The Newsletter of The University of Buckingham Alumni Office | June 2015

Dear all,

I do hope you will enjoy the second edition of the revamped newsletter. We have altered the “look” slightly, so that it complements the Independent. We also welcome snippets of news from you that we can include.

I am afraid it is with regret that we are cancelling the Alumni Summer Party on 19th June due to lack of numbers. For those of you who have signed up, please do get in touch and we will make sure that you are reimbursed. We do apologise for any inconvenience.

We would be grateful for any feedback on why this might not have been a suitable date/venue,

as it was originally given the thumbs up by quite a few of our alumni.

However, as we don’t want to let you down completely, we would like to invite you to visit Buckingham on the afternoon of Friday, 24th July. We plan to have a tea party, followed by a tour of the campus with drinks and a buffet dinner in the evening. Please let Lucy know as soon as you can if this is something you would be free to attend.

I very much hope to see you then,

Anne

We would like to say a huge thank you to all of you that let us know your opinions on the new newsletter format. We are thrilled to say that the majority of you seemed to prefer the newsletter style for the update, (the feedback being that it is easier to read and more interesting), so we will be continuing to use this format in the future—although we have revamped the style .

If you have any further comments please do let us know by emailing Lucy at lucy.cato2@buckingham.ac.uk

Thank you again,

Anne, Lucy and Pam

Congratulations to Sarah Morley and James Leck, who got married on 11th April 2015. The pair met at the University of Buckingham whilst studying for PGCE with QTS qualifications in 2012/13. We send our very best wishes!

Many congratulations to Laura Harmstorf(Gloeckler) and Fabian Harmstorf, who met whilst studying in the Business School in 2003-2004, on the birth of their daughter Emilia Rose Harmstorf, born on 20th August 2014. Emilia's godparents are two Buckingham alumni, Nikolaus Harmstorf (Business Studies 2005), and Ismah Noshi Ali (Accounting and Finance 2005), as well as

Laura’s brother Jonas Gloeckler.

We would like to send our congratulations to Kleita Pitcher (Law 2004), who welcomed a baby girl, Tazara Alice Green Pitcher on 2nd December 2014.

Alumni Newsletter

Announcements

24th July—An Afternoon at Buckingham

We would like to invite you to visit Buckingham on the afternoon of Friday, 24th July. We regret that we have had

to cancel the Summer Party, but we will be hosting an event at the University instead. We plan to have a tea party,

with an update by Professor Alistair Alcock (Acting VC), followed by a tour of the campus with drinks and a buffet

dinner in the evening.

This would be a great opportunity for some of you who have not visited recently to return to the Buckingham

campus and see all of the changes that have taken place in recent years, visit the new Medical School, see the new

site (as yet undeveloped) and meet up with other alumni and some of the current students.

We are still in the process of organising this event so further information will be provided at a later date.

If you are interested in attending this event, please email Lucy at lucy.cato2@buckingham.ac.uk to book your

place.

8th October - 1991 – 1995 Reunion Dinner

Time: 6.30pm – 10.30pm

Venue: Church House, Dean’s Yard, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ

Ticket Price: £55

Please join us at Church House, Westminster, for the 1991-1995 Reunion Dinner.

If you graduated from the University of Buckingham between 1991 and 1995, you are invited to attend this year’s reunion dinner. The evening will consist of a drinks reception on arrival, followed by a three course dinner. It will be a wonderful chance to catch up with your fellow graduates, and current and former staff. A list of the names of those attending will be posted on the

website.

The University’s new Vice Chancellor, Sir Anthony Seldon, will be speaking at the event, giving an insight into his vision for Buckingham in the coming years. His talk will be entitled: New Vision for Buckingham.

If you have any photographs from your time at Buckingham that you would like us to share with other guests, we will be producing a small leaflet for the event and would appreciate it if you could send them over to Lucy at lucy.cato2@buckingham.ac.uk. We do hope to see you there!

To buy your ticket please click the link below.

http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/event/1991-1995-reunion-dinner/

Alumni Events

The Alumni Office is reviving the old University of Buckingham Mentoring System. Whether you are a current student or alumnus of the University you can contact us for help and/or advice in your chosen career path, and we will connect you with a mentor. This service is designed to help our students/alumni to flourish. We currently have mentors in Computing, Marketing, Psychology and English language skills.

If you are interested in connecting with a mentor, please send us an email stating which area you are interested in and what kind of work you are looking for, and we will put you in contact with someone. Likewise, if you are an alumnus and would be interested in becoming a mentor, please contact Lucy at lucy.cato2@buckingham.ac.uk for more information.

The Department of Psychology is holding showcase tutorials for those wishing to study BSc Psychology. It’s a great chance to meet the lecturers and get to know more about the course. For more information please see: http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/event/psychology-tutorial-taster-sessions-11-may-18-june-15-july/

The University of Buckingham has had a part in solving The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Charles Dickens passed away before he could finish the book, and thus a lot of speculation has surrounded how the book was intended to end. Dr Pete Orford (Lecturer in English Literature) established a website to encourage the public to come up with an ending to Dickens’s unfinished work, and it received a great response. For more information about this fascinating project and its conclusion, please see: http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/solved-the-mystery-of-edwin-drood/

Lady Keswick (Chancellor 2014—present) has been named as one of the 100 inspirational women from Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

For more information please see: http://www.dissmercury.co.uk/home/100_inspirational_berkshire_and_buckinghamshire_women_1_4074746

The Department of Applied Computing has received the Postgraduate First Class Scholarship, and can now offer 33% discount

on their taught MSc degrees to those who hold a first class BSc degree in Computing that is recognised to a UK standard.

The University’s Departments of Psychology and Politics are in the UK top 10! The Guardian has ranked the University of

Buckingham at 7th out of 112 for it’s Psychology Department, and the Politics Department has also reached the UK top 10, coming in at 7th out of 77 Universities! A massive achievement for all. For further information, please see: http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/university-of-buckinghams-psychology-department-in-uk-top-ten/?utm_content=buffer53d6b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach, Lecture to be given by Professor Alistair Alcock, Acting Vice-Chancellor and Jeff Clarke,

Artistic Director, Opera della Luna, on Tuesday 14th July at 6.30pm in the Radcliffe Centre, University of Buckingham.

Alistair and Jeff will be talking about the circumstances in which the opera was written and the problems of putting on an up-to-date version of it. Opera della Luna will be performing Orpheus in the Underworld at Stowe on the 18th and 19th July 2015 http://www.operadellaluna.org/stowe/

Mark Lancaster (Business Sturdies 1990) has been re-elected as Conservative MP for Milton Keynes, and has also been appointed Minister

for Defence Personnel, Warfare and Veterans. Sending our congratulations on your success.

Brandon Lewis MP (Law 1994) has been re-elected and retained his ministerial responsibility for housing and planning for another term.

Well done Brandon.

Flora Fairbairn’s (History of Art and Heritage Management 1995) new company Fair & Co has produced and curated Rework It, an installation of 90 Ernest Race chairs, which have been transformed by creatives. The chairs will hang in the atrium of Selfridges department store in Oxford Street until 11 June 2015. They are being sold in aid of a wonderful charity called The Art Room, which provides a safe haven through art for vulnerable children.

If you would like to bid for one in the online auction please use this link: http://paddle8.com/auction/theartroom

Or for more information visit: www.fairandco.com/news

Bidding ends 9pm GMT on 9 June 2015

Other News

Alumni News

To those of you who have long left the University, the above images may be useful to you in identifying changes to the Hunter Street campus. We estimate that the first photograph was taken in the 1980s, and below is a 2015 aerial image of the campus

from Google Maps.

A couple of things you may notice are the addition of The Anthony de Rothschild Building (on the lawn beside Hailsham House), and the addition of a basketball court (on the lawn beside Beloff House).

If you would like any information on recent developments at the University, please email Lucy at lucy.cato2@buckingham.ac.uk

Photo Flashback

Anne Matsuoka

Head of Alumni Relations & Graduation

Tel: +44 (0)1280 820338

Email: anne.matsuoka@buckingham.ac.uk

Pam Lindsay

Data Coordinator

Tel: +44 (0)1280 820133

Email: pam.lindsay@buckingham.ac.uk

Lucy Cato

Alumni & Graduation Office Administrator

Tel: +44 (0)1280 827522

Email: lucy.cato2@buckingham.ac.uk

Re-unite on AlumNet: www.buckingham.ac.uk/alumnet

Add us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UniBuckingham

Or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/UniBuckingham

BookTaxi are offering University of Buckingham Alumni 10% discount on their taxi services in several countries and locations. Please take a look at the link below for more information and to take advantage of this offer!

https://extranet.buckingham.ac.uk/alumnet/servicesOffers.aspx#taxi

The University of Buckingham is offering a 33% discount on course fees for all Taught Postgraduate programmes for home and overseas applicants who hold a bachelors degree with first class honours (the degree must be recognised

to UK standards). Please call the Finance Office on 01280 820393 for more information.

If you have anything you would like to be included in the next update, please let us know.

If you are accessing this via our website and would like to receive the alumni newsletter via email, please send

your email address to alumni@buckingham.ac.uk and we will send the monthly newsletter to you directly.

Mr Tino Santonocito and Dr Gurcharan Singh will be promoting the University and attending several events in Ghana and Nigeria in June. Please see http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/international/overseas-trips/ for more information on our overseas visits, or email us at alumni@buckingham.ac.uk .

Overseas Visits

Offers for Alumni