March 2013 www.wales.ac.uk/alumni

CThe Maagazine for Unimversity of Wales Alumni pus

II Adduned Cymru – The Wales Pledge II Alumni Liaison Committee II University News Round-up II Alumnus holds V&A Ceramics Residency II Merger II Thomas Ellis Memorial Fund Winners Announced Welcome from your Alumni Officer

There are a number of developments currently taking place at the University, and this special edition of Campus magazine has been produced for Alumni to complement the regularly updated information Welcome available on the University’s website. from the Vice-Chancellor Although smaller than the regular edition, it is full of informative and s we continue through the merger important news, celebrating the process with the University of achievements of our Alumni and AWales: Trinity Saint David and updating members on activities Metropolitan, the University of undertaken by the University. Wales is mindful of its historic obligation to safeguard a range of academic and Campus is one of the many resources we cultural activities traditionally use to keep members informed and is associated with the University. In sent out to over 30,000 Alumni via email December, the University Council and post. Members include those who announced its intention to establish have only recently graduated to those Adduned Cymru - The Wales Pledge, who have held a University of Wales which will ensure that the assets it holds award for many years. Alongside the will continue to benefit the whole of dedicated Alumni pages on the website, Wales. it is an important tool used in I hope this issue of Campus will provide communicating with our Alumni. Vice-Chancellor, you with further information about these Professor Medwin Hughes The summer edition of Campus will still developments, and I would encourage you be published this year in July/August as to regularly visit the University’s website to view up to date information. There is a previous years, and I would like to invite section on the University’s website where all the merger and reconfiguration members to submit any news, developments are explained in detail, along with a series of frequently asked photographs or information about questions. Visit www.wales.ac.uk/developments for more information. upcoming Alumni events to feature in this next edition. As part of the University's commitment to consult with its stakeholders, I am keen to hear any comments you may have regarding these developments. You can submit I very much hope you will enjoy reading your views and comments by visiting the Stakeholders’ Voice section of the website - this special edition of Campus , and I www.wales.ac.uk/stakeholdersvoice would welcome any comments you may have about either any of the articles in this The University looks forward to hearing your views and I hope you enjoy reading this magazine, or the Alumni Association itself. special edition of Campus.

Jocelyn Keedwell Professor Medwin Hughes DL DPhil DPS FRSA. Communications Officer (Alumni) Vice-Chancellor

Keep in touch In July 2011, a letter was sent to all via telephone or letter to let us know details and email address via the online Alumni members for whom we held whether they in fact preferred to continue registration form on the Alumni pages of address data for informing them of our receiving communications and the Alumni the website – www.wales.ac.uk/Register plans to change the way we magazine through the post. communicated with them, preferring Alternatively if you do not have an email where possible to communicate It is important that the Alumni Office address, or would simply prefer to receive electronically via email, and asking them holds your correct and most up to date communications and the Alumni to ensure that we held their correct contact information to ensure that you magazine through the post, all you need contact details. receive all relevant communications and to do is write to or telephone the Alumni news from the University. Office with your preferences - contact At that time, we asked Alumni to either details can be found on the back page. register their email address using the If you have not already done so, you can online registration form, or to get in touch register your most up to date contact

2 Campus: The Magazine for University of Wales Alumni 3

Adduned Cymru Alumni – The Wales Pledge Liaison

n 2012, the University announced Committee the creation of Adduned Cymru – IThe Wales Pledge. As custodian of many important academic and The University uses various channels cultural assets, through Adduned to keep in touch with its Alumni and Cymru – The Wales Pledge, the recognises the importance of seeking University will ensure that the assets it their views on significant matters holds will continue to benefit the concerning the University and its whole of Wales. Alumni. This is especially the case as we are considering changes which are Within this period of transformational due to take place at the University change for higher education in Wales, in Gregynog Hall over the next few years. creating Adduned Cymru – The Wales Pledge, the University is being faithful to These will include: To support the Mission Statement of the its core values and ensuring the assets Alumni Association, the University is serve the purpose for which they were The Wales Heritage Academy - this will looking to appoint an Alumni Liaison intended, safeguarding its legacy for promote and celebrate the dynamic Committee to act as a focal point for our future generations and Wales as a whole. heritage of Wales, with a commitment to discussions with Alumni. It is envisaged further the work of the Centre for that this committee will not only be a With a fund value of £6.8 million, it will Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies and vehicle for discussion during this period in entail a series of strategic arrangements the Dictionary of the . It the history of the University of Wales, and the establishment of a number of will also safeguard and further the work of more importantly it will promote two-way charitable bodies to safeguard the the University of Wales Press, which has a liaison and communication. traditional services associated with the proud tradition of serving Wales and all its University. universities by publishing outstanding The new committee will have nine scholarly publications. members who shall be appointed in a personal capacity. These members will The Gregynog Trust - this will safeguard represent the breadth and diversity of our for the nation Gregynog Hall, the historic Alumni having due regard to the need for house and estate gifted to the University equality of opportunity, gender balance, of Wales by Margaret Davies of fresh input and a balanced age range. Llandinam in 1960. The Gregynog Press will also be safeguarded. If you feel you would like to be involved in the activities of the Alumni Liaison The Wales Universities Trust – this will Committee please visit the Alumni pages safeguard the numerous charitable gifts on the University’s website where more information is provided about the University of Wales Press the University has received over the years, currently standing at £5.5m, which have committee, membership criteria, and been donated for dedicated purposes. what is expected of potential members.

The Legacy of the Welsh Churches Act - To be considered as a member of the new the land still held in Trust by the University Committee, you will need to complete the under the Welsh Churches Act will be electronic submission form. The deadline placed into a separate Trust. to receive applications will be the 30th April 2013. Further information regarding Adduned Cymru – The Wales Pledge will be For more information, please visit available on the University’s website in www.wales.ac.uk/ALC due course. Please visit CAWCS www.wales.ac.uk/WalesPledge

Have your Say As part of the University's commitment to consult with its stakeholders, the University is keen to hear any comments you may have regarding Adduned Cymru – The Wales Pledge. Please visit the comments section on the University of Wales website to submit your views - www.wales.ac.uk/stakeholdersvoice Debut Novelist Wins University UW Professor to lead Welsh of Wales Prize Government

n November 2012, Maggie the book’s success: “I’m really, really independent review Shipstead was announced as the thrilled to win the prize. I think when you In January, Business Minister Edwina winner of the £30,000 University start to write a book it’s insanity to I Hart announced that Professor Dylan of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize. imagine anyone reading it, let alone Jones-Evans, Director: Centre for people in other countries and people Enterprise and Innovation Education With a judging panel which included Hay choosing your book for a prize. It seems at the University of Wales, will lead a Festival founder Peter Florence, singer and like a dream.” Review into access to business finance BBC 6 Music presenter Cerys Matthews, for Small and Medium Enterprises and Chairman of the Dylan Thomas Prize Open to any published author in the (SMEs) in Wales. Peter Stead, the 28 year old Californian English language under the age of 30, author won the prize for her debut novel the award celebrates the legacy of Launched by The Welsh Government, the , which judges Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas Seating Arrangements independent review will establish whether agreed showed immense maturity and who wrote most of his best work in his High Street banks are meeting the funding great accomplishment. 20’s. This prize aims to recognise and needs of Welsh SMEs and examine other support the literary heroes of the future. potential sources of finance to support the Speaking after the event, Maggie business community in Wales. described how she was overwhelmed by Speaking about the Review, Professor Jones-Evans said: “There is considerable concern that the economic recovery in Wales is being held back because of the lack of capital for business to develop and grow. This review will try and move past the rhetoric and examine the reality of the situation, the solutions required to getting capital flowing into the Welsh business community, and what the Welsh Government can do to facilitate and support this process.”

Throughout the Review, Professor Jones- Evans will be supported by Welsh Government officials and a voluntary advisory group comprising of business leaders and financial experts. The Minister has asked to receive a report in autumn 2013.

Maggie Shipstead (centre) with the Vice-Chancellor and Judging panel Owain : My life in Music With launch events in both and inimitable humour and emotion, London, the University of Wales Press peppered throughout with anecdotes of published the autobiography of one of his relationships with musicians, the world’s foremost conductors in celebrities and sporting icons. autumn 2012. Entertaining and eye-opening, it reveals not only the pleasures that music has Having recorded and performed with brought to his life, but also the sacrifices leading orchestras, Owain Arwel Hughes’ that come with being part of such a career of over forty years has seen him highly competitive and public profession. share centre stage with some of the world’s greatest performers including My Life in Music was officially launched Julian Lloyd Webber, , Luciano on Thursday, 13th September at St Pavarotti and . David’s Hall, Cardiff followed by the London launch held on the 17th October Owain Arwel Hughes My Life in Music is packed with Owain’s at the .

4 For more University news, and to read these stories in full, please visit the University website – www.wales.ac.uk/News Campus: The Magazine for University of Wales Alumni 5 University of Wales Merger

ver the years the University has adapted in order to continue to Obe at the heart of the nation’s academic, intellectual and cultural life. Responding to Government policy and the decisions of the founding M25 Orbital, V&A 2006 University institutions to seek their own degree awarding powers, the University of Wales has undergone UW Alumnus holds Ceramics radical restructuring.

Residency at the V&A In 2007, the University was restructured when it was clear that the original n October 2012, Ceramics artist clay and electricity in both a material ‘federal’ structure of the University of and University of Wales Alumnus and social sense and foresee the period Wales no longer served the Welsh higher IKeith Harrison was announced as as an opportunity to develop new education sector. Ceramics Resident at the V&A approaches to my practice in a new and Museum, London. stimulating environment.” More recently, in October 2011, the University of Wales made a commitment Keith Studied at the then Cardiff Institute During his residency Keith has produced to merge with the University of Wales: for Higher Education and gained both a a number of new works to be sited Trinity Saint David (UW:TSD) and BA in 3D Ceramics and a Postgraduate Art within the Museum’s permanent Swansea Metropolitan University (SMU) Teacher’s Certificate, he then went on to collections, as well as producing a under the 1828 Charter of UW:TSD. This complete an MA in Ceramics and Glass at number of lunchtime and evening decision was in accordance with Welsh the Royal College of Art (RCA). ‘Disruptions’ in various locations in the Government policy, and allows the Museum and holding regular Open University of Wales to continue with its Since graduating from the RCA in 2002, Studios. His residency will run until the mission and commitment to support the Keith has been involved in a series of end of March 2013. academic, cultural and economic life of process-based live public experiments that Wales. The resulting institution, involving investigate the direct physical To read more about Keith Harrison and all three Universities, is expected to be transformation of clay from a raw state his residency, and for up to date fully integrated by 2017/18. utilising industrial and domestic electrical information about upcoming systems. Large-scale works have also been Disruptions and Open Studios, please Further information, including a series of realised for public galleries and Museums visit the V&A website - Frequently Asked Questions, regarding the including the V&A, Jerwood Space, www.vam.ac.uk/residencies Merger can be found on the University of Camden Arts Centre and mima, Wales website. This section will be Middlesbrough. He has also been part- updated regularly as we continue through time Senior Lecturer at Bath School of Art the Merger process. Please visit and Design and Visiting Lecturer at a www.wales.ac.uk/Merger number of Art Schools in the UK and Europe.

Speaking about his research interests in Have your Say the V&A collection and his residency, Keith explained: “I have an interest in the As part of the University's clay works held across the V&A's commitment to consult with its collections, encompassing not only the stakeholders, the University is keen to specialist Ceramics Galleries but also hear any comments you may have Sculpture and Architecture. regarding the Merger.

Under the overarching title of ‘Secondary Please visit the comments section on Modernism’, I am interested in using the the University of Wales website to residency at the V&A to pursue new ways submit your views - to explore the transformative potential of www.wales.ac.uk/stakeholdersvoice Lucie Rie Vs Grindcore, V&A 2012 Recipients of the Thomas Ellis Memorial Fund announced

Awarded in December, the winners of this year’s Thomas Ellis Memorial Fund awards were University of Wales Alumni Dr Geraldine Lublin and Dr Roger Turvey.

Awarded to assist research into the language, literature, history and antiquities of Wales and Monmouthshire, and the publication of the results of such research, the Thomas Ellis Memorial Fund was raised in memory of the late Thomas Edward Ellis, Member of Parliament representing Meirioneth (1886-1899) and a former Warden of the Guild of Graduates (1896-1899). Statue of Thomas Ellis in Bala

Archive in order to explore documentary date. His current research, for which he sources and governmental legislation received this year’s award, focuses on the relevant to G wˆ yl y Glaniad, the ‘Festival of twelfth-century Prince Owain Gwynedd the Landing’, which marks the date when and his book will be published later this the first group of Welsh settlers landed in year by Y Lolfa. Porth Madryn on 28 July 1865. Speaking about the award, he said: “The Given the enthusiastic preparations for Thomas Ellis Memorial Fund has made Dr Geraldine Lublin & Dr Roger Turvey the celebration of the sesquicentenary of the publication of my research work the landing of the Mimosa, I thought it possible and I consider it to be a Recipient Dr Geraldine Lublin studied for was very timely to study this prestigious award for which I am and completed her PhD at the School of quintessentially Patagonian festival from honoured and grateful to receive. Welsh in . Though born its very beginning in order to understand However, it is more than simply an award in Buenos Aires and not a Welsh its development through the decades and for it represents the person in whose descendant herself, she developed an its present significance. I look forward to name it was founded and I am a great academic interest in the history of the continuing with the research and admirer of Thomas Edward Ellis. He was a Welsh settlement in Patagonia and how unearthing more interesting facts about politician of rare talent and as a pioneer Welsh heritage has flourished in the this, as well as sharing the fruits of my of the movement to secure a National province of Chubut over the decades into efforts with the wider public.” Library for Wales, we as a nation, and I as the 21st century. a historian, owe him a great debt. Dr Roger Turvey, the second recipient, Speaking about what winning the award graduated with a PhD in medieval Welsh In view of Thomas Ellis’ interest in and means to her and her research, she history from the then University of Wales, love of Welsh History I would like to think explained: “I am very grateful to the Swansea. With a passion for Wales and that he would have approved of the Thomas Ellis Memorial Fund for this Welsh history, Roger has published widely financial assistance offered to fund the award. It has enabled me to carry out on the subject with sixteen books and publication of a book on another great field research at the Chubut Historical nearly thirty articles for learned journals to Welshman, Owain Gwynedd.”

University of Wales Alumni Association With thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue Email: [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)29 2037 6999 The continued support of Ede & Website: www.wales.ac.uk/alumni Ravenscroft towards publication costs is Address: University Registry greatly appreciated King Edward VII Avenue Cathays Park Editor: Jocelyn Keedwell Cardiff, CF10 3NS Design and Print: Yogi Creative

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