued, whilst the College became one of five in the University with a concentration of laboratory sciences, including the transfer of science departments from Westfield College, Chelsea College, Queen Elizabeth College and Bedford College.[12]
From the mid 1980s onwards the College began expanding across the newly acquired land to the east, taking the campus to the Regent's Canal. A part of the burial ground remains to this day, as does a car maintenance shop on the Mile End Road, but the rest of the area has been absorbed by the College's expansion. The long planned Pre Clinical Medicine building for the BLQ Scheme finally materialised in the late 1980s, further strengthening the ties between the three colleges.[13]
Westfield College
Main articles: Westfield College
Queen Mary & Westfield College
The arms of Queen Mary & Westfield College (prior to the merger with the medical schools), combining details from the arms of the two individual colleges.
Continued uncertainty about the future of Westfield College led to its merger with Queen Mary in 1989 to form 'Queen Mary & Westfield College' (often abbreviated to 'QMW'). Over subsequent years, activities were concentrated on the Queen Mary site, with the Westfield site eventually sold off.
Merger with the medical schools
A reorganisation of medical education within the University of London resulted in most of the freestanding medical schools being merged with existing large colleges to form multi-faculty institutions. In 1995 the London Hospital Medical College and St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College merged together and into Queen Mary & Westfield College to form Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Public name change
In 2000 the college changed its given name to 'Queen Mary, University of London'. However the College's charter has not been reissued and its legal name remains Queen Mary & Westfield College.
University Rankings
The college was ranked as the world's 100th best higher education institution by ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' in 2004, but moved down to joint 112th place in 2005, alongside Humboldt University of Berlin. In 2006, it had moved back up to be joint 99th. The ''Times Higher Education Supplement''
[14] - with the second highest UK graduate starting salary.[15]
Notable staff
★ Peter Cameron
★ Toby Dodge
★ Michael Green
★ Peter Hennessy
★ Tristram Hunt
★ Lisa Jardine
★ Jeremy Jennings
★ Michael Mingos
★ Nicholas O'Shaughnessy
★ Jacqueline Rose
★ Miri Rubin
★ Charles Saumarez Smith
★ Quentin Skinner
★ Evelyn Welch
Notable alumni
★ Dr Thomas Barnardo - Children's philanthropist
★ Sir Malcolm Bradbury - Novelist
★ Bernard Butler - Indie guitarist
★ Graham Chapman - Monty Python star
★ Roger Cotterrell - Socioligist and Legal Theorist
★ Bruce Dickinson - Member of Iron Maiden
★ Pete Doherty - Singer and songwriter of the band Babyshambles (dropped out after 1 year)
★ Michael Duff - string theorist
★ Baroness Falkender - Politician
★ Roy Goode - Commercial Lawyer and Author.
★ Peter Hain - Labour MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales.
★ Jane Hill - Newsreader, BBC News 24
★ Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Novelist and Academy Award winning screenwriter
★ Sir Michael Lyons - Chairman of the BBC Trust
★ Alasdair MacIntyre - philosopher
★ Sir Peter Mansfield - Nobel Prize winning physicist
★ Basil Markesinis - International Lawyer
★ Bill O'Reilly - Host of ''The O'Reilly Factor'' on the Fox News Channel
★ Jeremy Phillips - Intellectual Property lawyer.
★ Geoffrey Robertson - Human Rights lawyer
★ Prannoy Roy - Indian journalist
★ Sir Roy Strong - Historian
★ David Sullivan - Pornographer and owner of the ''Sport'' and ''Sunday Sport'' newspapers
★ Sir John Meurig Thomas - Chemist
★ Sarah Waters - Novelist
★ Robert Winston, Baron Winston - Pioneer of in vitro fertilisation
★ Romola Garai - Actress
Students' accommodation
Many QMUL students are accommodated in the college's own halls of residence or other accommodation; QMUL students are also eligible to apply for places in the University of London intercollegiate halls of residence, such as Connaught Hall.
Most students in college or university accommodation are first-year undergraduates or international students. The majority of second and third-year students and postgraduates find their own accommodation in the private sector.
See also
★ Queen Mary Students' Union
References
1. Financial Statements 2004-2005
2. Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06
3. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 15-17 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
4. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) page 21 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
5. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) page 37 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
6. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 39-48 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
7. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 49-57 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
8. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 57-62 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
9. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 75-85 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
10. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 86-102 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
11. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 103-117 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
12. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 117-130 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
13. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 131-146 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
14. Queen Mary in top 10 UK universities for student employability
15. Table: Best graduate starting salaries
External links
★ Queen Mary, University of London website
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