2024: Our year in review
16 Dec 2024
We take a look back at the highlights from an exceptional year for our University community – celebrating our Bicentenary and many achievements
2024 has been a very special year for our University – the year we celebrated 200 years of learning, innovation and research; of incredible people; of global influence.
And what better way to celebrate than to build on our legacy with yet more achievements and successes?
Bicentenary celebrations
We kicked off our special year with a purple pathway of light – lighting up Oxford Road, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Dubai – and a special evening of light, poetry and performances.
There followed a myriad of celebrations – we created self-guided campus tours; built Bicentenary Way to remember our incredible people; we ran our largest ever Purple Wave; we carried out 1824 Acts of Kindness.
Our Universally Manchester festival in June welcomed staff, students, friends and neighbours onto campus for four days of unforgettable celebrations and the first viewing of our beautifully regenerated Old Quad.
We launched the innovative podcast and lecture series Talk200 series; created a film for Foundation Day 2024; and hosted the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit 2024, attracting over 500 delegates from around the globe to campus.
As the year drew to a close, we proudly turned to the future – with the launch of the Bicentenary PhD studentships and fellowships to support the next generations of research leaders and the planting 200 trees for 200 years.
A change of leadership
On 31 July, our Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell stepped down after 14 years in the post – the first woman to hold that role in our 200-year history.
Nancy’s outstanding career and service was recognised with an honorary degree (Doctor of Science), the position of Professor Emerita to be conferred on her (recommended by Senate) and the Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD) renamed the Nancy Rothwell Building. We held an official ceremony and our Chancellor, Nazir Afzal unveiled her official portrait, one as novel as its subject as Nancy chose to be photographed by Carla van de Puttelaar, who specialises in female portraits. Nancy was also presented with an Outstanding Achievement Award by Times Higher Education.
On 1 August, we welcomed our new Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Duncan Ivison.
Originally from Montréal, Duncan has studied and worked in Canada, the UK and Australia. He explained in his Viewpoint blog how his experience had reinforced his belief in the power of diverse perspectives and global collaboration – values that he sees reflected in everything we do here at Manchester.
Duncan gave his inaugural speech at our Foundation Day celebration and a busy start includes launching our University’s new strategy, Manchester 2035.
The University welcomed a number of other new leaders this year, including:
- Eleanor Morrissey, Executive Director of People and Organisational Development
- Sarah Fox, Executive Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Barra Mac Ruairí, Chief Property Officer to lead Estates and Facilities Directorate (joining 2025)
- Osama Bhutta, Executive Director of the Directorate of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment (joining 2025)
- Professor Ashley Blom, appointed Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (joining 2025).
Deputy President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Luke Georghiou will also step down at the end of the year after more than 50 years of association with and strong support for our University.
Celebrating our people
We started our special year with three of our academics being recognised in the King’s New Years Honours List. Later in the year, we also celebrated four professors who were recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List for their extraordinary impact on the lives of people across the country.
Meteorologist Professor David Schultz received the Cleveland Abbe Award for Distinguished Service to the Atmospheric and Related Sciences.
Professor Dame Robina Shah was appointed Chair Greater Manchester Ethics Committee, which advises the Deputy Mayor and Greater Manchester Police.
Professor of Sociology and Social Gerontology, Tine Buffel was named a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Vice-President for Research, Professor Colette Fagan was appointed to UK Research and Innovation Research England Council.
Director of Legal Affairs and Board Secretariat, Sinéad Hesp won Leader of the Year at the inaugural Association of University Legal Practitioners (AULP) Awards.
University alumnus Simon Johnson was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics for his research into wealth disparities.
Professor Carly McLachlan attended the Reception for International Sustainability at Buckingham Palace.
New rankings released by Clarivate recognised fourteen researchers across fifteen subject areas at the University as among the world’s most influential academics, based on the number of ‘Highly Cited’ papers they have each authored.
Economics Professor, Sonya Krutikova was appointed to Science Advisory Council.
Six Manchester colleagues were appointed to REF 2029 pilot panels and will help deliver an expanded definition of research excellence.
Professor Claire Alexander received the 2024 Distinguished Service British Sociology Award for her extraordinary life as a sociologist.
Professor Cecilia Wong appointed as Chair of UK2070 Commission, an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities in the United Kingdom.
Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement’s Director, Teresa Anderson MBE was celebrated as a Heritage Game Changer in honour of her impact on cultural engagement.
The University gave Honorary Fellowships to three key people from our region’s vibrant creative and cultural industries sector.
We presented Distinguished Achievement Awards to staff for their outstanding performances and significant contributions to the University and our highest non degree award, the Medal of Honour to Jeannette Howe OBE and Jo Richler.
Our Making a Difference Awards celebrated the inspiring social responsibility achievements of our people, while the Volunteer of the Year Awards celebrated exceptional volunteering by individuals and teams.
Celebrating our University
In January, the University retained the HR Excellence in Research Award, which recognises our full adoption of European Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and is a cornerstone of our Research culture and environment.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited Jodrell Bank as part of the celebration of its UNESCO World Heritage status.
In February, the city of Manchester was named a UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning, with the University recognised as a key partner. The University was also awarded accreditation status by the United Nations Environment Programme, making us one of only 20 universities worldwide to receive this accolade.
Building on the University’s sustained support for doctoral training, we were awarded £30m for investment into training the next generation of science and engineering researchers.
The GDI announced they received a further transformational donation of £2m from the Rory and Elizabeth Brooks Foundation.
A generous £1.5m gift from British businessman and University alumnus, Simon Sadler provided a new bursary for care leavers.
The University celebrated a $1.3m donation from alumna Judith Sear to accelerate the University’s cancer research impact.
We received a significant £1.5m donation from alumnus Sir Terry Leahy to fund research into regional inequality. The University will also invest £1.76 million into research tackling health inequalities.
Manchester alumna Aline Egan remembered the University with a gift in her will, helping to support up to 200 postgraduate students over the next four years
We announced a new scholarship in memory of Politics, Philosophy and Economics graduate Laura Nuttall, who passed away in May 2023.
The University was awarded the title of University of the Year at the Educate North Awards, named an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research and celebrated a double win at the AUDE Estates Excellence Awards.
We retained the top spot in the UK and Europe and came 2nd in the world in Times Higher Education Impact Rankings – the only institution in the world to rank in the top ten for social and environmental impact in every year.
We were named number one in both the UK and Europe – and second in the world – for meaningful contributions towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The University was named as the UK’s most sustainable University.
We were ranked 7th in Stonewall’s Top 100 Workplace Annual Equality Index and are a new member of the Good Employment Charter.
We unveiled Manchester’s new £1.7bn innovation district’s first building, Sister and launched Unit M, to catalyse innovation in Manchester. We also celebrated first 20 years of our Nobel Prizewinning wonder material, graphene.
We won an International Green Gown Award in recognition of our ambitious decarbonisation plans and announced a new £8m research centre in the North of England to build a greener future.
We have been recognised as one of the top universities in Europe for the second year in a row, achieving seventh place in the latest QS World University Rankings.
We have been ranked at number 52, out of more than 2500 institutions in the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) which ranks the world’s leading higher education institutions.
We reaffirmed our status as a global leader in sustainability by retaining our position in the top 10 worldwide in the 2025 QS World University Sustainability Rankings.
And we celebrated a double win at Times Higher Education Awards, for our outstanding support to students and STEM research.
Thank you
Thanks to everyone in our community who has contributed to our very special year. We hope you have a restful break and look forward to seeing you in 2025.
- You can read more about our achievements and research that made the headlines over the last year in our 2024 review from the Media Relations team.