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| Arms of King's College London | ||||||||||||
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| Motto: | Sancte et Sapienter | |||||||||||
| Motto in English: | With Holiness and Wisdom | |||||||||||
| Established: | 1829 | |||||||||||
| Type: | Public | |||||||||||
| Endowment: | £110.8 million | |||||||||||
| Principal: | Prof Rick Trainor | |||||||||||
| Chairman of the Council: | Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro | |||||||||||
| Staff: | 5,149 | |||||||||||
| Students: | 21,230 | |||||||||||
| Undergraduates: | 14,010 | |||||||||||
| Postgraduates: | 7,220 | |||||||||||
| Location: | London, England 51°30′43.00″N 0°06′58.00″W / 51.5119444°N 0.1161111°WCoordinates: 51°30′43.00″N 0°06′58.00″W / 51.5119444°N 0.1161111°W | |||||||||||
| Campus: | 5 throughout Central London | |||||||||||
| Visitor: | The Archbishop of Canterbury ex officio | |||||||||||
| Colours: | | |||||||||||
| Mascot: | Reggie the Lion | |||||||||||
| Affiliations: | University of London Russell Group Golden Triangle EUA ACU Universities UK | |||||||||||
| Website: | www.kcl.ac.uk | |||||||||||
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King's College London is a British higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the University of London. Founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, its royal charter is predated, in England, only by those of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2008, King's was ranked 5th in the UK, 5th in Europe and 22nd in the world by The Times Higher Education Supplement. Its degree courses in History, Politics, Philosophy, Classics, Music and Law are especially strong, often ranking in the top 5 of national academic league tables. King's is a founding member of the Russell Group, constitutes the biggest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe, and houses five Medical Research Council Centres, more than anywhere else in the world, and over one quarter of the UK's total. Today, King's is arranged into nine Schools of Study, spread across four Thames-side campuses in Central London and one in Denmark Hill, South London.
History
King's, so named to indicate the patronage of King George IV, was founded in 1829 in response to the founding of "London University", latterly known as University College London, in 1826. UCL was founded, with the backing of Jews, Utilitarians and non-Anglican Christians, as a secular institution, intended to educate "the youth of our middling rich people between the ages of 15 or 16 and 20 or later". The need for such an institution was due to the religious nature of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which then educated solely the sons of wealthy Anglicans. The foundation of UCL met with the disapproval of the establishment, indeed, "the storms of opposition which raged around it threatened to crush every spark of vital energy which remained". The Revd Dr George D'Oyly, rector of Lambeth and governor of Wilson's School in Camberwell, opposing the secular nature of the college, published an open letter proposing the formation of a competing institution. This would be of a religious, and more particularly Anglican, nature, one which would instil, "the services of religion performed as directed in our National Church". This prompted Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the then Prime Minister to chair a public meeting which launched King's on 21 June 1828. His simultaneous support for the Anglican college and the Roman Catholic Relief Act, which was to lead to the granting of almost full civil rights to Catholics, was challenged by George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea in early 1829. The result was a duel in Battersea Fields on 21 March that year. Deliberately off-target shots were fired by both and neither was hurt. "Duel Day" is still celebrated on 21 March every year, marked by various events throughout the College.
King's opened in 1831, very much in a similar academic guise to Oxford. Despite the intentions of its founders and the chapel at its heart of the buildings, the initial prospectus permitted, "nonconformists of all sorts to enter the college freely". Chemistry, English literature and Commerce were among the subjects offered. At this time, neither King's, nor "London University" had the ability to confer degrees, a particular problem for medical students who wished to practice. Amending this situation was aided by the appointment of Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux as Lord Chancellor, who was chairman of the governors of "London University". In this position he automatically became a governor of King's. In the understanding that the government was unlikely to grant degree-awarding powers on two institutions in London, negotiations led to the colleges federating as the "University of London" in 1836, "London University" thus being demoted to the lower status of University College.
King's professors played a part in scientific and social advances of the nineteenth century, through extending higher education to women, the working class, and by offering evening classes. Perhaps the most famous scholarly research performed at King's was the work by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins that was essential to the discovery by James D. Watson and Francis Crick of the structure of DNA. In addition King's has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, through research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.
The first qualification issued by King's was the Associateship of King's College, or AKC. The course, which concerns questions of ethics and theology, is still awarded today to students (and staff) who take an optional three year course alongside their standard degree. Successful completion entitles the graduate to bear the letters AKC after their name.
The College today is the product of mergers with a number of other institutions over the years, including Queen Elizabeth College and Chelsea College of Science and Technology in 1985, and with the Institute of Psychiatry and the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals. Florence Nightingale's original training school for nurses is now incorporated as the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery. Today, there are nine schools of study (see below).
King's College School was created as King's Junior Department at the time of the College's founding. Originally situated in the basement of the Strand campus, the School relocated to Wimbledon in 1897. King's College School is no longer associated with King's College London.
In 2003 the College was granted degree-awarding powers in its own right, (as opposed to through the University of London) by the Privy Council. This power remained unexercised until 2007, when the College announced that all students starting courses from September 2007 onwards would be awarded degrees conferred by King's itself, rather than by the University of London. The new certificates however still make reference to the fact that King's is a constituent college of the University of London. All current students with at least one year of study remaining were in August 2007 offered the option of choosing to be awarded a University of London degree or a King's degree.
Academic reputation
King’s has a strong academic reputation. According to The Guardian newspaper, King's College London, the London School of Economics, Imperial College London and University College London, each 'have international reputations that in this country only Oxbridge can beat'. In 2008 The Times newspaper ranked King's 10th in the UK, while in the same year King's ranked 12th in The Sunday Times, 12th in The Guardian, 5th in The Times Higher Education Supplement, 17th in The Telegraph, and 15th in The Independent. Internationally, The Times Higher Education Supplement QS World University Rankings places King's 22nd in the World, while The G-Factor World Rankings puts King's 32nd in the world, and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities places King's 81st in the world. According to the 2009 Times Good University Guide, several subjects taught at King’s, including Law, History, Politics, Classics, Spanish, Portuguese, Music, Dentistry, Nursing and Food Science are among the top five in the country. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5 or 5* for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and in 2007 it received a good result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency. It is in the top tier for research earning
Campuses
Strand campus
The Strand Campus is the founding campus of King's. Located next to Somerset House and sharing its frontage along the River Thames, most of the Schools of Humanities, Law, Social Science & Public Policy and Physical Sciences & Engineering are housed here. The Campus combines the Grade I listed King's Building of 1831 designed by Sir Robert Smirke, and the Byzantine Gothic College Chapel, redesigned in 1864 by Sir George Gilbert Scott with the more modern Strand Building, completed in 1972. The Chesham Building in Surrey Street was purchased after the Second World War. The Macadam Building of 1975 houses KCLSU's activities and is named after King's alumnus Sir Ivison Macadam, first President of NUS. A National Trust-protected Roman Bath is situated on the site of the Strand Campus and can be accessed via the Surrey Street entrance. Hidden by surrounding College buildings, the Baths were mentioned by Charles Dickens in chapter thirty-five of David Copperfield. Moreover Aldwych tube station, a well-preserved but disused London Underground station, is integrated as part of the King's Strand campus. A Rifle Range is located on the site of a platform taken out of public service in 1917. (Nearest underground stations: Temple, Covent Garden)
Guy's campus
Guy's Hospital, established in 1726, houses parts of the Dental Institute, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical & Health Sciences. The founder and benefactor of the hospital, Thomas Guy, was a wealthy bookseller and a governor of St Thomas' Hospital. He lies buried in the vault beneath the 18th-century chapel at Guy's. Silk-merchant William Hunt was a later benefactor who gave money in the early nineteenth century to build Hunt's House. Today this is the site of New Hunt's House. The Henriette Raphael building, constructed in 1903, and the Gordon Museum are also located here. In addition, the Hodgkin building, Shepherd's House and Guy's chapel are prominent buildings within the campus. Guy's KCLSU centre is situated in Boland House. (Nearest underground stations: London Bridge, Borough)
Waterloo campus
Across Waterloo Bridge from the Strand Campus, the Waterloo Campus near the South Bank Centre consists of the James Clerk Maxwell Building and the Franklin-Wilkins Building, which was originally constructed as His Majesty's Stationery Office. King's acquired the building in the 1980s. The James Clerk Maxwell Building houses the Principal's Office, most of the central administrative offices of the College and part of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery. The Franklin-Wilkins Building is home to the School of Health & Life Sciences that includes Pharmacy, the Department of Education and to part of the School of Nursing & Midwifery. The campus is also home to the London site of Schiller International University. (Nearest underground station: Waterloo)
St Thomas' campus
The St Thomas' Campus, facing the Houses of Parliament across the Thames, houses parts of the School of Medicine and the Dental Institute. The Florence Nightingale Museum is also located here. (Nearest underground station: Westminster)
Denmark Hill campus
Further south in central London, King's College Hospital, the Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry form the Denmark Hill Campus in Camberwell, the only campus not situated on the River Thames. As well as the IoP, parts of the Dental Institute and School of Medicine, and a large hall of residence, King's College Hall, are housed here. The KCL library for this campus is on-site, known as the Weston Education Centre (WEC). (Nearest overground station: Denmark Hill)
Refurbishment
King's is coming to the end of a decade of restorative and refurbishment projects, with investment of £550 million. These include the Franklin-Wilkins Building at the Waterloo campus, The Maughan Library on Chancery Lane and the renovation of the chapel at the Strand campus at a cost of £750,000. The Strand Campus redevelopment won the Green Gown Award in 2007 for sustainable construction. The award recognised the ‘reduced energy and carbon emissions from a sustainable refurbishment of the historic South Range of the King's Building'.[54] King's was also the recipient of the 2003 City Heritage Award for the conversion of the Grade II* listed Maughan Library. Further renovation of the Strand Building is awaiting a decision on the acquisition of buildings in the adjacent Somerset House from H.M. Treasury. King's has been attempting to purchase Somerset House since the 1970s.
Libraries
King's library facilities are spread across its five campuses; the College's estate also includes the library at Bethlem Royal Hospital. The collections encompass over one million printed books, as well as thousands of journals and electronic resources.
The Maughan Library
The Maughan Library is housed in the Grade II* listed 19th century gothic former Public Record Office building situated on Chancery Lane near the Strand Campus. The building was designed by Sir James Pennethorne and is home to the books and journals of the School's of Humanities, Law, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Social Science & Public Policy. It also houses the Special Collections and rare books. Inside the Library is the octagonal Round Reading Room, inspired by the reading room of the British Museum, and the former Rolls Chapel (renamed the Weston Room following a donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation) with its stained glass windows, mosaic floor and monuments, including an important Renaissance terracotta figure by Pietro Torrigiano of Dr Yonge, Master of the Rolls, who died in 1516.
Other libraries
- The Foyle Special Collections Library at Chancery Lane houses a collection of over 110,000 printed works as well as thousands of maps, slides, sound recordings and some manuscript material.
- The Tony Arnold Library at Chancery Lane houses a collection of over 3000 law books and 140 law journals. It was named after Tony Arnold, the longest serving Secretary of the Institute of Taxation. In September 2001 the library became part of the law collection of Kings College London.
- The Franklin-Wilkins Information Services Centre at the Waterloo Campus is home to extensive management and education holdings, as well as wide-ranging biomedical, health and life sciences coverage includes nursing, midwifery, public health, pharmacy, biological and environmental sciences, biochemistry and forensic science.
- The New Hunt's House Information Services Centre at Guy's Campus covers all aspects of biomedical science. There are also extensive resources for medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy and health services.
- The Weston Education Centre at the Denmark Hill Campus has particular strengths in the areas of gastroenterology, liver disease, diabetes, obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatrics and the history of medicine.
- The St Thomas' House Information Services Centre holdings cover all aspects of basic medical sciences, clinical medicine and health services research.
- The Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) Library is the largest psychiatric library in Western Europe, holding 3,000 print journal titles, 550 of which are current subscriptions, as well as access to over 3,500 electronic journals, 38,000 books, and training materials.
- The Bethlem Royal Hospital Library contains a smaller collection to support students and staff working at the hospital.
Schools of study
The nine Schools of study at King's are as follows:
- Dental Institute
- Institute of Psychiatry
- School of Biomedical & Health Sciences
- School of Humanities
- School of Law
- School of Medicine
- Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery
- School of Physical Sciences & Engineering
- School of Social Science & Public Policy
Students' union
King's College London Students' Union (KCLSU) is the oldest student union in London, founded just before University College London Union, and provides a good range of activities and services: over 50 sports clubs (including the Boat Club which rows on the River Thames and the Rifle Club which uses the College's shooting range located at the disused Aldwych tube station beneath the Strand Campus), 60 societies, a wide range of volunteering opportunities, 2 bars, 2 nightclubs, shops, eating places and a gym. A former President of KCLSU, Sir Ivison Macadam (after whom the Students' Union building on the Strand Campus has since been named) went on to be elected as the first President of the National Union of Students, and KCLSU has played an active role there and in the University of London Union ever since.
Roar is KCLSU's monthly magazine. It carries stories, reviews and features on a range of topics, reporting on Students' Union events, campaigns, clubs and societies, as well as coverage of the arts, books and fashion. King's Bench, under the leadership of law students Ryan Wain and Feni Ajumogobia, has grown from strength to strength, challenging the dominance Roar once had in the media spectrum, It is published tri-annually and welcomes contributions from all of King's students, either for publication in its printed edition, or on its website. The College itself also publishes a range of periodicals reporting on various aspects of King's.
In the 1970s, the King's mascot, "Reggie", was buried upside-down in a pit near Waterloo Station, which was filled with concrete; only the tip of his tail remained visible. Later, he was lost for many years in the 1990s, and not recovered until he was found in a field. Having been restored at the cost of around £15,000, Reggie has been placed on display in the KCLSU Student Centre at the Strand Campus. Protected in a glass case, he is filled with concrete to prevent theft, particularly by UCL students who, prior to his burial and dumping, had also castrated him. (King's students had also stolen one UCL mascot, Phineas and, in an apocryphal legend, allegedly played football with the head of Jeremy Bentham's Auto-icon).
There are three "Reggies" in existence: the original, on display in KCLSU's Student Centre at the Strand Campus, a papier-mâché Reggie outside the Great Hall at the Strand Campus (pictured above), and a small sterling silver incarnation displayed during Graduation ceremonies.
Competition with UCL
Competition within the University of London is most intense between King's and University College London, the two oldest institutions. In the early twentieth century, rivalry was centred on their respective mascots. University College's was Phineas Maclino, a wooden tobacconist's sign of a kilted Jacobite Highlander purloined from outside a shop in Tottenham Court Road during the celebrations of the relief of Ladysmith in 1900.
King's later addition was a giant beer bottle representing "bottled youth". In 1923 it was replaced by a new mascot to rival Phineas - Reggie the Lion, who made his debut at a King's-UCL sporting rag in December 1923, protected by a lifeguard of engineering students armed with T-squares. Thereafter, Reggie formed the centrepiece of annual freshers' processions by King's students around Aldwych in which new students were typically flour bombed.
Although riots between respective College students occurred in Central London well into the 1950s, rivalry is now limited to the rugby union pitch and skulduggery over mascots, with an annual Varsity match taking place between King's College London RFC and UCL RFC.
Competition with LSE
Tensions between King's and the London School of Economics were ignited on 2 December 2005 when at least 200 students from LSE (across the road from the Strand campus) diverted off from the annual "barrel run" and caused an estimated £32,000 (The Beaver, LSE, 26 September 2006) of damage to the English department at King's. Principal Rick Trainor called for no retaliation and LSE Students' Union were forced to issue an apology as well as foot the bill for the damage repair. While LSE officially condemned the action, a photograph was published in The Beaver (the LSE SU Student Newspaper) which was later picked up by The Times that showed LSE Director Sir Howard Davies drinking with members of the LSE Students' Union shortly before the barrel run - and the "rampage" - began. King's appears to have been targeted, however, principally owing to its close proximity to LSE rather than any ill-feeling. There is also somewhat of a sporting rivalry between the two institutions, albeit to a lesser extent than with UCL.
Students' accommodation
King's has six halls of residence located throughout London. They are:
- Brian Creamer House & The Rectory (self-catered) at St Thomas' Campus
- Wolfson House (self-catered) at Guy's Campus
- The Great Dover Street Apartments (self-catered) at Guy's Campus
- The Stamford Street Apartments (self catered) at the Waterloo Campus
- King's College Hall (catered) at the Denmark Hill Campus
- Hampstead Residence (self-catered) in Hampstead
Intercollegiate Halls of Residence
King's also has the largest number of bedspaces in the University of London Intercollegiate Halls. The halls are:
- Canterbury Hall, Commonwealth Hall, College Hall, Connaught Hall, Hughes Parry Hall and International Hall near Russell Square in Bloomsbury
- Lillian Penson Hall (postgraduates only) in Paddington
- Nutford House in Marble Arch
People
Notable alumni
In politics King's alumni include two Presidents of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos and Glafkos Klerides, Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit, Prime Minister of the Bahamas Sir Lynden Pindling, President of Uganda Godfrey Binaisa, President of Seychelles France-Albert René, Prime Minister of Iraq Abd ar-Rahman al-Bazzaz, and Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis Sir Lee Moore. King's alumni who have gone on to hold senior positions in British politics include the Foreign Secretary Lord David Owen, Minister of Defence Viscount Watkinson, two Speakers of the House of Commons Lord Maybray-King and Viscount Ullswater, and Leader of the House of Commons Lord MacGregor.
In religion King's alumni include the Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu,, the preceding Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, and the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Sir Jonathan Sacks.
King's alumni in literature include the poet John Keats, the writers Thomas Hardy, Sir Arthur C. Clarke,W. Somerset Maugham, Charles Kingsley, C.S. Forester, Sir Leslie Stephen Virginia Woolf, John Ruskin, Radclyffe Hall, Booker Prize winning novelist Anita Brookner, Whitbread Award winning authors Hanif Kureishi and Alexander Masters, writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, and the dramatist Sir W. S. Gilbert, one half of Gilbert and Sullivan.
King's is also the alma mater of the satirist Rory Bremner, botanist David Bellamy, journalist Martin Bashir, footballer and sports presenter Gary Lineker (did not graduate), Queen bassist John Deacon, former Head of the British Army Lord Harding, Nobel laureates Max Theiler and Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, and of the pathologist Thomas Hodgkin discoverer of Hodgkin's disease.
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