A sense of constantly simmering crisis continued throughout the 1980s but a corner was about to be turned – the ‘dark days’ were about to be over.
The unlikely tipping point came with a major battle, to save the Dental School.
A review of dental teaching by the UK’s University Grants Committee recommended cutbacks in national provision.
Included in this was the targeting of Dundee’s Dental School for closure.
This sparked a massive campaign to save it.
The stakes for the city were high.
The Courier at the time warned that Dundee stood to lose over 200 jobs, £10 million a year `and the viability of its university’ if the Dental School closed.
The campaign gained support from local MPs of all parties as well as national figures like Roy Hattersley. It was even reported that the Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind opposed closure.
In the face of this intense pressure the UK Government rejected the recommendation for closure and ordered a new review, which spared Dundee.
The sense of a corner having been turned only increased when in the early 1990s the university started to see significant increases in its government grant, including above average rises in funding for student places.
An era of growth rather than cuts was underway. Principal Michael Hamlin said `the dark days of the 1980s’ were over.
In 1992 the university marked its silver anniversary with a newfound sense of optimism and confidence.
Ninewells Cancer Campaign – an immediate phenomenon
Dundee’s growing reputation as a centre for excellence in research was having significant impacts.
In 1991 the Ninewells Cancer Research Campaign raised the funding to open new laboratories in the Medical School which directly resulted in the distinguished trio of Professor David Lane, Dr Birgit Lane and Professor David Glover moving from London to Dundee.
Around the same time a one-off local appeal for a CAT scanner for Ninewells Hospital proved so successful that it led to the establishment of the wider Ninewells Cancer Campaign.
Dr Pat McPherson, a successful local businessman and volunteer who played a major role in co-ordinating the CAT scanner appeal, asked Jacqui Wood to join him to head a £1million appeal to establish the University of Dundee Biomedical Research Centre, a major new department led by Professor Roland Wolf within the university Medical School.
The £1 million fundraising appeal captured the imagination of the public and was so successful that it was decided to continue to raise money for cancer research and treatment at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School.
Since then over £20 million has been raised, and used to support many ambitious projects including establishment of the Princess Alexandra Cancer Treatment Centre (£5.3 million), the Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology (£4 million), together with support for research into personalised cancer medicine and the provision of specialised medical and surgical equipment.
The immense contributions of both Pat McPherson and Jacqui Wood have been recognised with buildings named after them.
Stephen Fry
The sense of a brighter outlook for Dundee was only added to with the election of Stephen Fry as rector in 1992.
The popular writer, comedian and broadcaster was a hugely popular figure with students and staff and was a regular visitor to the campus over his two terms as rector, the students’ representative on the University Court, the governing body.
He remembers his introductiuon to the city as `a blur’ as he arrived for the first time to attend court and take part in the ceremonial `drag’ around town, where students carry the rector around town in a carriage.
“I loved being chaired through town but I had been warned that the students would endeavour to get me as drunk as was humanly possible,” he said recently. “I worked out a system with Jim Duncan, a great man and the Rector’s Assessor, that if things got too much I could sneakily pass drinks to him and he would dispose of them.
“That just about worked well, and I just about managed to struggle on to the train back to London. If I’d had to get a plane I don’t think they’d have allowed me to get on it!
“I had a great time as rector and have very fond memories of my time at Dundee.”
