The principal and vice-chancellor of Dundee University Professor Sir Pete Downes, has highlighted the impact of the university locally and globally as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
As The Courier marks the 50th anniversary of the institution with a special supplement and as alumni gather in Dundee for a weekend of celebrations, Professor Downes has reflected on the university’s growth over the decades, and has told how there is ambition for Dundee to become a “magnet city” in future.
Professor Downes said: “On August 1 1967, Dundee University came into formal existence by virtue of a Royal Charter.
“We are marking our 50th anniversary as an independent institution throughout 2017.
“We are reaching our 50th birthday with plenty to celebrate, pointing to how our impact has grown over the decades.
We are:
- one of the world’s top 200 universities
- the Scottish University of the Year for two years running
- consistently rated as one of the best places in the UK to be a student
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Dundee University Tower Building.
“Our teaching and research are genuinely transforming lives, both here in Dundee and around the world.
“We have grown to be a richly diverse and international community, with around 150 countries represented amongst our staff, students and alumni.
“We have become a potent force for economic, social and cultural development in Dundee and the surrounding area, helping create new industries such as the biosciences sector and sparking the idea to bring the V&A to Dundee’s waterfront to establish the UK’s first Museum of Design outside London.
“We are among the best universities in the UK for graduate employment and lead the way in widening access to ensure the doors of higher education are open to everyone, regardless of their social or economic background.
“Our ambitions for the years to come are to become Scotland’s leading university, and to bring wider benefits for Dundee and the surrounding areas.
“We want to help Dundee become a `magnet city’, one which is attractive to students from around the world, where `young wealth creators’ want to locate, a place for local people to thrive and which attracts talented individuals from far and wide who want to live and work here.
“Dundee should be a destination, not just for tourists, but for talent.
“With the city and the university working together, and with the V&A taking shape on the banks of the Tay, we are already heading in the right direction for the next 50 years.”
Courier editor Richard Neville said: “Dundee University is integral to the beating heart of the city centre.
“As well as the institution’s contribution to education, research and the general economy of the city, the students have become part of the DNA of Dundee.
“For 50 years the new influx of undergraduates after every summer break has become one of the punctuation marks of city life.
“It is their vitality, energy and commitment to living life to the full in Dundee that has given the university an added vibrancy.
“It is little wonder that the quality of student life here tops every poll going.
“Dundee is undoubtedly a noted university city and every year its reputation as a wonderful place to study and teach grows and grows.
“The Courier is delighted to help Dundee University celebrate its 50th anniversary and I know the editor of this newspaper in 2067 will be equally proud to mark a centenary of university life, as will everyone else in the city.”
