University of Manchester

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The University of Manchester


Motto	Cognitio, sapientia, hvmanitas (Knowledge, wisdom, humanity)
Established	2004 by the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester (established 1851) and UMIST (established 1824)
Type	Public
Chancellor	Anna Ford and Sir Terry Leahy
Vice-Chancellor	Prof Alan Gilbert
Staff	10,407
Students	39,985 ^[1]
Undergraduates	28,960 ^[1]
Postgraduates	11,025 ^[1]
Location	Manchester, England
Campus	Urban and Suburban
Affiliations	Russell Group, EUA, N8 Group NWUA
Website	www.manchester.ac.uk

The University of Manchester is a university located in Manchester, England. With nearly 40,000 students studying 500 academic programmes, more than 10,000 staff and an annual income in excess of £500,000,000, it is amongst the largest higher education institutions in the United Kingdom and receives more applications than any other university in the country.^[2]

The present University was formed in 2004 by the dissolution of the Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester before the dissolution) and UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) and the formation of a single institution. The University of Manchester is member of the elite Russell Group and was named University of the Year 2006 by the Sunday Times. This followed the awarding by the inaugural Times Higher Supplement's University of the Year prize in 2005.^[3]

[edit] History

The University of Manchester coat of arms

The university's Whitworth Hall. This archway was the inspiration for the logo of the Victoria University of Manchester

While the present University was formed in 2004, its constituent parts date from as early as 1824. The University's history is closely linked to Manchester's emergence as the world's first industrial city. John Dalton together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists established the Mechanics' Institute (later to become UMIST) in 1824 to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science. Similarly, John Owens, a Manchester textile merchant, left a bequest of £96,942 in 1851 for the purpose of founding a college for the education of males on non-sectarian lines. Owens College (to become the Victoria University of Manchester) was established and granted a Royal Charter in 1880 to become England's first civic university.

By 1905 the two institutions were a large and active force in the area, with the Mechanics' Institute, the forerunner of the modern UMIST, forming a Faculty of Technology and working alongside the Victoria University of Manchester. This relationship worked to the advantage of all, not least the many students who received a first class education and the employers who benefitted from the knowledge and skills imparted by the two institutions. Between them, the Universities numbered over twenty Nobel Prize winners amongst their former staff and students. Manchester has traditionally been particularly strong in the sciences, with the nuclear nature of the atom being discovered at Manchester, and the world's first programmable electronic computer coming into being in the city. Famous scientists associated with the university include Niels Bohr, Ernest Rutherford and Alan Turing. However, the university has also contributed in many other fields, and the mathematician Paul Erdős, the author Anthony Burgess, philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Alasdair MacIntyre, the Pritzker Prize and RIBA Stirling Prize winning architect Norman Foster and the composer Peter Maxwell Davies all attended Manchester.

Well-known figures among the current academic staff include author Martin Amis, international development "guru" Jeffrey Sachs, literary critic Terry Eagleton and composer John Casken.

The newly merged University of Manchester was officially launched on 22 October 2004 when the Queen handed over the Royal Charter.

[edit] Present

The Sackville Street Building, formerly known as UMIST Main building

The new university has the largest number of full time students of any university in the UK, unless the University of London is counted as a single university. It teaches more academic subjects than any other British University. The President and Vice-Chancellor of the new University is Alan Gilbert, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. One of the stated ambitions of the newly combined university is to 'establish it by 2015 among the 25 strongest research universities in the world on commonly accepted criteria of research excellence and performance' ^[4].

Manchester has the largest total income of all UK universities, standing at £514 million as of 2004 ^[5]. Its research income (£174 million) is the fifth largest of any university in the country. Despite its size The University of Manchester is divided into only four faculties, each sub-divided into schools:

Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences consisting of the Schools of Medicine; Dentistry; Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Psychological Sciences .
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences consisting of the Schools of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science; Physics and Astronomy; Electrical & Electronic Engineering; Materials; Mathematics; and Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering.
Faculty of Humanities includes the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures (a rather catchall title incorporating Archaeology; Art History; Classics and Ancient History; Drama; English and American Studies; History; Music; and Religions and Theology). The other Schools are Education; Environment and Development; Informatics (formed from the UMIST Department of Computation); Languages, Linguistics and Cultures; Law; Social Sciences and the Manchester Business School.
Faculty of Life Sciences unusually consisting of a single school.

The 2005 survey of the world's best universities by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Manchester 5th best university in the UK, 9th in Europe and 50th in the world^[6].

[edit] Campus and facilities

The Main Campus of the University consists of the roughly adjoining sites of the former UMIST campus, near Sackville Street, and the former main campus of the Victoria University of Manchester, in the vicinity of Oxford Road. The terms North Campus and South Campus (respectively) are sometimes used when making a distinction between the former sites, though the official status of these terms is unclear, and are not universally used. In addition there are a number of further university buildings located throughout the city, and throughout the further region (such as Jodrell Bank Observatory and Tabley House, a stately home, both of which are in the nearby county of Cheshire).

[edit] Major projects

The attrium inside the new £38m Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre

The University has embarked on the largest programme of capital investment ever seen in British higher education with a £600 million plan to deliver eight new buildings and 15 major refurbishment projects by 2010. These include:

£60 m Flagship Student Services and Nursing building
£10 m Functional Biology Building
£33 m Life Sciences and Medical and Human Sciences Building
£56 m Astronomy, Mathematics, Physics and Photon Science Building
£50 m Life Sciences Research Building
£13 m Chemistry Building
£38 m Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB)
£31 m Humanities Building
£17 m John Rylands University Library, Deansgate
£18 m Re-location of School of Pharmacy
etc.

[edit] John Rylands University Library

The John Rylands Library, Deansgate

Main articles: John Rylands Library and John Rylands University Library

The University's library, the John Rylands University Library is the largest non-legal deposit library in the UK, and the country's third-largest academic library after those of Oxford and Cambridge.

Of particular note is the John Rylands Library itself, founded in memory of John Rylands by his wife Enriqueta Augustina Rylands, situated in a very fine Victorian Gothic building. This site, on Deansgate in Manchester city centre houses an important collection of historic books and manuscripts, including the oldest extant New Testament document, Rylands Library Papyrus P52, the so-called St John's fragment. The Deansgate site is currently closed for major improvements and renovations, including the construction of the pitched roof originally intended.

[edit] Jodrell Bank

The 76 m Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Main article: Jodrell Bank Observatory

Jodrell Bank is the University's observatory, situated about ten miles west of Macclesfield. It has played an important role in the research of quasars and pulsars. In 1979, scientists at Jodrell Bank announced the first detection of a gravitational lens, which confirmed Einstein's theory of General Relativity.

[edit] Manchester Museum

"Stan" the T. rex at Manchester Museum on 4 November 2004 when he was first exhibited

Main article: Manchester Museum

The Manchester Museum provides access to about six million items from every continent of the globe. Butterflies and carvings from India; birds and bark-cloth from the Pacific; live frogs and ancient pottery from America; fossils and native art from Australia; mammals and ancient Egyptian craftsmanship from Africa; plants, coins and minerals from Europe; art from past civilisations of the Mediterranean; and beetles, armour and archery from Asia. The museum recently acquired a cast of a fossilised Tyrannosaurus rex called "Stan", which was unveiled on 4 November 2004.

[edit] Whitworth Art Gallery

The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Main article: Whitworth Art Gallery

The Whitworth Art Gallery is home to internationally famous collections of British watercolours, textiles and wallpapers, as well as a range of modern and historic prints, drawings, paintings and sculpture. A programme of temporary exhibitions runs throughout the year, with the Mezzanine Court serving as a venue for showing sculpture.

[edit] Contact Theatre

The Contact Theatre

Main article: Contact Theatre

The University's Contact Theatre stages largely modern live performance and participatory work for younger audiences. It is housed in an interesting fortress-style building on the Oxford Road, with a unique energy-efficient system, using its high towers. The colourful and curvaceous interior houses three performance spaces, the Deluxe lounge bar and Hot Air, a reactive public artwork in the foyer space.

[edit] Manchester Conference Centre

Main article: Manchester Conference Centre

Owned and operated by the University, Manchester Conference Centre on Sackville Street offers top quality, cutting-edge conference facilities in its two theatres (seating up to 300) and 19 seminar rooms. Integral to the conference centre are the 117 Days Hotel bedrooms offering all of the expected comforts of a city centre hotel bedroom. A recent feature, is the availability of FREE Wireless Access. MCC is a feature on the University's conference website - meeting.co.uk

[edit] Old Quadrangle

The Old Quadrangle

The buildings around the old quadrangle date from the time of Owens College, and were designed in a Gothic style by Alfred Waterhouse (and his son Paul Waterhouse). Today, the museum continues to occupy one side (including the tower) and the grand setting of Whitworth Hall is used for the conferment of degrees. The old Christie Library now houses Christie's Bistro, and the remainder of the buildings are used by administrative departments.

[edit] Chancellors Hotel and Conference Centre

Formerly named The Firs, the original house was built in 1850 for Sir Joseph Whitworth, by Edward Walters, who was also responsible for Manchester’s Free Trade Hall. Whitworth used the Firs mainly as a social, political and business base, entertaining radicals of the age such as John Bright, Richard Cobden, William Forster and T.H. Huxley at the time of the Reform Bill of 1867. Whitworth, credited with raising the art of machine-tool building to a previously-unknown level, supported the new Mechanics Institute in Manchester – the birthplace of UMIST - and helped to found the Manchester School of Design. In 1882, the Firs was leased to C.P. Scott, Editor of the Manchester Guardian. After Scott's death the house became the property of Owens College, and was the Vice-Chancellors residence until 1991. The old house now forms the western wing of Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre at The University of Manchester. The newer eastern wing houses the magnificent circular Flowers Theatre, six individual conference rooms and the majority of the 75 hotel bedrooms.

[edit] Residential campuses

Dalton Ellis Hall claims to be the oldest purpose built hall of residence in England

Prior to merging, the two former universities had for some time been sharing their residential facilities.

The North Campus lies on the previous UMIST Campus, comprising of 5 halls of residence central to the Sackville Street building (Weston, Lambert, Fairfield, Chandos, Wright Robinson), and several other halls within a 5-15 minute walk away, such as the Grovensor group of halls and Whitworth Park.

The Fallowfield Campus, situated 2 miles south of the main university campus (the South Campus), is the largest of the university's residential campuses. The Owens Park tower lies at the centre of it, with Oak House being the other main hall of residence. Woolton Hall is also present on Fallowfield campus next to Oak house. Allen Hall is a traditional hall situated nearby equally classic Ashburne Hall. Richmond Park is a relatively recent addition to the campus.

Victoria Park Campus, situated between Fallowfield and the South Campus, just off Rusholme, comprises several houses of Residence. Among these are St Anselm Hall with Canterbury Court, Dalton-Ellis Hall (including Pankhurst Court), Hulme Hall (including Burkhardt House), the residence of the famous Northern Irish astronaut Arthur Griffith, St Gabriel's Hall and Opal Gardens Hall.

[edit] Clubs and societies

There are many different clubs and societies operating within the University of Manchester. Common areas include sports, hobbies, politics and religion. The University of Manchester website and wikispectus details the various societies in far greater depth than is present below. There are several fairs during the freshers period in which various clubs and societies will promote themselves.

Sports societies vary widely in their level and scope. Many of the more popular sports will have several university teams as well as departmental teams which may be placed in a league against other teams from different departments/halls of residence within the university. Common teams include: Hockey, Rugby, Football, Basketball, Netball and Cricket. The Manchester Aquatics Centre, the swimming pool used for the Manchester Commonwealth Games is also on the campus.

Hobbies has been used as an umbrella term to cover the huge range of other clubs and societies on offer. These vary hugely between areas like Languages, Nationalities, Wargames, Artsbased e.g. Anime and many more. If a particular society does not exist there is usually a mechanism by which it can be created.

There is a wide range of religious based societies and places of worship within the university of Manchester. A religions fair is also held, where in addition to the freshers fair information is distributed about the different societies. There are large Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Bahá'í societies which hold regular events and meetings. Either within or near to the university are several different places of worship.

The university has a strong Drama tradition and past students include Meera Syal, Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall and Ben Elton. The Drama Society holds a yearly drama festival, involving 13 plays in 5 theatres and over 120 students, as well as coordinating several independent student run productions. The Fringe Society this year took twelve plays and over 70 students to the Edinburgh Fringe festival under the company name 'Johnny Miller Presents.'. This was the largest student undertaking to date at the festival. The company was awarded the Three Weeks Editor's Award, which honours the most talked about and exciting people and companies at the festival ^[7].

[edit] The University of Manchester Students' Union

The University of Manchester Students' Union represents many students in Manchester, including those from the former UMIST. There are now two Union buildings - the Steve Biko building inherited from the Victoria University of Manchester, and the Barnes Wallis building from UMIST. Manchester Academy, its own music venue, hosts top quality bands most nights of the week. The student newspaper is called Student Direct. The radio station, Fuse FM, broadcasts twice-yearly and also over the internet.

[edit] NHS hospitals

The University of Manchester's medical school is the largest in Europe with well over 400 medical students being trained in each of the clinical years and over 350 students in the pre-clinical/phase 1 years. Approximately 80 students who have completed pre-clinical training at the Bute Medical School (University of St Andrews) join the third year of the undergraduate medical programme each year.

The university's Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences has strong links with a large number of NHS hospitals in the north west of England and maintains presences in its four base hospitals. The base hospitals are Manchester Royal Infirmary (located at one end of the main university campus on Oxford Road) and Wythenshawe Hospitals, Salford's Hope Hospital, the Royal Preston Hospital and the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. All are used as hospitals for clinical medical training for doctors and nurses.

In 2002, the University collaborated with Keele University in the Keele University Medical School. Approximately 40 students who had completed pre-clinical studies at Manchester (or at the Bute Medical School, University of St Andrews) went to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent, where they undertook the Manchester University medical curriculum, provided by staff from the then newly-established Keele University Medical School.

[edit] Famous academic staff and alumni

Many notable people in science and arts have worked or studied at the two precursors to the University of Manchester, including 22 Nobel prize laureates.

[edit] Chemistry

John Dalton, founder of modern chemistry and atomic theory

John Dalton the founder of modern chemistry and atomic theory.
Arthur Harden (awarded Nobel prize in 1929), for investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes.
Walter Haworth (awarded Nobel prize in 1937), for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C.
Robert Robinson (awarded Nobel prize in 1947), for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids.
Alexander Todd (awarded Nobel prize in 1957), for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes.
Melvin Calvin (awarded Nobel prize in 1961), for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants.
John Charles Polanyi (awarded Nobel prize in 1986), for his contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.
Michael Smith (awarded Nobel prize in 1993), for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleiotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studies.

[edit] Physics

Ernest Rutherford, "the Father of Nuclear Physics" discovered the structure of the atom at the University of Manchester

Ernest Rutherford (awarded Nobel prize in 1908), for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances (He was the first man to probe the atom). Langworthy Professor of Physics (1907–1919). Despite badmouthing all sciences apart from physics won his Noble prize in Chemistry thus making him by his own admission a stamp collector.
Niels Bohr (awarded Nobel prize in 1922). Research Staff and Schuster Reader 1911–1916. Worked on structure of atom and first theory of quantum mechanics.
James Chadwick (awarded Nobel prize in 1935). Student (BSc & MSc) and Researcher 1908–1913 (under Rutherford). Discovered the neutron.
Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson (awarded Nobel prize in 1906). Studied and researched 1871–1876 (entered at age 14). Discovered the electron.
Charles Thomson Rees (C. T. R.) Wilson (awarded Nobel prize in 1927). Student 1884–1887. Invented the expansion cloud chamber.
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (awarded Nobel prize in 1951), for his pioneering work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles. Studied mathematics under Horace Lamb in 1914–1915 and received BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering. Later he became Chancellor of UMIST and Director of BAERE (Manhattan Project Hall of fame).
Nevill Francis Mott (awarded Nobel prize in 1977), for his fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Patrick M. Blackett (awarded Nobel prize in1948), for developing cloud chamber and confirming/discovering positron. Director and Langworthy Professor of physics (1937–1953).
William Lawrence Bragg. (awarded Nobel prize in 1915, along with his father, William Henry Bragg), for X-ray crystallography (Their work led to the first discoveries of DNA and protein structures). Director and Langworthy Professor of Physics (1919–1937).
Hans Bethe (awarded Nobel prize in 1967), for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars. Research staff and Temporary Lecturer 1932.
George de Hevesy (awarded Nobel prize in 1943), for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes. Research Staff 1910–1913.
Harold Aspden. B.Sc. 1945-1948. Electrical engineer and physicist. Predicted the proton-electron mass-ratio approximate value (slightly above 1836.152), ten years before it was experimentally measured in 1985.
Sir Arthur Eddington. Graduated in 1902 and became a lecturer in 1905. Founder of modern Astronomy. He made important contributions to the general theory of relativity and led an expedition team to validate it.
Hans Geiger, Researcher 1906–1914. Did the original "Rutherford scattering" experiment with Marsden (also the Geiger-Marsden experiment). Devised the famous Geiger ionization counter.
Douglas Hartree. Professor 1929–1946. Built and operated a differential analyser (a famous mechanical calculator) to evaluate the wave functions of multi-electron atoms.
Sir John Lennard-Jones, entered Manchester University where he changed his subject to mathematics in 1912. After First World War service in the Royal Flying Corps, he returned to Manchester as Lecturer in Mathematics, 1919–1922. Founder of modern theoretical chemistry. Lennard-Jones potential and LJ fluid are named after him.
Sir Bernard Lovell, Professor (1951–1990) and creator of the giant radio-telescope (the first large radio-telescope in the world with a diameter of 218 feet) at Jodrell Bank and pioneered the field of radio astronomy.
Sir Ernest Marsden was born in Lancashire in 1888. He won scholarships to attend grammar school and gain entry to Manchester University. It was here he met Rutherford in his honours year. Rutherford suggested a project to investigate the backwards scattering of alpha particles from a metal foil. He did this in conjunction with Hans Geiger (of Geiger counter fame), and it proved to be the key experiment in the demise of the Plum pudding model of the atom leading directly to Rutherford's nuclear atom. Rutherford also recommended Marsden for the position of physics professor at what is now Victoria University in Wellington.
Henry Moseley, who identified atomic number as the nuclear charges. He studied under Rutherford and brilliantly developed the application of X-ray spectra to study atomic structure; his discoveries resulted in a more accurate positioning of elements in the Periodic Table by closer determination of atomic numbers . Moseley was nominated for the 1915 Nobel Prize but was unfortunately killed in action in August 1915 and could not receive the prize.
John Henry Poynting. Student 1867–1872 (one of the very first students in the new Physical Laboratories). Lecturer 1876–1879. Left to become Professor at Mason College (which became Birmingham University). He wrote on electrical phenomena and radiation and is best known for Poynting's vector. In 1891 he determined the mean density of the Earth and made a determination of the gravitational constant in 1893. The Poynting-Robertson effect was related to the theory of relativity.
George Rochester discovered strange particles in 1947 with Clifford C Butler. C C Butler co-discovered strange particles in 1947. Went on to be head of department at Imperial College and then VC at Loughborough.
Sir Arthur Schuster, Langworthy Professor of Physics (1888–1907), who made many contributions to optics and astronomy. Schuster's interests were wide-ranging: terrestrial magnetism, optics, solar physics, and the mathematical theory of periodicities. He introduced meteorology as a subject studied in British universities.
Sir Arnold Wolfendale, BSc 1948 and PhD 1954 in cosmic rays. Lecturer 1953–1956. 14th Astronomer Royal.

[edit] Physiology and Medicine

Archibald Vivian Hill (awarded Nobel prize in 1922), for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle. One of the founders of the diverse disciplines of biophysics and operations research.
Herchel Smith, a researcher at the University of Manchester, developed an inexpensive way of producing chemicals that stop women ovulating during their monthly menstrual cycle in 1961.

[edit] Economics

John Hicks (awarded Nobel prize in 1974), for his pioneering contributions to general economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory.
Sir Arthur Lewis (awarded Nobel prize in 1979), for his pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries.
Joseph E. Stiglitz (awarded Nobel prize in 2001), for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information. Former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, he is famous for his critical view of globalization and international institutions like the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. Currently, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz teaches at Columbia University and heads the Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI) at the University of Manchester.
William Stanley Jevons, father of neoclassical economics, was appointed in 1854 to establish a Chair in Political Economy making Manchester one of the oldest centres for the study of economics in the United Kingdom.
Jack Johnston, founded and established the first Department of Econometrics in the 1960's.

[edit] Literature

Anthony Burgess, BA, English Literature, 1937-40. Writer and critic whose novels include the Malayan trilogy, A Clockwork Orange, the Enderby cycle, Nothing Like The Sun, Earthly Powers and The Kingdom Of The Wicked. He produced acclaimed critical works on Joyce, Lawrence, Hemingway and Shakespeare, and studies of language and of pornography.

Louis de Bernieres, 1954-. Writer. Novels include The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990), Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991), The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (1994) (winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best book) and Red Dog (2001).

Alex Garland, 1970-, BA, History of Art. Novelist and script-writer. Author of The Beach (1996), The Tesseract (1998) and The Coma (2004).

[edit] History

Lewis Bernstein Namier, Chair of the History Department 1931-1952.
A. J. P. Taylor, 1931-1938, was a renowned English historian of the 20th century. He was probably the best-known British historian of the century and certainly one of the most controversial.

[edit] Mathematics and Computer Science

Alan Turing, one of the founders of Computer Science and AI

Alan Turing, one of the founders of Computer Science and AI. The ACM Turing award is named after him, as is the University of Manchester's Alan Turing Institute. Also a pioneer of Mathematical Biology.

Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams invented the Williams-Kilburn Tube and the first modern electronic computer in the world, the Manchester Mark 1.
Ludwig Wittgenstein who is best known for his work in philosophy undertook aeronautical research in Manchester. Needing to understand more mathematics for his research, he began a study which soon involved him in the foundations of mathematics.
Paul Erdős was one of the most prolific mathematicians of the 20th century. The Euler of our time, he posed and solved many problems in number theory and other areas. He was a founder of the field of extremal combinatorics, of major importance in theoretical computer science. He wrote 1,500 papers. In his early career, he held a post-doctoral fellowship at Manchester University and subsequently became an itinerant mathematician. Awarded the Cole Prize of the American Mathematical Society.
Frank Adams was a leading figure in algebraic topology and homotopy theory. He developed methods which led to important advances in calculating the homotopy groups of spheres (a problem which is still unsolved), including the invention of the Adams operations.
M. S. Bartlett, professor of mathematical statistics from 1947 to 1960, made important contributions to the analysis of data with spatial and temporal patterns. He is also known for his work in the theory of statistical inference and in multivariate analysis.
Sydney Chapman developed important theory on thermal diffusion in highly ionized gases, magnetic storms, instability along magnetic neutral lines, noctilucent clouds and the fundamentals of gas dynamics.
Harold Davenport worked in Manchester as a contemporary of Erdős and Mordell.
Sydney Goldstein was one of the most influential theoretical fluid mechanicians in this century. He is best known for his work in boundary layer theory where the Goldstein singularity is named after him.
Brian Hartley is best known for his work in group theory. His book Rings, Modules and Linear Algebra (written with T. O. Hawkes) is a widely used undergraduate text.
James Lighthill was one of the most influential applied mathematicians of the 20th century. He made important contributions to the modern developments in theoretical aerodynamics and aeroacoustics (Lighthill's eighth power law) and was one of the founding fathers of the field of biofluiddynamics. He is also founder of IMA.
John Littlewood is famous for his work on the theory of series, the Riemann zeta function, inequalities and the theory of functions. He held a lectureship at the University of Manchester from 1907 to 1910.
Kurt Mahler spent several periods of his academic life at Manchester. Major themes of his work were p-adic numbers, p-adic diophantine approximation, geometry of numbers and Mahler measures.
Edward Milne was a leading figure in the study of radiative equilibrium, the structure of stellar atmospheres, theory of relativity and the interior structure of stars. President of London Mathematics Society.
Louis Mordell was a pure mathematician who made important contributions in number theory.
Bernhard Neumann spent more than a decade in Manchester. He is one of the leading figures in group theory.
Hanna Neumann, group theorist, later first female Professor of Mathematics in Australia.
Max Newman made important contributions to combinatorial topology, Boolean algebras and mathematical logic. He directed the now-famous Colossus cryptanalysis program in WWII.
Osborne Reynolds is famous for his work in fluid mechanics. In 1886 he formulated a theory of lubrication (thus the Reynolds equation is named after him) and three years later he developed the standard mathematical framework used in the study of turbulence (Reynolds stress and Reynolds averaging are two of the many terms bearing his name). The Reynolds number used in modelling fluid flow is named after him. His students include J. J. Thomson, who discovered the electron.
Lewis Fry Richardson was a scientist who was the first to apply mathematics, in particular the method of finite differences, to predicting the weather (the father of CFD). He made contributions to calculus and to the theory of diffusion, in particular eddy-diffusion in the atmosphere. The Richardson number, a fundamental quantity involving gradients of temperature and wind velocity, is named after him.
Sir Horace Lamb was one of the six professors appointed when Manchester University received its Royal Charter (his chair was in Mathematics, and Osborne Reynolds was given the Chair in Engineering). He made many important contributions to applied mathematics, including the areas of acoustics and fluid dynamics. His book Hydrodynamics (first published in 1895) was for many years the standard text on the subject and is still essential reading for researchers. Lamb's main field of research was solid mechanics, and he made careful studies of the vibrations of spherical bodies which aided understanding in seismology. Research on waves in layered media led to the discovery of Lamb waves.

[edit] Politics

The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett, current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Margaret Beckett, Member of Parliament and current Foreign Secretary
Den Dover, Member of the European Parliament
Beverley Hughes, Member of Parliament
Harold Lever, Labour cabinet minister
Tony Lloyd, Member of Parliament
Arlene McCarthy, Member of Parliament
Said Musa, current Prime Minister of Belize
Councillor David Sandiford, Lord Mayor of Manchester
Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel
Kirsty Williams, Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Brecon and Radnorshire

[edit] Business

Tony Bickford, Former Chairman, QAS
Tom Bloxham founder of influential regeneration firm Urban Splash
Roger Crook, Chief Executive Officer, DHL Latin America
Don Cruickshank, Chairman of SMG plc and former chairman, London Stock Exchange
Rijkman Groenink, Chairman of the Managing Board, ABN AMRO
Robert H. Herz, Chairman, US Financial Accounting Standards Board
Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain. He was chosen as Britain's "Business Leader of the Year" in 2003 and the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2003 and was selected as Britain's most admired business leader by Management Today in 2005
Michael D. Parker, Chief Executive Officer, BNFL
Jurek Piasecki, Chairman and Chief Executive, Goldsmith Group plc
Brian Quinn, Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of Celtic F.C board
James Ross, Former Chairman, The Littlewoods Organisation
Şevket Sabancı vice president of Sabancı Holding
Paul Skinner, Chairman, Rio Tinto
Brenda Smith, Group Managing Director of Ascent Media Group and Former Managing Director of Granada Television
David Varney, Executive Chairman, HM Revenue and Customs