Ceremony marks Nancy Rothwell's end of term of office as President and Vice-Chancellor

25 Jul 2024

The University of Manchester’s President and Vice-Chancellor, and first female leader, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell’s term of office comes to an end on 31 July, after 14 years of inspirational leadership.

To mark Nancy’s highly successful tenure, the University’s Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD), one of the largest educational spaces in Europe, was named the Nancy Rothwell Building in her honour on 24 July at a special ceremony.

With the help of the robots from the University’s Centre for Robotics and AI, Nancy was presented with a time capsule, an object created for the groundbreaking ceremony of MECD which was attended by the now Prince and Princess of Wales. The time capsule, which will be sealed in a specially designed vault, contains symbols of The University of Manchester’s world-class research, letters from staff and students, a miniature replica of the first car to use graphene in its construction and gold foil representing Ernest Rutherford and colleagues’ pivotal work leading to an artificial nuclear reaction.

The ceremony also featured a performance of a specially commissioned poem from former Chancellor of the University, and renowned poet, Lemn Sissay.

Nancy’s tenure has been marked by significant growth, recognition, and development.

Along with being instrumental in the genesis of the remarkable engineering research and teaching facility now named after her, Nancy has presided over the development of the wider campus, including the Graphene Innovation Engineering Centre, the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, the Paterson cancer research centre, and the redeveloped Alliance Manchester Business School.

There has been a transformation of the campus for students, staff and visitors including more open green spaces, and redeveloped cultural institutions which have attracted millions of visitors.

Manchester remains the most applied to British university for undergraduate study and was rated Silver overall, Gold for Student Outcomes, and Silver for Student Experience in the TEF 2023.

In research, Manchester was fifth in the UK for research power in the 2021 REF and by 2022/23, Manchester’s research income had grown to £257 million, alongside the establishment of the research beacons to drive investment and impact across five key research areas.

Nancy will be remembered for her strong passion for civic engagement and global impact, and she placed social responsibility as one of the main pillars of the institution.

The QS Sustainability Rankings and THE University Impact Rankings both place The University of Manchester in the top three in the world for social and environmental impact and top in the UK and Europe. This reflects the enormous progress the University has made in addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Part of this impact is a commitment to be zero carbon by 2038. Nancy has committed significant investment into this important ambition, including a new solar farm, which will produce 65% of the University’s electricity needs when it opens in Autumn 2025.

As a leader in innovation, Manchester is a partner in Northern Gritstone, an investment business focused on university spinouts and IP-rich businesses in the North of England, which announced a final close of £312m in 2023.

Nancy has been a strong advocate for extending opportunities to all, including establishing the President’s Doctoral Scholar Award to give outstanding students from around the world a foundation to support research training, and Humanitarian and Conflict Scholarships for people at immediate risk who have been forced to flee their homes as a direct result of armed conflict.

The University also holds Disability Confident Leader, Silver Race Equality Charter, Silver Athena Swan and a Platinum Award for Public Engagement status, among many others.

The University’s leadership in civic engagement has been evidenced with the ongoing development of ID Manchester - a £1.7bn innovation district planned in partnership with Bruntwood SciTech – and championing Manchester as first place in the country to establish a dedicated cross-city region centre to help support higher education students with mental health needs.

In collaboration with other universities in the city-region, Nancy spearheaded a joint Civic University Agreement with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and its ten local authorities to drive social and economic change in the city region.

Further afield, global partnerships were forged with the Universities of Toronto, Melbourne and Chinese University of Hong Kong among others, and significant networks established with alumni and supporters overseas.  

Following the naming ceremony, a dinner was held at which a series of individuals spoke warmly about the different ways in which Nancy has contributed to the life of the University, city and higher education sector more widely.

These included, Chair of the Board of Governors, Philippa Hird; Nancy’s long-time research colleague, Professor Stuart Allan; Nobel Prize winner, Professor Sir Andre Geim; recent medical graduate and award-winning social entrepreneur, Dr George Obolo; and Professor Lord Patrick Vallance, in a personal capacity as he has known Nancy for many years and co-chaired the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology with her.

This marked the end of a series of formal events to honour her achievements, including a civic reception on 10 July and the unveiling of her portrait at the Whitworth on 19 June.

Her term of office ends on 31 July 2024, handing over to Professor Duncan Ivison, former Deputy President for Research at The University of Sydney. Nancy will continue her association with the University as an emeritus professor, building on her achievements as an eminent physiologist, which have led to her furthering the understanding of brain injury and stroke. Professor Ivison has also asked her to continue to play an ambassadorial role in relation to fundraising and external relations.

Philippa Hird, Chair of the University’s Board of Governors said: “Nancy’s leadership and her overriding belief that The University of Manchester is a global force for good and for opportunity have underpinned the many achievements of her 14 years. It has been a great honour to work with her.”

Nancy’s thoughts on her tenure are featured in an interview for the most recent University of Manchester Magazine.