History of University College London

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University College London has a long history, beginning in the early 19th century under the guise of the philsopher Jeremy Bentham.

Contents 1 Jeremy Bentham 2 Founding and development 3 Recent years 4 References 5 External Links

[edit] Jeremy Bentham

The philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) is considered to be the spiritual father of UCL as he played a major role in the development of the college. Whilst he is often credited with founding the college, Jeremy Bentham played no part in the establishment of the institution. Jeremy Bentham was a strong advocate for making higher education more widely available, and is often linked with the University's early adoption of a policy of making all courses available to anyone (who could pay the fees) regardless of sex, religion or political beliefs.

A further reason for Jeremy Bentham's fame within UCL is due to the fact that his body is on display to the public. Jeremy Bentham specified in his will that he wanted his body to be preserved as a lasting memorial, and this instruction was duly carried out. This 'Auto-Icon' has become famous. Unfortunately, when it came to preserving his head, the process went disastrously wrong and left the head badly disfigured. A wax head was made to replace it, but for many years the real head sat between his legs. However, this head was frequently stolen and subjected to many student pranks, with students from rival King's College London often the culprits. The head is said to have at one time been found in a luggage locker at Aberdeen station, and was even rumoured to have been used as a football by King's students in the Quad. These events led to the head being removed from display and placed instead in the College vaults, where it remains to this day.

A testament to his eccentricity is the often repeated myth that the box containing his remains is wheeled into senior college meetings, and that he is then listed in minutes as 'present but not voting'. He is also said to have a vote on the College council, but only when the vote is split, and that he always votes in favour of the motion. When the Upper Refectory was refurbished in 2003, the room became renamed the Jeremy Bentham Room (sometimes abbreviated JBR) in tribute to the man.

[edit] Founding and development

UCL was founded in 1826 under the name "University of London", as a secular alternative to the strictly religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It was founded from the beginning as a university, not a college or institute. However its founders encountered strong opposition from the Church of England, which prevented them from securing the Royal Charter that was necessary for the award of degrees, and it was not until 1836, when the latter-day University of London was established, that the college was legally recognised and granted the power to award degrees of the University of London^[1].

UCL was the first UK higher education institution to accept students of any race or religious or political belief. It was possibly the first to accept women on equal terms with men (the University of Bristol also makes this claim — as both were admitting students to University of London degrees at the time, it is possible that this was a simultaneous action), the first in England to establish a students' union (although men and women had separate unions until 1954), and the first to have professorships in chemical engineering, chemistry, Egyptology, electrical engineering, English, French, geography, German, Italian, papyrology, phonetics, psychology, and zoology, as well as the first chemistry department proper in England.

In 1907 the University of London was reconstituted and many of the colleges, including UCL, lost their separate legal existence. This continued until 1977 when a new charter restored UCL's independence. In 1985 the main Gower Street building was finally finished — 158 years after the foundations were laid^{[citation needed]}.

In 1973, UCL became the first international link to the ARPANET, the precursor of today's internet, sending the world's first electronic mail, or e-mail in the same year. UCL was also one of the first universities in the world to conduct space research. It is the driving force of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, managed by UCL's Department of Space and Climate Physics.

[edit] Recent years

In August 1998 the medical school at UCL merged with The Royal Free Hospital Medical School to create the new Royal Free and University College Medical School. This, together with the incorporation of several major postgraduate medical institutes (Institute of Child Health, Institute of Neurology, Eastman Dental Institute and the Institute of Ophthalmology) make UCL one of the leading centres for biomedical research in the world. Indeed, 65% of UCL's turnover resides within biomedicine^{[citation needed]}. 10 Nobel Laureates in Physiology and Medicine either studied or carried out their research at UCL. UCL is particularly strong in cell biology, neuroscience, physiology, pediatrics, neurology and ophthalmology. UCL's strengths in biomedicine will be significantly augmented with the move of the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) from Mill Hill to UCL. Founded in 1913 and the Medical Research Council's first and largest laboratory, its scientists have garnered five Nobel prizes. NIMR today employs over 700 scientists and has an annual budget of £27 millions.

Even today UCL retains its strict secular position, and unlike most other UK universities has no designated Muslim prayer rooms. It has recently (2005) gained a Christian chaplaincy. Due to this, in general, secularistic attitude, UCL has also been known as "the godless institution of Gower Street". However, there is no restriction on religious groups among students, and a quiet room allows prayer for staff and students of all faiths. The very reason for secularity was that students of different denominations (specifically Catholics and Protestants) could study alongside each other without conflict.

In October 2002, a plan to merge UCL with Imperial College London was announced by both institutions. The merger was widely seen as a de facto takeover of UCL by Imperial College and was opposed by both staff and UCL Union, the students' union, as well as students in general; but what particularly angered many staff and students was the absence of consultation before the proposal was made^{[citation needed]}. At an emergency meeting organised by University College London Union to discuss the merger and the union's stance on it, the then provost Sir Derek Roberts stormed out of the Bloomsbury Theatre, refusing to listen to a speaker who opposed the merger. He himself had just finished delivering a speech in favour^{[citation needed]}. One month later after a vigorous campaign the merger was called off.

On 1 August 2003, Professor Malcolm Grant took the role of President and Provost (the principal of UCL), taking over from Sir Derek Roberts, who had been called out of retirement as a caretaker provost for the college. Shortly after Grant's inauguration, UCL began the 'Campaign for UCL' initiative, in 2004. It aimed to raise £300m from alumni and friends. This kind of explicit campaigning is traditionally unusual for UK universities, and is similar to US university funding. UCL had a financial endowment in the top ten among UK universities at £81m, according to the Sutton Trust (2002). Grant has also aimed to enhance UCL's global links, declaring UCL London's "Global University". Significant interactions with France's École Normale Supérieure , Columbia University, CalTech,New York University, University of Texas and universities in Osaka have developed during the first few years of his tenure as provost.

UCL was named Sunday Times University of the Year in 2004. The Sunday Times 2005 University Guide describes UCL as "physically and academically at the centre of the University of London". Mergers with a number of medical and other academic schools have created a multidisciplinary college that rivals Oxford and Cambridge for breadth, exclusivity and cutting-edge teaching and research."

UCL applied to the Privy Council for the power to award degrees in its own right. This was granted in September 2005 although the powers are being held in reserve and will only be used should the college find it necessary to change its status within the federation of the University of London. The University also had a major rebranding exercise for the start of the 2005-2006 academic year, which cost in order of £600,000.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2006, UCL decided to become a member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a network of research-intensive universities with common viewpoints on higher education and research policy. Membership of LERU, which is by invitation, is periodically evaluated against a broad set of quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as research volume, impact and funding, strengths in PhD training, size and disciplinary breadth, and peer-recognised academic excellence. Malcolm Grant, President and Provost of UCL, said:

"European research universities have common values and common cause, and we welcome this opportunity to become part of so outstanding a network of research institutions. I think that groupings such as this are particularly important at a time when the EU is thinking seriously about the function of research-intensive universities, about the European Research Commission and a possible European Institute of Technology. It also reflects UCL's global vision and our extensive collaborative engagement with continental universities through research and student exchanges, including the recently announced programme in neurosciences with three Parisian institutions."

The 2006 report 'Bibliometric analysis of highly cited publications of health research in England, 1995–2004'[1], published by Leiden University in The Netherlands, shows that UCL is England's most cited university by health-researchers. From 1995–2001, for example, UCL produced more than 4,500 highly cited papers, compared with fewer than 3,500 for Oxford University, which stood in second place, and slightly over 3,000 for Cambridge University at third place. King's College London and Imperial College London came in fourth and fifth respectively. The number of citations that an institution receives in academic papers is widely considered to be a measure of importance and influence. This analysis, written to help identify candidate biomedical research centres as part of the UK Department of Health’s research and development strategy, ‘Best Research for Best Health’, shows that UCL is at the forefront of a range of health disciplines.

[edit] References

• World of UCL 1828 - 2004 by Negley Harte and John North, UCL Press.

[edit] External Links

• UCL History Page