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Her first stop was the Department of Architecture on the newly-refurbished Scroope Terrace site. She joined staff and students past and present to celebrate the opening of the new eco-architecture studio extension which has recently been shortlisted for a prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award 2008.
The £3M refurbishment and expansion scheme recently completed for the department comprises the new eco-architecture studio and a major refurbishment of the Georgian Scroope Terrace building.
The scheme was masterminded by Head of Department, Professor Marcial Echenique, and designed by Freeland Rees Roberts Architects with Mole Architects. The scheme is designed to unite and strengthen the Department’s teaching and research functions.
The Vice-Chancellor then moved on to Cambridge Assessment’s headquarters on Hills Road to join in the exam body’s 150th Anniversary celebrations.
She was welcomed by Chief Executive Simon Lebus and shown displays of the global work of the Company, one of the oldest and most successful testing organisations in the world and the only one in the UK owned by a university.
She commended Cambridge Assessment for its work in “inventing exams” in the UK, and the way in which the organisation has responded to changes in education and embraced new technological developments.
The Vice-Chancellor also unveiled a time capsule box which will be placed in the Cambridge Assessment Archives on 15 December 2008, marking the 150th anniversary of the day the first exam was sat. The time capsule will contain details of technology used in assessment, exam specifications and certificates along with a record of the anniversary celebrations.
Later, a packed Senate House welcomed a procession of 43 members of the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors, led by the Vice-Chancellor.
The Choir of Jesus College, trumpeters and a string quintet performed at the ceremony for Admission of Companions to the Cambridge Guild of Benefactors, which takes place each April to thank individuals and companies who have given substantial amounts to the University and colleges.
This year a record 21 new benefactors were admitted to the Guild bringing the total to 140 individuals or companies who have each contributed at least £1 million.
In her invocation at the ceremony the Vice-Chancellor said: “To be a benefactor to our great university requires not only financial generosity but also a generosity of spirit, faith in the future, an appetite for dissent and discovery, and a certain unease with the status quo.
“Donors to Cambridge give because they share our passion for education and research; our commitment to excellence; and our values. They give because our ambitions for Cambridge resonate with theirs.”
The day ended with a dinner in honour of the Benefactors at New Hall, hosted by the President of the college, Mrs Anne Lonsdale.
Source: By University Of Cambridge
Posted April 16th, 2008 by seher
