KENT MAGAZINE AW

ENT 

The magazine for the University of Kent Autumn 2004 No 43

As we prepare this new magazine for Kent, the 

students are arriving for the start of term. 

Construction work is progressing well on the new 

Medway campus and the numerous building 

projects on and around campus – particularly the 

new accommodation at Tyler Court and 

improvements to the Gulbenkian Café – are 

complete or nearly so.The International Office has 

been frantic, organising coaches and cars to collect 

students from the airports. 

Academics, back from conferences, research 

projects, finishing books, are once again at the end 

of their phones. Student registrations are flooding in 

by internet and the first mailing for the November 

graduation ceremonies is out. In the Alumni Office, 

plans for the 40th Anniversary Reunion weekend, 

8–10 April 2005, are taking shape. 

This new look for the Bulletin – the first official 

redesign for ten years – is in honour of the 

University’s 40th (2005).We hope you like it. 

Please let us know if you do – and if you don’t! 

The spring 2005 KENT will be a special 40th 

Anniversary issue. It will feature Kent ‘families’ 

where, for example, parent and child, husband and 

wife or aunt and niece are Kent graduates.We 

know of over 3,900 ‘family’ alumni, but are sure 

there are more. Please write to us if you’re from 

one at kent-the-mag@kent.ac.uk or by post at the 

address opposite. 

Universities have been much in the news recently, 

mainly because of the tuition fees debate. From 

2006, Kent will charge £3,000 for its undergraduate 

degrees, but the University is committed to 

enabling financially disadvantaged students to 

continue to come to Kent. Huge thanks to all those 

among you who have already responded favourably 

to our requests for donations, and also to those 

who help Kent in other ways – by volunteering on 

Court, at the Careers Fair, at Education Fairs across 

the world, by spreading the good word about Kent 

to your colleagues, friends, families. 

The new biannual KENT will be sent to alumni 

worldwide who stay in touch with us – through 

email, returning a carrier sheet, a phone call, a note 

or a visit – and to University staff and Friends.We 

hope you enjoy this issue. Please let us have your 

suggestions, your letters, your news and, if you 

move, your new contact details. 

We hope we can look forward to seeing you during 

the 40th Anniversary year if not before. 

Killara Burn 

Posie Bogan 

Editors 

Cover detail: Boules 

Europe is firmly on the 

University’s agenda.Around 

1,000 students come from 

within the European Union and 

many of its UK students spend 

a year abroad as part of their 

studies. Increasing numbers of 

staff are now working with 

counterparts in other European 

universities.This year Kent 

launched the University of the 

Transmanche, working with the 

three Lille Universities and the 

University of the Littoral to 

offer innovative, interdisciplinary, 

bilingual, double degree 

programmes.These include 

a range of courses at Masters 

level with undergraduate 

courses scheduled to run from 

next year. Postgraduate courses 

are also taught at the University 

of Kent at Brussels, which is 

predicted to expand significantly 

in the next ten years. 

For further information about 

the University and Europe 

email: europrojects@kent.ac.uk 

To find out more about the 

Transmanche University email: 

transmanche@kent.ac.uk 

Design 

Third Eye Design, 

Tel. 0141 332 3335 

www.thirdeyedesign.co.uk 

Printers 

xxx 

Special thanks 

to Chris Lancaster and 

Lesley Farr in the University 

Print Unit; Sarah Kovandzich, 

freelance journalist; Karen 

Bayfield, Katie van Sanden 

and Hilary Saunders in C&DO 

Editors 

Killara Burn and Posie Bogan 

Communications & 

Development Office 

University of Kent 

Canterbury CT2 7NZ 

Tel. 01227 824345/823581 

Fax. 01227 827912 

Email: 

kent-the-mag@kent.ac.uk 

www.kent.ac.uk/alumni 

KENT replaces the Kent 

Bulletin and is published in 

spring and autumn every year 

for alumni, staff and friends of 

the University of Kent. It is 

sent to all alumni worldwide 

who regularly update or 

confirm their contact details 

with us. 

KENT the magazine for 

alumni, staff and friends of 

the University of Kent – 

43 Autumn 2004 

Opposite 

Drill Hall, Medway Campus, 

before refurbishment 

2

Contents 

4 News 8 Development news 9 Riding the 

waves of change 12 Business links 13 Shaping 

the world: alumni profiles 16 New frontiers 

19 Work, your flexible friend 20 Keeping 

up with Kent graduates: accountants 21 Who’s 

what where 23 Making a difference 24 Events 

3

1 

1 Drill Hall – Learning 

Resource Centre, Medway 

2 New Kent academic 

building, Medway 

3 Pharmacy student 

4 DICE in Mexico 

© Patrick Bath 

5 Law Clinic award 

6 Charles Clarke 

© Universities UK 

Education Secretary 

praises Transmanche 

Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, has commended 

the development of the University of the Transmanche. 

Speaking at a conference for university vicechancellors, 

he said it was an excellent example of 

how universities in the UK should be developing in 

other countries in order to widen their international 

appeal.The Transmanche is an innovative partnership 

project developed by the University of Kent together 

with the three Lille Universities and the University 

of the Littoral. Its first students started their studies 

this term. 

Vice-Chancellor Professor David Melville welcomed 

Charles Clarke’s comments, saying ‘We have created 

a truly trans-national organisation.This endorsement 

by the Education Secretary confirms that we are 

leading the way in the university sector.’ Under the 

leadership of Academic Director Professor Roger 

Vickerman the University of the Transmanche offers 

innovative, interdisciplinary, bilingual, double degree 

programmes which this year include a range of 

courses at Masters level. Students have been 

recruited to all their programmes, which include 

Conflict, Peace and Identity: France, Britain and 

Europe; Palliative and Chronic Illness Care; 

International Management; and International Mobility, 

Globalisation and the Law. Undergraduate courses 

are scheduled to run from next year and there are 

also plans to introduce lifelong learning initiatives and 

professional development programmes. 

Kent Law Clinic wins 

legal awards 

The University’s Kent Law Clinic has won two of 

the six awards at the Solicitors Pro Bono Group 

‘Attorney General’s Awards’ for pro bono legal work 

by law students.The University won second prize in 

the Institution Awards and postgraduate Law student 

Samantha Loader won third prize in the Student 

Awards. Kent was the highest placed university 

entrant in the Institution category, and the only one 

to have award winners in both categories. 

The awards were presented at a reception at the 

House of Lords by the Attorney General, Lord 

Goldsmith QC, to Samantha Loader and the Kent 

Law Clinic’s Catherine Carpenter, Lorna Collopy and 

John Fitzpatrick.The judges included Cherie Booth 

QC; the Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP, the 

Solicitor General; Michael Mansfield QC; Matheu 

Swallow, Deputy Editor, The Lawyer; and the Rt Hon 

Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. 

According to the panel ‘Kent Law Clinic is of 

enormous benefit to members of the local 

community and significantly enhances the legal 

education of students involved in it.’ 

4 

NEWS

2 3 4 

Building work under way 

at Universities at Medway 

Building work has now started on the £50m 

Universities at Medway initiative, which is at the 

heart of the strategy to bring economic prosperity 

to Medway. A partnership led by Kent and the 

University of Greenwich, together with Mid-Kent 

College and Canterbury Christ Church University 

College, the scheme is supported by the South East 

England Development Agency, Medway Council, the 

Higher Education Funding Council for England and 

the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. 

The initiative is a key project in the North Kent 

section of the Thames Gateway regeneration 

programme and will see student numbers rise to 

6,000 by 2007. It will have a major impact on the 

region’s economy, contributing £10m of additional 

expenditure and creating more than 600 direct and 

indirect jobs. Contractors Laing O’Rourke are 

working on a new four-storey academic building for 

the University of Kent and Mid-Kent College and the 

refurbishment and development of the Grade II listed 

Drill Hall which will provide a state-of-the-art 

Learning Resource Centre.The joint centre will also 

provide teaching space as well as library and ICT 

facilities, with some public access. 

The second phase of development includes plans to 

convert the former naval canteen to house a lecture 

theatre, retail and catering outlets and Students’ 

Union facilities. 

School of Pharmacy 

welcomes first students 

The first students at the new Medway School of 

Pharmacy have now settled in to their studies. Over 

70 UK trainee pharmacists and 11 from overseas 

have enrolled at the Medway School of Pharmacy, a 

shared project of the Universities of Greenwich and 

Kent.The number of new recruits is 50% higher than 

anticipated, due to unprecedented demand and the 

quality of applicants. 

Professor Clare Mackie, Head of School, said ‘We 

are thrilled to have recruited so many able, wellqualified 

candidates, which has got the new School 

off to a flying start. We could have taken a lot more, 

so this is a really good sign for the future success 

of the School.’ 

The students are studying on a four-year MPharm 

degree programme, leading to professional 

registration as a pharmacist.The Medway School of 

Pharmacy is set to grow substantially over the next 

six years and student numbers are expected to rise 

to over 430 by 2010.The School’s first-class facilities 

include new research and teaching laboratories, stateof-the-art 

pharmaceutical equipment and a new 

training dispensary which will give students the 

chance to gain practical experience in a retail setting. 

The creation of the School has been backed by the 

international pharmaceutical company Pfizer Ltd, 

which is providing sponsorship of £500,000. 

Minister visits Mexican 

conservation project 

Researchers at the University’s Durrell Institute 

of Ecology and Conservation (DICE) and the 

Universidad Autonóma Metropolitana (UAM), 

Mexico, met with the UK Environment Minister Elliot 

Morley when he recently visited one of DICE’s 

Darwin Initiative projects in Mexico City – a recovery 

programme for the axolotl. One of Latin America’s 

rarest amphibians, the axolotl is now confined to the 

remnant channels of Lake Xochimilco.The project 

seeks to maintain the wild stock by promoting the 

axolotl as a flagship species for nature tourism and 

conservation education initiatives. 

Elliot Morley was accompanied by the British 

Ambassador to Mexico, Denise Holt, a keen 

supporter of the project.They were very impressed 

with just how much the project is achieving, 

particularly as it is sited in one of the world’s most 

densely populated cities. 

DICE’s Dr Ian Bride, project officer for Aztecs and 

Axolotls: Integrating Tourism and Conservation, 

Xochimilco, said ‘We hope that we will be able to 

continue and build upon our good work by being 

awarded a project extension in due course. We were 

very pleased that the Minister and the Ambassador 

took the time to visit, and engaged so fully with the 

spirit of the project and its focus on empowering 

local people to value, protect and promote their 

own wildlife resources.’ 

5 6 

5

1 Fred Cuming 

2 Antony Beevor 

© Graham Jepson 

3 Gerald Scarfe 

4 A S Byatt 

5 Dame Julia Higgins 

6 Jacqueline McGlade 

7 General Sir David 

Ramsbotham 

8 Quincy Kendell Charles 

9 Students meet Tony Blair 

10 Music awards 

11 Grass snake 

12 Slapton Sands 

Honorary degrees 2004 

Author and historian Antony Beevor and cartoonist 

Gerald Scarfe were among those who received 

honorary degrees from the University this summer, 

joining the 2,000 students who graduated during 

the three days of degree ceremonies at Canterbury 

Cathedral. Honorary degrees were also awarded 

to Sir David Ramsbotham, formerly Her Majesty’s 

Chief Inspector of Prisons; artist Fred Cuming and 

scientist Dame Julia Higgins. In addition they were 

awarded to Sir Ron Cooke, formerly Vice-Chancellor 

of the University of York; Daniel Boucher, President 

de l’Université du Littoral; Edwin Boorman, Chairman 

of the Kent Messenger Group, and Professor 

Jacqueline McGlade, Director of the European 

Environment Agency. 

This autumn Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the 106th 

Bishop of Rochester, will receive an honorary degree 

at the ceremony being held at Rochester Cathedral. 

The degree ceremonies at Canterbury Cathedral will 

see honorary degrees being awarded to writer A S 

Byatt and the Director of the National Institute of 

Adult Continuing Education, Alan Tuckett. Also at 

Canterbury Cathedral, the University will be showing 

its appreciation of The Brodsky Quartet by awarding 

each member – Andrew Haveron, Ian Belton, Paul 

Cassidy and Jacqueline Thomas – an honorary degree. 

The science of dance 

University Maths undergraduate, Quincy Kendell 

Charles, has been giving a series of high profile 

performances of kathak dance – India’s answer to 

ballet. As well as dancing amid the floodlit fountains 

of Somerset House, he performed at the Royal 

Opera House, Covent Garden. In December he will 

be at the University’s Gulbenkian Theatre where he 

will be dancing alongside his Guru Jayashree Acharya, 

a senior disciple of the legendary Sri Pt Birju Maharaj. 

Over the years, Quincy has found that ‘science is 

ever present in Indian classical music and dance 

because the artist must have absolute rhythmic 

mastery over complicated and sometimes uneven 

time cycles.’This scientific approach is balanced by 

the artistry of mythological stories portrayed through 

kathak, where ancient legends and gods come to life. 

‘When the two meet and merge, something unique 

and wonderful happens in a desire to achieve 

excellence and, ultimately, perfection.’ 

Student meet Tony Blair 

Earlier this year, students from Kent took part in the 

celebration of the centenary of the entente cordiale 

alongside Prime Minister Tony Blair and the French 

President Jacques Chirac.The eight were among 100 

British students who travelled to Paris to take part in 

a question and answer session with Tony Blair and 

Jacques Chirac at the Elysée Palace.The group then 

went on to attend a garden party hosted by the 

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. 

According to Mathieu Freville, who is studying English 

and French Law at Kent, ‘This was a once in a lifetime 

opportunity. I couldn’t believe I was actually there. It’s 

not very often you get the chance to ask the Prime 

Minister questions in person!’ 

Mapping the origins 

of space 

The University hosted a three-day international 

meeting of astronomers who were making plans for 

the launch and use of a powerful new space 

telescope, ASTRO-F, which will make a map of the 

sky in far-infrared light.The most extremely luminous 

objects in the cosmos will be detectable to ASTRO-F 

and it will see 90% of the way back to the Big Bang, 

as well as charting the birth of stars like the Sun. 

Lecturer in Astronomy Dr Stephen Serjeant said ‘The 

most gripping questions in science are questions 

about our origins: how stars like the Sun and its solar 

system came to be created, and how the first 

galaxies were born. Often these things are invisible 

even to the Hubble Space Telescope, but ASTRO-F is 

designed to detect them even at the edge of the 

observable Universe.This will give us important new 

insights into the formation of the first things in the 

Universe and this telescope will be one of the most 

important international observatories of the decade.’ 

The development of the telescope was led by the 

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with 

UK involvement at the University of Kent, Imperial 

College and Sussex University, and involvement from 

the European Space Agency. Professor Glenn White, 

head of the University’s Centre for Astrophysics and 

Planetary Science, is Project Manager of the UK-NL 

ASTRO-F team. 

Striking the right note 

Students Gerard Collett and Samantha Case are joint 

winners of this year’s Canterbury Festival Music Prize. 

The prize is awarded to final-year students who have 

made an outstanding contribution to musical life on 

campus.The University is grateful to the Canterbury 

Festival for its continued support through this prize. 

Gerard, who is reading History & Theory of Art and 

Philosophy, is a baritone and conductor. He receives 

a Music Bursary to study singing with David Lowe. 

1 2 3 4 5 

6

English student Samantha is a talented flautist and 

plays principal flute in both the University Symphony 

and Chamber Orchestras. She has also been very 

involved in the running of the University Music 

Society, assisting with concerts and publicity. 

The University Music Prize, awarded to a returning 

student, goes to Mitesh Khatri, a second year reading 

Computing Systems Engineering. Mitesh receives 

a Music Bursary to study singing and is a member 

of the University Chorus and Chamber Choir. 

A new award, the Colyer-Fergusson Music Prize, for 

a student who has made a major contribution to 

organising music at the University, went to final-year 

French and German undergraduate, Elizabeth Cope. 

As well as playing the clarinet, Elizabeth had a key 

administrative role and this prize recognises her hard 

work behind the scenes. Director of Music, Susan 

Wanless, said ‘We have a flourishing programme of 

music making at the University and, because Kent has 

no academic music course, all students have the 

opportunity to get involved in the wide range of 

activities and events.This year’s prizewinners reflect the 

breadth of musical talent we have here and the 

extraordinary energy and enthusiasm of our students.’ 

Grass snakes uncovered 

A population of grass snakes near Canterbury has 

been the subject of an ongoing study by one of 

Canada’s leading snake experts. Professor Patrick 

Gregory from the University of Victoria, who is 

working with Kent’s Durrell Institute of Conservation 

and Ecology, has had a long-standing interest in grass 

snakes. Since 1999 he has been making an annual 

trip to Canterbury to monitor the colony in its 

lakeside habitat. 

The grass snake, one of three species of snake in 

the UK, is fairly common but according to Professor 

Gregory surprisingly little is known about it. ‘We 

are not even sure about the exact lifespan – it’s 

somewhere between 10 and 15 years – or even 

the hibernation habits.’ 

What is known is that the snake seems to have fairly 

plastic reproductive behaviour – egg-laying times 

seem especially variable.This is perhaps one of the 

reasons for the species’ success at relatively high 

latitudes. Professor Gregory describes it as a ‘nervous 

animal’, which keeps its distance.This makes it difficult 

to monitor but after five years of visiting the site, 

Professor Gregory feels he has a solid base on which 

to further the study. His aim now is to work with Dr 

Richard Griffiths, Reader in Biological Conservation at 

Kent, to set up a research project which will give a far 

greater understanding of the life and times of one of 

Northern Europe’s most elusive animals. 

A good read 

If you’re looking for a good read, why not try the 

new book by Kent graduate Francis Cottam. 

Described as ‘a fascinating historical novel, a poignant 

love story and a chilling ghost story’ Slapton Sands 

strongly features the University.To sum up, it’s 1976 

and American postgraduate history student Alice 

Bourne is writing her thesis on an event which took 

place 32 years earlier at Slapton Sands, a beach on 

the south Devon coast used by the Americans during 

WW2 to prepare for the Normandy landings.The 

rehearsal went disastrously wrong and 1,500 marines 

lost their lives but the truth about exactly what 

happened has never been discovered.The novel 

opens at a tutorial party on the slope of the hill 

descending from Eliot College to Canterbury and as 

Francis says ‘In those days this location offered a view 

of the cathedral now obscured by mature trees that 

were saplings then.’ Slapton Sands is Francis’s third 

novel and is published by Simon and Schuster. 

New Migration and 

Social Care centre 

The University recently launched the European 

Centre for the Study of Migration and Social Care 

(MASC). Led by its director, Dr Charles Watters, 

MASC has been established in recognition of an 

expanding range of activity in relation to migration, 

social care and mental health. MASC has already 

established an international reputation, forming an 

increasing number of research partnerships with 

universities and key service providers across Europe. 

The Centre will also offer a range of teaching 

programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate 

levels to enhance the knowledge and skills of 

professionals working with migrants and refugees. 

Speaking at the launch about why MASC had been 

set up and what it hopes to achieve, Charles Watters 

stressed that the term migration should be seen as 

including various forms of forced migration such as 

internally displaced people, undocumented migrants, 

asylum seekers, refugees and settled minority ethnic 

groups. Other speakers were Peter Gilroy OBE, 

Strategic Director of Kent Social Services and John 

Horekens, Director of the International Federation of 

the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Geneva). 

Ethnobiology at Kent 

Professor Sir Ghillean Prance opened the Ninth 

International Congress of Ethnobiology which took 

place at the Canterbury campus earlier this year. 

This is the first time the Congress has met in 

Europe and delegates were joined by members 

of the Society for Economic Botany and 

participants from the International Congress of 

Ethnopharmacology.The theme of the conference 

was Ethnobiology, Social Change and Displacement. 

Over 350 people from over 50 countries attended 

the conference, which this year had a European 

focus. Roy Ellen, Kent’s Professor of Anthropology 

and Human Ecology, was Chair of the Organising 

Committee. He said ‘Up until now, most work in 

ethnobiology has been guided by assumptions 

about global loss of knowledge and biodiversity. 

However, ethnobiological knowledge is not a finite 

resource which we simply try to salvage, but rather 

a dynamic set of practices and ideas which are 

constantly adapting – even under high-tech 

industrial conditions.This conference looked at how 

ethnobiological knowledge is transformed under 

conditions of rapid social and technical change, 

through globalisation, and in particular how it adapts 

in situations of socio-ecological change.’ 

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 

7

1 Emma Sylvester 

2 Gemma Bowers, 

Phonathon caller 

DEVELOPMENT 

NEWS 

1 2 

Alumni postgraduate 

scholar 2004 

Emma Silvester was awarded a BSc in Maths from 

Kent in 2000. Her plan was to take a break from 

studying to have a family, but she missed maths 

so much that, even while raising her young children, 

she undertook and was awarded an MSc at the 

Open University. 

Emma’s love for her subject is apparent to her 

teachers. According to her PhD adviser, Dr Elizabeth 

Mansfield, ‘While her friends were buying clothes, 

Emma was buying mathematics books; she has the 

unquenchable curiosity needed for success in 

research.’ Her final-year dissertation was entitled 

‘Black holes and general relativity’. With the help 

of the Alumni Scholarship, Emma will study 

applied mathematics, specifically ‘moving frames’, 

a classical technique to solve equivalence problems 

in differential geometry that has potential 

modern applications.The criteria for selecting 

the Alumni postgraduate scholar include a good 

Kent degree and the ability both to communicate 

enthusiastically and clearly about their project 

and to convince non-experts of its value. 

Getting ready for 

the phonathon 

As we go to press, the student callers for the 

next phonathon are being interviewed. Nearly 

150 students applied for the 24 places. 

The successful candidates will be telephoning 2,400 

former Kent students, asking them to make a gift 

to the Annual Fund, for feedback on the University 

and the Alumni programme, and just to chat. Student 

callers are matched by subject to the person they’re 

calling so they have a lot in common even before 

they start talking! 

All the students being interviewed are enthusiastic 

about Kent, articulate and bright, and a pleasure to 

speak with. All have good thing to say about Kent – 

from a great library, to incredibly helpful staff, 

to the great diversity of students, the beautiful green 

campus and the friendliness of – well – everyone. 

When asked why they came to Kent, the answers 

are almost invariably the course, the staff and 

students they met on their Open Day visit or, of 

course, the pleasant environment. 

Music bursaries 

Following the first Music Bursary Concert, held 

in March this year, a number of donors have 

contributed to the scheme, resulting in 12 more 

music bursaries this year. 

These bursaries are a wonderful resource for the 

University as they attract talented musicians who 

wish to study subjects other than music, while 

continuing with their music tuition and participating 

in numerous performing group. Music is truly one of 

Kent’s strengths, and donations such as these help 

keep it so. 

Legacy update 

Sir James Colyer-Fergusson sadly died earlier this 

year. A thoughtful and generous man, he was 

a good friend to the University who not only created 

an endowment to help young humanities scholars, 

but he also made a very large gift to the University 

to fund an annual concert. During the summer, the 

University was thrilled to learn that, thanks to his 

extraordinary further generosity, Sir James also left 

a very substantial legacy to music at the University. 

This good news was further compounded in 

September when the University learned that a 

former German literature student wished to make 

a gift to the University to ensure that others would 

have the opportunity to come to Kent as he had 

gained so much during his time here. 

If you would like further information about any 

of the projects mentioned here or if you would 

like to find out how to make a donation to the 

University’s Annual Fund, please contact Killara 

Burn, Communications & Development Office, 

University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NZ,, email 

J.K.Burn@kent.ac.uk 

8

RIDING 

THE WAVES 

OF CHANGE 

1 

‘Another area of development 

is the University of Kent 

at Brussels, which now has 

students from 55 countries’ 

University Vice-Chancellor 

Professor David Melville 

9

2 3 4 

The pace of change currently 

under way in higher 

education is unprecedented. 

Already this autumn we have 

seen the recommendation by 

a government task force that 

students should be able to 

make their university choices 

after their A level results and, 

at the time of going to press, 

the Tomlinson Committee 

was preparing to reveal its 

plans for a shake-up of 14 

to 19 education and the 

Education Secretary, Charles 

Clarke, was ready to unveil 

an international education 

strategy.And underpinning 

all of this is the continuing 

debate over the introduction 

of top-up fees in 2006. 

University Vice-Chancellor Professor David Melville, 

a member of the Working Group on 14-19 Reform 

and the government’s Foundation Degree Task 

force and Chair of the Universities Vocational 

Awards Council, discusses Kent’s position in this 

fast-pace environment. 

KENT magazine:Why is higher education 

so firmly at the top of this government’s agenda? 

I don’t recall it being so much of an issue 

for previous governments. 

David Melville: Well, there are several reasons.The 

main one is that ministers have identified universities 

as having a purpose within government aims, much in 

the way that schools have.These are broadly related 

to the big issues of economic development and 

social inclusion. Another contributing factor 

is the increase in central control by government. 

Km: Do you think that being under the spotlight 

in this way is for the better? 

DM: As publicly-funded bodies we should be 

accountable to the nation. As an individual institution 

we have to learn to take best advantage of the 

directions determined by government within the 

framework of what we want to be. It’s important to 

work with policymakers, not against them, in order to 

help them achieve their objectives whilst ensuring 

our own core objectives are sustained. 

Km:You have an extensive and long-standing 

involvement with further education. In particular, 

I’m thinking about your former role as head of 

the Further Education Funding Council for England 

and as a member of the 14 – 19 Working Group. 

Do you think this influences how you approach 

your work here at Kent? 

DM: I think it gives me a viewpoint to look at the 

education system as a whole. One example of the 

way things have changed at Kent has been the 

increase in the number of partnerships with other 

institutions – and they are not confined to those in 

higher education.This has become a key feature of 

the way we now work. It’s an approach that is 

helping us to maintain our position as a research-led 

university while developing new initiatives to broaden 

our base. An important part of this is supporting our 

Associate Colleges to do what they are good at 

whilst we focus on our own strengths. 

10

1 Previous page; Brussels 

2 Medway boats 

3 Congregations, 

Canterbury Cathedral 

4 Sports Centre, 

Canterbury Campus 

5 Professor David Melville 

5 

Km: Kent is planning to charge its students £3,000 

tuition fees, the maximum amount allowed.Are 

there plans to introduce bursaries to help students 

and where will the extra income be spent? 

DM: We are already drawing up plans for a wide 

range of bursaries which we hope to support 

from a combination of University funds and private 

donations. Our aim is to spend any extra fee income 

generated on improving student and academic 

facilities. However I don’t see that top-up fees 

will generate sufficient additional funding and we 

will have to continue to look to other sources 

of income. 

Km: Like many universities, Kent has an 

increasingly powerful regional role. Does this 

regionalisation in terms of planning and funding 

hinder development on a wider scale? 

DM:That’s a good question. We undoubtedly have 

a clear responsibility to the region. Just consider 

the impact of the Universities at Medway initiative, 

which incidentally is a great example of just how 

successful working in partnership can be.The 

University of Kent, working with the University 

of Greenwich, Mid-Kent College and Canterbury 

Christ Church University College, has developed 

this £50m scheme which is at the heart of the 

strategy to bring economic prosperity to Medway. 

A key project in the North Kent section of the 

Thames Gateway regeneration programme, it will 

add £10m of additional expenditure and create 

more than 600 direct and indirect jobs. However, 

its core purpose remains the provision of highquality 

teaching and research for its 7,000 students. 

There is no doubt that our many strengths come 

from having a location in a unique region. However, 

the very nature of higher education means we have 

to have a national and international focus. Our 

mission is clear – we will work to develop and 

maintain a national and international reputation for 

our teaching and research quality. 

Km: But isn’t it becoming increasingly difficult for 

UK universities to compete on a global scale? 

DM:You’re right – current figures show that the 

UK’s share of the international student market has 

declined recently, even though actual numbers are 

rising. However, the good news is that Kent has been 

identified as leading the way in developing initiatives 

that will stem the tide. In fact, the Education 

Secretary, Charles Clarke, recently commended the 

development of the University of the Transmanche, 

which he said was an excellent example of how 

universities in the UK should be developing in other 

countries in order to widen their international 

appeal. Again, this is another partnership scheme – 

a trans-national project developed by Kent together 

with the three Lille Universities and the University 

of the Littoral. Its first students started their studies 

this autumn. 

Another area of development is the University 

of Kent at Brussels which now has students from 

55 countries. I see our campus there as being 

something that will grow significantly over the 

next ten years. 

Coming back to your question, I think one of the 

most important things to remember is that our 

presence in Europe is not just about attracting 

European students to the University, but also those 

from overseas who will see what we are doing 

as a unique opportunity. 

Km: One of the things some politicians – and 

others – say is that we are simply over-educating 

the workforce.What is your response? 

DM: As far as Kent is concerned, we have one 

of the highest percentage of graduates going into 

graduate jobs. Nationally, the recent number of 

graduates entering into the job market is simply 

bringing us into line with our competitor countries. 

However, I do believe there is a need for more 

young people to be educated with technical skills to 

encourage those who currently opt out of education 

to stay in the system. 

It’s also important to remember that universities 

have always been involved with vocational education. 

At Kent we recognise that skills alone are not 

enough – whatever the course. Our aim is to ensure 

that our graduates are equipped with the ability to 

acquire new knowledge – and the capacity to use it. 

Km: But surely the increase in student numbers 

must mean a reduction in the quality of education 

Kent, and other universities, are providing? 

DM: All universities have grown, many much more 

rapidly than Kent.The changing nature of the 

student population – for example we have more 

students studying closer to home – means change 

is inevitable for all of us who are providers of 

higher education. 

The picture is that we have shifted from an elite 

system of university education for a very small 

percentage of the population to one that compares 

with other countries. Undoubtedly, we are taking 

a wider range of students but our A level point 

scores haven’t significantly changed in the last ten 

years. One thing that has changed is that we have 

more mature students. Often they are without 

traditional qualifications but often they are more 

successful in terms of degree results. 

I would say that the student population at Kent, 

although more diverse nationally and culturally, 

has not fundamentally changed. 

I also think it’s worth mentioning that during the 

last 12 months alone we have made more than 

20 external appointments to Chairs.They come from 

a wide range of other universities, and together with 

the recent internal professorial promotions, will make 

a significant contribution to the University’s research 

activities. 

And of course, our position in the league tables 

is improving. We were pleased to see this year’s 

Sunday Times league tables flagging up our 

good unemployment rate, our flexible degree 

programmes, our European activities and our 

internationalist approach. 

I have been pleased to hear that that the 

changes at Kent have been generally welcomed 

by our alumni, many expressing their support by 

the contributions they are make to our fundraising 

efforts. It’s good to see that people who obviously 

appreciated their time at Kent and the benefits 

it brought them once they graduated want to see 

it opened up to more and more people. 

11

1 Kent Business 

School launch 

2 Business boost 

3 IT on campus 

1 2 3 

Gear change 

The launch of the new Kent Business School (KBS) 

signalled a change in gear for the University’s 

business activities. Increased research activity, 

a stronger portfolio of under- and postgraduate 

courses and the creation of the new Chatham-based 

European Business Institute in partnership with the 

University of Greenwich are just some of the key 

elements of this increasingly dynamic University 

department, formerly known as the Canterbury 

Business School. Its new identity was launched at 

a two-centre event held in Medway and Canterbury. 

Speaking at the launch,Vice-Chancellor Professor 

David Melville said KBS was on track to be a great 

regional business school as well as an national and 

international player. He also spoke of the School’s 

ambition to offer a world-class MBA, accredited by 

the Association of MBAs and the recent launch at 

Bluewater of a new foundation degree in retail 

management developed in conjunction with 

Canterbury College and the John Lewis Partnership. 

His comments were endorsed by Chancellor Sir 

Crispin Tickell, who said ‘This particular part of the 

country really needs to have a vibrant business 

school.’ KBS Director Martyn Jones emphasised the 

importance of a strategic approach to business 

education. ‘We need to be very clear about what 

we do – and do it well.’ The School has established 

an advisory group led by Chair Helen Bostock, 

Vice-President of JP Morgan Chase Bank and Kent 

graduate.The next year will see the development 

of three new applied research centres in Medway 

and in September 2005 the new campus will 

become the base for a new executive MBA 

programme. Expansion is also planned for the 

existing undergraduate programmes. 

Leading from the top 

Three new and dynamic leaders have joined 

Kent Business School (KBS). Martyn Jones is now 

the School’s Director, Professor Paul Phillips is 

Deputy Director and Professor John Mingers is 

Director of Research.The three have come to Kent 

from the business schools at the universities of 

Wales, Surrey and Warwick respectively. 

Between them they have a wealth of experience 

that combines the academic with the business 

world. Paul, who is also Professor of Strategic 

Management, was a management consultant with 

Price Waterhouse before joining the University 

of Wales, Cardiff and the University of Surrey, where 

he held the Charles Forte Chair of Hotel 

Management. Martyn was a colonel in the Royal 

Army Educational Corps before moving to Cranfield, 

where he headed up the MBA programme, and 

Wales, where he was director of the business 

school. John spent 15 years at leading business 

school Warwick and was a management scientist 

with Unilever. All three see KBS as a place of great 

potential with a unique geographical position. It is, as 

Martyn says, a young organisation which has now 

reached its next stage of development. ‘The School 

has been developing well in several respects. It’s 

a good recruiter, students get a full educational 

experience and the University is serious about 

establishing a good international business school. 

Such success has now generated a number of 

options and the challenge will be to decide 

which options to follow.’ 

£2.2m business boost 

The University has been awarded £2.2m as part of 

the Government’s funding awards given to support 

knowledge transfer from universities to business and 

the wider community as part of its drive to boost 

the UK’s innovation, performance and productivity. 

The scheme is a major part of the Government’s 

strategy to increase prosperity and provide highquality 

job opportunities. 

Vice-Chancellor Professor David Melville said, ‘We 

were very pleased to receive this award which will 

enable the University to reinforce its partnerships 

and support for business in Kent.’ 

The grant is three times the level of funding 

previously allocated and the University is now 

in a very strong position to accelerate its 

enterprise activity. 

Managing IT 

IT systems have an increasingly crucial role 

in almost any business. However, for many 

small and medium size businesses, technical IT 

management is a financial nightmare. As part 

of its enterprise activities, the University has set 

up the Kent IT Clinic to help solve the problem. 

Through the skills of student consultants, the 

Clinic offers a range of services from upgrading 

computers and providing training to giving advice 

on how to network computers and the internet. 

Most have gained first-class working experience 

with major organisations like Sun Systems, IBM 

and Microsoft and are mentored by trained IT 

systems professionals to ensure standards are 

of the highest. 

BUSINESS 

LINKS 

12

SHAPING THE 

WORLD 

The University of Kent makes a key contribution at 

a regional, national and international level.A thriving 

organisation, its mission is to develop and maintain its 

reputation for teaching and research quality. Building 

work is now under way on the £50m Universities at 

Medway campus, a ground-breaking initiative led by 

Kent and the University of Greenwich. Inaugurated by 

the Queen, the campus will welcome its first students 

in 2005.The first students are now at the University 

of the Transmanche, an innovative partnership project 

developed by Kent together with the three Lille 

Universities and the University of the Littoral. UK 

Education Secretary has praised the University of the 

Transmanche as an excellent example of how UK 

universities should develop overseas in order to 

widen their international appeal.The University of 

Kent at Brussels set to expand significantly over next 

ten years. New Pharmacy School now open. 

A shared project between Kent and the University 

of Greenwich, student numbers are 50% higher than 

anticipated. Kent Business School.This new name 

signals increased research activity, a stronger course 

portfolio and the creation of the new European 

Business Institute in partnership with Greenwich 

University. Kent attracted the highest percentage 

increase in government funding for universities in the 

UK in 2004. Kent awarded £2.2m government funding 

to boost business support. Kent’s close collaboration 

with Harada has led to research success. Kent receives 

£90,000 to attract overseas investment into region. 

£100m of capital investment at Kent planned over 

the next four years. Kent has one of the best graduate 

employability records of any UK university. 17 out of 

23 departments at Kent have achieved research grade 

4 or above with Social Policy awarded 6*, the top 

grade. 81% of Kent research staff work in departments 

which contain research of national or international 

excellence. 23 new professors appointed over last 

12 months at Kent. Kent has a thriving cosmopolitan 

community with students of all ages and over 120 

different nationalities. Kent has had a 21% increase on 

overseas students from 2002/2003 to 2003/2004. 

16% of Kent’s full-time students are from overseas. 

13

1 Andrew McNair 

2 Mary Starck 

3 Eva Malisius with 

Rebekka Goodman 

R99 at the BSIS 

annual dinner 

4 Chirag Sheth 

5 Sue Ball 

Shaping the world. Graduates 

from the University of Kent can 

be found in all walks of life, 

making a contribution in a huge 

variety of ways. KENT magazine 

talks to a few of them. 

Andrew Macnair 

E87: BSc, MSc, PhD in Physics, Professional singer (tenor) 

and performer, London 

How did studying at Kent help you in your current work? 

As a freelance opera singer my three degrees in physics from Kent don’t have 

a direct impact, but I learned useful skills, such as analysis and problem solving, 

which can be especially handy when it comes to DIY. Having said that, my studies 

did give me self-confidence, something you need a lot in my profession. 

What’s your favourite memory of those student years? 

I have an awful lot of wonderful memories from my time at Kent.To name 

a few: the views of Canterbury from the campus, the candlelit carol services 

in the Cathedral, Sunday lunches in country pubs, performing in numerous shows 

in the Gulbenkian, and most of all the wonderful friends that I made there, 

many of whom I still see. 

Describe a ‘typical’ day. 

I don’t really have a typical day, which is one of the best things about my job. 

Fortunately, whatever I’m doing usually doesn’t require getting up early. I either 

have rehearsals during the day or a show in the evening – sometimes both. On 

Sundays I sing in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, a lovely place to 

spend a day. 

What do you think is the best thing about the University of Kent? 

While I enjoyed studying, it was music that kept me there so long. At Kent Music 

isn’t an academic department, but there is a lively and varied music programme 

in which students, staff and professionals participate. Making music is open to 

students of any subject, and is of a very high standard. Because of a legacy for 

music tuition at Kent dating from the early 1980s, and a number of donations 

since then, Director of Music Susan Wanless is able to award bursaries for 

excellent musicians to continue with private tuition on their instruments. It is this 

commitment to music at Kent that got me started on the road to becoming 

a professional singer. 

How do you think the University of Kent contributes to the region, 

the nation, and the world? 

The region benefits immensely from the music and drama that is performed both 

on and off campus. Putting Kent’s contribution into a wider context is more 

difficult, but I do know that it has sent out many well-rounded graduates that work 

in a huge variety of professions, from film and TV to science and finance.Their 

contribution to the region and the country must be immense. 

mail@andrewmacnair.com and www.andrewmacnair.com. 

Mary Starck 

E65: BA History,Teacher and bookkeeper,Adelaide,Australia 


At Kent I learnt to be thorough and methodical, which helped me as a business 

analyst and, later, as a teacher. (My teaching career is on hold just now due to 

a painful illness.) 

What’s your favourite memory of those undergraduate years? 

Waking up early in Rutherford College and watching the dawn break 

over Canterbury. 

Describe a ‘typical’ day. 

A keen investor, I listen first thing to the stock market reports from London and 

New York and then, as I’m learning Italian, I watch the news from Italy on our 

multi-language TV channel. A ‘typical’ working day involves producing reports and 

budgets, maintaining taxation records, and doing the banking. 

I have ample leisure time for numerous interests and dine out with friends at least 

once a week. In 2001 my father and I moved from exciting Sydney, with its heavy 

traffic and pollution, to laid-back Adelaide to live near my brother and enjoy 

a relaxed lifestyle. My house is very near an enormous lake, home to pelicans 

and cormorants, and a dune-fringed beach, where I go walking every day. 


The collegiate system. Even living at home the first year, I dined in college midweek 

and went to college functions before catching the last bus home. Being 

a member of a college contributed considerably socially and academically to my 

university life. I’m looking forward to a weekend of college life at the April reunion! 

How does the University contribute to the region, the nation, the world? 

After 30 years in Australia, I cannot comment on the second two points, but I 

lived near Canterbury as a child and many people I went to school with had to 

move or travel daily to London to find work.The University now provides 

much-needed career opportunities for local people. 

Eva Malisius 

R99 International Relations at Kent’s Brussels School of International 

Studies Office of the International Mediator for Bosnia and 

Herzegovina Berlin 

How did studying at the University of Kent help you in your current role? 

Having studied international relations, I see a lot of them functioning (or not) 

at the Office of the International Mediator for Bosnia and Herzegovina in Berlin, 

where I currently work. I am also trying to finish my PhD. 

What’s your favourite memory of Kent? 

Picking one favourite memory is almost impossible as I am still quite attached 

through my PhD and through the alumni network that we created at Kent’s 

Brussels School (BSIS). But I’d say people and friendships. BSIS’s annual dinner 

brings current and former students together with faculty and staff and in a way 

those gatherings are my favourite times. 

14

1 

2 3 

4 5 

Please describe a ‘typical’ day. 

If it’s a Mediator day I am involved with writing the Final Report on the Ten-Year 

Mandate, which ends in December. If it’s a PhD day, I am at the moment writing 

a chapter on human cloning and how it is regulated in Germany. 

What is the best thing about the University of Kent? 

The Kent student body is extremely international and diverse.This continues 

after graduation and it is amazing how often you encounter ‘Kent people’ 

all over the world! 

The worst? 

One day we all have to leave. 


The University does a great job in making people ready for the world out there, 

no matter what careers they pursue and in which directions they choose to 

continue. Kent always stays with them and that is its greatest contribution. 

Chirag Sheth 

K98: BSc Microbiology, 2003 Alumni Postgraduate Scholar at Kent.Trying 

to determine what it is that turns Candida albicans, an otherwise non 

life-threatening organism, into one that can kill if its hosts are undergoing 

chemotherapy or suffering from HIV. 


I received strong grounding in a wide range of techniques and disciplines as 

an undergraduate, which meant I had great freedom of choice as to further 

study or work. 

What’s your favourite memory of those undergraduate years? 

Winter evenings with friends in Keynes bar, followed by the obligatory trip 

to the Venue. 

Please describe a ‘typical’ day. 

I have today returned from giving a talk at a conference at Warwick, but normally 

I begin work around 8:00am, planning experiments. My day is spent executing 

and analysing these experiments. Sometimes discoveries are made and quick 

decisions required! Work in our multicultural lab (with over five nationalities) 

requires diplomacy, tolerance, and a sense of humour, and makes for a stimulating 

environment. I supervise undergraduate practical sessions and carry on with my 

experiments. At around 5:30pm, I leave the lab and play squash to wind down. 

Evenings are usually reserved for friends, though sometimes I bring reading 

home. 

Sue Ball 

E75: BA History, Head of Fundraising, Friends of the Elderly, London 


One course left me with an enduring interest in local history. I’m using that at the 

moment, linking Worcestershire Sauce and Friends of the Elderly in a centenary 

fundraising campaign based around the Perrins family home, Davenham, in 

Malvern, which was left to the charity and which we run as a residential and 

nursing home.The grounds contain a rare collection of trees brought back from 

their travels by the Perrins family in the late 19th century. 

What’s your favourite memory of those student years? 

Painting silver crowns on a series of sculptures on campus coinciding with 

celebrations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee! 

Your worst? 

Arriving at a tutor’s home for drinks and being the only student who turned up! 

Please describe a ‘typical’ day for you. 

A caffeine injection starts the day – that never changes! My fundraising staff 

and other colleagues come in and out of my office with ideas and problems 

to solve and it’s a buzz I really enjoy. I’m on the phone to managers of our care 

homes and community-based projects involving as many local people as possible 

in our fundraising activities. I’m out a lot too, learning about the new world (to 

me) of the charity sector after a career spent almost entirely in academia, or 

visiting companies and wealthy individuals, persuading them to support Friends of 

the Elderly with a donation or sponsorship. I attend loads of Board meetings at 

head office in Belgravia, where I’m based, and smaller meetings, usually about our 

celebratory centenary events in 2005, one of which will be hosted by our 

Patron, Her Majesty The Queen.The Chief Executive often pops into my room 

with something urgent to do. At night I say goodbye to Margaret Thatcher (her 

study is across the mews from my office window) and without fail have a G&T 

when I get home! 


Increasing its presence in the county of Kent through partnerships of all kinds 

and also its worldwide activities. 

How does the University of Kent contribute to the region, the 

nation, and the world? 

In the region as an employer and purchaser of goods and services, boosting 

the local economy, nationally and internationally providing top graduates (!) 

and leading-edge research. 

What is the best thing about the University of Kent? 

The great diversity of students of different nationalities. As an undergraduate, 

I had close friends from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, which experience 

has already helped me socially and in my work. 


Kent provides valuable life training as well as high-quality education. It thereby 

contributes to the skills base of Kent and the UK. And these contributions extend 

globally as international Kent graduates return home and become influential 

decision makers there. And through collaborations such as the Transmanche 

Partnership. 

What’s the worst thing about Kent? 

No swimming pool on campus! 

15

New £1m research centre 

A £1m Research Centre for 

the study of Law, Gender and 

Sexuality has been launched 

at the University.The first 

research centre to focus on 

these areas in the UK, it is the 

result of a partnership between 

Kent, Keele and Westminster 

Universities, and will bring 

together academic expertise to 

develop understanding of the 

relationship between gender, 

sexuality and the law. 

The Centre, led by Director Professor Davina Cooper, is administered 

from Kent.The Associate Directors are Sally Sheldon from Keele and 

Rosemary Auchmuty from the University of Westminster. 

It is primarily funded for five years by the Arts and Humanities 

Research Board (AHRB) with additional support from the 

partner institutions. 

Research already under way at the Centre includes equality and 

anti-discrimination law, sexual violence, support services for Irish 

women seeking abortion, cohabitation and property rights, HIV/AIDS 

and gay rights in Southern Africa, male reproductivity and 

reproductive rights, and the relationship between lesbian and gay 

urban communities and British local government. 

1 

Rising sons 

A study led by Kent biological anthropologist, Dr 

Sarah Johns, has revealed that contemporary British 

women who believed they had a longer time to live 

were more likely to give birth to a son than women 

who thought that they would die earlier.This may 

be because it requires more effort to be pregnant 

with, give birth to, and raise a son to adulthood. 

The study suggested 

that the sex ratio even 

in a relatively affluent, 

Western setting can be 

influenced by how 

a woman views her 

future health and 

environment. Earlier 

studies of developing 

countries showed 

poorly-nourished 

mothers were more 

likely to give birth 

to girls. 

The findings are a result of a survey of British 

women who had recently become mothers and 

was funded by the ORS Awards Scheme, the 

University of Bristol, and from a grant received by 

Gloucestershire’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. 

Research Focus 

NEW 

FRONTIERS 

16

1 Rising sons 

2 Older workers 

3 Seychelles kestrel 

4 Peter Taylor-Gooby 

2 

The end of early retirement 

According to a new 

University study, the 

era of mass early 

retirement is over. 

Research by Professor 

Sarah Vickerstaff, 

Professor John Baldock, 

Jennie Cox and Dr Linda 

Keen has found the 

expectation of retiring 

early on a comfortable 

pension has disappeared 

among older employees 

and their managers. 

Yet it has not been replaced by any new certainty or 

predictability in the timing of retirement for most 

people. Happy Retirement? The impact of employers’ 

policies and practice on the process of retirement, 

published by the Policy Press in association with the 

Joseph Rowntree Foundation, examined how people 

working for three organisations have been affected 

by the interaction of their employers’ policies and 

their own personal choices. 

Sarah Vickerstaff, Professor in Employment Policy and 

Practice, said, ‘What workers need most is more 

organised career planning, in which they gain greater 

control and understanding of the retirement process.’ 

High-flyer 

A new research project in the 

University’s Durrell Institute of 

Conservation and Ecology 

(DICE) is looking for genetic 

evidence of a historical 

population bottleneck in the 

Seychelles kestrel by analysing 

DNA extracted from museum 

specimens estimated to be 

100-150 years old. 

Dr Jim Groombridge, a Lecturer in Biodiversity Conservation, 

has £14,600 funding from the Royal Society to carry out this work. 

Museum collections throughout the UK, Europe and the US are 

contributing samples for DNA analysis from their preserved kestrel 

specimens, which were collected on the Seychelles by early Victorian 

naturalists.The aim is to interpret temporal changes in genetic 

variation in the Seychelles population alongside historical records of 

population size to help improve understanding of genetic bottlenecks 

in conservation biology. 

UK welfare policies lead 

European countries vary 

considerably in their response to 

the ‘new social risks’ resulting 

from changes in patterns of work 

and family life. Britain’s places it 

firmly at the forefront of current 

directions in EU welfare policy, 

according to research by Kent’s 

Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby. 

European welfare states developed when the main social risks were 

to do with loss of income or the need for health care. Now people 

also face needs arising from the changing work-life balance and from 

much greater insecurity in employment. While New Labour has 

expanded child care, family-friendly employment, tax credits, minimum 

wage and other new social risk policies, the EU’s attempts to 

harmonise old social risk policies have been largely unsuccessful and it 

now seeks to co-ordinate national policies in these new areas. 

Peter Taylor-Gooby comments: ‘The UK is often seen as an outsider in 

EU debates. However, here is a real opportunity for Britain to 

establish itself at the forefront.’ 

3 4 

17

5 Eye imaging 

6 Fritz Mühlschlegel 

7 Shakespeare 

5 

All eyes on Kent 

A new non-invasive technique for high 

resolution optical imaging of the eye 

pioneered by researchers at Kent is 

receiving global acclaim. 

Funded by the Toronto-based company Ophthalmic Technology Inc (OTI), Kent’s 

Applied Optics Group is currently working with university hospitals in New York 

(USA), Osaka (Japan), Asahikawa (Japan), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Milan 

(Italy) to carry out preliminary clinical trials. By combining two high-resolution 

imaging technologies, the new technique provides doctors with 3-D images of the 

retina, macula and the optic nerve. Such high-resolution images provide clinicians 

with capabilities for early diagnosis and treatment of common ocular diseases 

such as glaucoma, diabetes and age-related macula degeneration. OTI is planning 

in the near future to extend the clinical research to other leading university 

medical centres in Japan, the USA and Europe. 

The Kent team is the only research group in the world carrying out this type of 

work. Co-ordinated by Professor Adrian Podoleanu, it operates out of two 

laboratories. One is in the UK at the University’s Canterbury campus and the 

other is in the United States at the New York Medical College, where Adrian 

Podoleanu is a Visiting Professor. Other members of the team include Professor 

David Jackson, Dr John Rogers, a former Kent PhD student, now the director of 

OCT Research at OTI, and lecturer George Dobre. 

Adrian Podoleanu explained: ‘At Kent we created a very cost-effective imaging 

system which simultaneously produces optical coherence tomography (OCT) and 

scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) images. Its early potential was immediately 

realised by OTI, who commissioned the assembly of several prototypes to be 

tested in different clinics worldwide before embarking on commercial exploitation 

of the invention.’ 

The first clinic to test the new instrument was at the New York Eye and Ear 

Infirmary. Since the first installation, OTI, the Applied Optics Group in Kent and 

the Retina Research Lab in New York have worked together to further improve 

and enhance the performance of the technology. 

Dr Richard Rosen, Director of the Retinal Imaging Laboratory, said ‘The 

simultaneous presentation of images drawn from two technologies, developed 

by the Kent group, has opened several exciting avenues in imaging the eye, giving 

us access to a world of minute details not possible to be visualised by the more 

conventional imaging technologies.’ 

Fighting hospital infections 

Researchers from 

Kent and the University 

of Lille are working 

together to find out how 

yeasts such as Candida 

cause infections among 

hospital patients. 

Dr Fritz Mühlschlegel, Reader in Medical Microbiology 

at Kent, and Dr Daniel Poullain, Consultant Medical 

Microbiologist in Lille’s Medical School, have been 

awarded 315,106 euros under the EU’s Interreg 

Programme to study the mechanisms by which fungal 

pathogens cause disease. Fritz Mühlschlegel said, 

‘Hospital-acquired infections pose considerable health 

and economic problems – fungal disease can affect 

patients over a large range of clinical disciplines.’ 

Daniel Poullain added ‘We pay a high price due to 

the steady rise of these infections. We are not 

managing them at an acceptable level because the 

way in which these organisms cause disease is not 

fully understood.’ 

Computing Shakespeare 

Paul Mutton, a PhD 

student in the 

University’s Computing 

Laboratory, has 

an entirely new take 

on Shakespeare. 

He has developed software called Shakespeare Social 

Networks that can produce visualisations of the 

relationships between the characters in the plays. 

By feeding PieSpy, a tool he developed to infer and 

visualise social networks on Internet Relay Chat 

(IRC), with the entire texts of Shakespeare plays, Paul 

produces drawings which show how characters are 

connected. For each play, a sequence of several 

hundred drawings are produced which can be pieced 

together to form an animated ‘Shakespeare social 

network’, which will help us to understand the entire 

social structure of the set of characters within 

a few minutes. 

6 

7 

18

Diane Houston 

WORK, 

YOUR 

FLEXIBLE 

FRIEND 

TELL your boss you need to get home to say good night to your child and your 

boss might understand. But say you’re rushing off to a guitar lesson or the gym 

and you’ll probably be struck off the promotion list. Sarah Kovandzich spoke to 

Diane Houston, Professor of Psychology. 

Preferably an employee should have no interest 

outside work but if they do, it should be a child,’ 

says Professor Diane Houston about research 

she and a graduate student, Julie Waumsley, have 

just completed. 

Diane first joined Kent’s Department of Psychology 

in 1989 as a PhD student and worked as a lecturer 

at the University of Sussex, before returning to Kent 

in 1993.This year, she became one of the University’s 

youngest-ever female professors. Work-life balance 

has been a major part of her research work. 

She is currently on secondment to the Department 

for Trade and Industry (DTI) – a post she took up on 

condition that she could work flexibly. She is mother 

to a 13-year-old and two-year-old twins. 

Diane spends two days a week at the DTI’s Women 

and Equality Unit in London and two days working 

from home. She still works one day a week in the 

Psychology department where she will return fulltime 

next year. 

She knows she has been lucky to negotiate such an 

arrangement: ‘Kent’s Vice-Chancellor has had a lot 

of involvement in Whitehall and the DTI has 

a commitment to work-life balance, so I was asking 

the right people.’ 

Last year, the government introduced legislation 

giving parents of young children the right to ask to 

work flexibly. ‘We know people won’t ask if they 

don’t think they’ll get it,’ Diane says. ‘But the more 

that do ask, the more the ethos changes. My 

personal mission is to encourage people to think 

about having a family and a career.’ 

Diane sees a future in which everyone has a right 

to flexible working, one of the key topics in her 

forthcoming book Work-Life Balance in the 21st 

Century.The publication presents research from the 

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s 

Future of Work Research Programme. Diane and her 

graduate student, Gillian Marks, had two research 

grants in this programme. 

‘I was intrigued how mothers made decisions about 

family and work. With the two grants we were able 

to do a longitudinal study of first-time mothers, 

starting when they were pregnant and following 

them up to their child’s third birthday.’ 

Diane considers the study to be one of her greatest 

achievements. Before she had even published her 

findings, she got into the Minister for Women’s office. 

‘The work clearly showed that more women want to 

work, or want to work more, than actually do.The 

message for government was, you are missing out on 

a proportion of women who want to work but do 

not do so – for reasons such as a lack of good 

quality part-time work.’ 

The study also highlighted that employers play an 

important role in whether women return to work. 

Those women who had developed a clear plan 

about how they would return to work, and had a 

supportive employer, were much more likely to do so. 

At the DTI, Diane is now involved in research into 

gender segregation in work. ‘One reason women stay 

at home after they have children is that they work in 

jobs that pay less than their partners,’ she points out. 

According to DTI figures, in 2003 women earned on 

average 18% less than men. 

Diane says that while working families are now 

commonplace, men still work more than women and 

women make compromises in their work. However, 

she believes the climate is changing: ‘We are moving 

very slowly towards a society in which men and 

women take more of an equal share in working and 

caring.’ But with this come other issues: ‘There’s 

increased pressure on men to be not just good 

earners but to take time for their children. And the 

pressure is even greater on women – they have to 

demonstrate to society that they are prioritising their 

role as a mother.’ 

Diane has found her time at the DTI invaluable. ‘Most 

academics never step out of academic life. I don’t see 

myself being a research professor for the next 25 

years – I want to continue to develop my career. 

But it has confirmed to me that I want to be an 

academic, not a civil servant!’ 

So does Diane believe she has work-life balance? ‘I’m 

really a terrible example as I do nothing but work 

and look after my family – I do hardly any exercise. 

But I love doing research that has clear ‘real-life’ 

relevance and being able to get the findings across to 

the people that matter. I wouldn’t give that up for 

four hours in the gym.’ 

19

1 Bank 

2 Accounting 

© Martin levenson 

1 

2 

KEEPING UP 

WITH KENT GRADUATES 

ACCOUNTANTS 

In the first of 

a new series, 

Kent magazine 

finds out what 

some of our 

graduates have 

been up to 

since they left 

university, 

starting with 

Accounting. 

Next issue 

Did you study Actuarial Science at Kent? We’d very 

much like to hear from you, for the next issue of 

Kent.Where did your degree in Actuarial Science 

take you since you graduated, and what are you 

doing with it now? 

As you can see here, a degree in Accounting from 

Kent gives students a wide-ranging education 

which not only enables them to follow a career as 

a qualified accountant but also equips them to work 

in a related field. 

Tom Griffin K67 (Accounting) did not go into 

accounting. However, his understanding of 

company accounts was very helpful in his work as 

a statistician in the UK government. Many economic 

statistics depend on sample surveys addressed to 

businesses, the data for which usually come from 

company accounts.Tom was Director of Statistics 

at the UN in Geneva from 1992 to 1999, but is 

now back in the UK and is a statistical consultant. 

He is MD of The Statistics Partnership Ltd 

(www.TheStatisticsPartnership.com), which provides 

statistical services to governments, including the 

UK and USA, and to international agencies including 

the UN and EU. 

Abdul Bhanji E69 (Accounting) used his degree 

to join PricewaterhouseCoopers from where he has 

recently retired, having been a Senior Partner. He 

is now a consultant with them. He has a portfolio 

of activities which include: Chairman, Aga Khan 

Foundation UK; Member, Marshall Commission; 

Member, SOAS Governing Body; Member, CBI 

London Region Council; and; Charter Member, the 

Indus Entrepreneurs. 

Howard George D74 (Accounting) writes,‘After 

Kent I spent four years in London qualifying before 

taking up a two-year contract with Price Waterhouse 

in Auckland, New Zealand. For almost 20 years I have 

held a variety of financial and general management 

roles in various businesses, before setting up as an 

independent consultant, primarily in the IT sector. 

My qualification has given me the opportunity to 

participate in executive management in many 

different businesses, from margarine manufacture 

to boat building to lingerie.’ 

Charles Wigoder R78 (Accounting and Law) is Chief 

Executive of Telecom plus plc which supplies gas, 

electricity, fixed telephony, mobile telephony and 

internet services to around 200,000 households 

throughout the UK. He writes, ‘My Accountancy and 

Law degree from Kent, combined with my subsequent 

qualification at KPMG, were invaluable in helping me 

establish and retain control of several fast-growing 

consumer facing businesses over the last 15 years. One 

doesn’t always know the answers in business, but my 

accountancy training helped enormously in knowing 

which questions to ask.’ 

Colin Adams E82 (Accounting) is Group Finance 

Director for Bloomsbury Publishing plc, a quoted 

company publishing fiction, non-fiction children’s and 

reference books. He writes, ‘I have been with the 

company for nearly 11 years in the same role where 

the work has ranged from mainstream accounts 

preparation to group strategic development and 

company acquisitions.’ 

Dan Meinertzhagen E87 (Accounting and Economics) 

is a Relationship Manager within the Global Transaction 

Services division of Citigroup Inc, a global financial 

services provider. He writes,‘The accounting knowledge 

I gained at Kent through my degree gave me a firm 

foundation in the numbers behind business.The 

relationship management culture at Citigroup 

encourages us to fully understand our customers’ 

business to the extent that I am viewed not only as their 

banker but also a ‘trusted advisor’. I need to have an 

acute understanding of my customers’ needs, many 

of which are driven by accountancy issues, and this 

approach undoubtedly helps us to stay at the forefront 

of the highly competitive world of global financial 

services. Given the rapidly changing regulatory and 

business environment we and our customers face today, 

not only does my accountancy training at Kent give me 

credibility on my CV, I have also drawn on the 

knowledge I gained at University almost constantly 

throughout my 11 year career at Citigroup.’ 

20

WHO’S 

WHAT 

WHERE 

Mandy Boursicot’s (RH’77) 

work is rooted in the 

contemporary context 

of Canadian multiculturalism. 

Canadian society tolerates 

and encourages the different 

practices of the cultural 

groups which have migrated 

there. Mandy is trilingual and 

from a community whose 

origin rests on a 500-year 

history of European and Asian 

fusion although she was 

educated in Europe. Her 

personal heritage combined 

with her celebration of 

cultural diversity, and 

a passion for art are the 

three factors that fuel her 

artistic production. 

e: aboursicot@shaw.ca 

The complete 3W is updated 

on www.kent.ac.uk/alumni 

monthly.These are just 

a tiny selection. 

Key D Darwin, E Eliot, 

K Keynes, R Rutherford, 

T or M Information Technology 

(including Maths), N Natural 

Sciences, A Science,Technology 

and Medical Studies, 

H Humanities, S Social Sciences, 

U Foundation year or shortterm 

studies.The location at 

the end of entries is from 

your mailing address – if it’s in 

parentheses, we think you’re not 

actually living there but it’s the 

only mailing location we have 

for you.Year: we place you 

under the year you first came 

to Kent – not the year you left. 

Please let us know if any 

corrections are needed! 

1960s 

Phillips, Colin (EH’65) 

One of the ’First 500’ who 

graduated in 68. I work in 

forensic psychology and am 

a United Methodist Pastor. 

I have spent many years 

working with domestic violence 

and sexual abuse, including 

writing a doctoral dissertation 

on the subject. Peace is found 

in the Big Bend region of SW 

Texas where I hike yearly. 

Baltimore, USA. (22 Mar’04) 

Lewis, Miriam (RT’67) 

Still living in Kent and working 

for the same firm of chartered 

accountants – I got my 25-year 

presentation in ’01.These days 

I am cutting down my work 

to make more time for other 

more interesting things, in 

particular travelling around the 

world to go to opera. Kent. 

(5 Apr’04) 

Simpson, Peter (RH’67) 

Still living in the USA, on 

the banks of the Niagara 

River. Keeping very busy as 

a consultant to the healthcare 

industry and starting various 

consulting companies, as well 

as landscaping and enjoying 

village life with Donna. I would 

love to hear from any and all 

old friends and acquaintances 

psimpson@segmedica.com. 

Lewiston, USA. (1 Apr’04) 

Dawson, Jill (DH’68) 

Series Producer at the BBC 

in factual programmes. Spend 

much of my time travelling 

overseas to developing 

countries making films about 

the work of international 

charities. Always interested 

to hear from anyone who 

was at Kent in my time. 

jill.dawson@bbc.co.uk. London. 

(26 Aug’04) 

Doughty, Stuart (KH‘68) 

At the beginning of 2004, 

after having worked in 

television, radio and theatre 

since leaving Kent, I gave it all up 

to run a hotel in Bingley, West 

Yorkshire. Hard work, much less 

income, but an exciting change 

of lifestyle. Check out the hotel 

at www.five-rise-locks.co.uk. 

West Yorkshire. (1 Jul’04) 

1970s 

Dubroff, Henry (KH’70) 

I was named Small Business 

Journalist of the Year by the 

Los Angeles District Office 

of the US Small Business 

Administration in May. 

My company celebrates five 

years of publishing the weekly 

business journal for the Santa 

Barbara-Ventura-San Luis 

Obispo region of California 

in 2005. USA. (6 Jul’04) 

Shaw, Linda 

(DS’70) After 25 years 

in social work, I took the 

plunge and took up multitasking, 

which led me 

through the European 

Social Fund, Adult Education, 

TESOL and community 

work, to my current post 

as manager of the Volunteer 

Centre North Somerset. 

lindawithani@hotmail.com. 

Somerset. (23 Aug’04) 

Collins, Rosaleen 

(KS’71) Criminal Barrister. 

Married; three children. 

Life successful, happy and 

very busy. Email me at 

rosaleen.collins@guildhall 

chambers.co.uk. 

Bristol. (28 Jun’04) 

Meyrick, Mark 

(KS’75) Never quite got 

away from Kent, living near 

Maidstone, married a Kentish 

girl; two children. Spent 

a number of years trading 

in various markets and still 

an old hippy at heart. Play 

cricket and soccer (thanks 

Mike Wilkins!) although 

should really have given 

up by now. Contact me at 

mark.meyrick@btinternet.com. 

Kent. (2 Jun’04) 

Cox, Janet 

(ES’76) Living in Cornwall 

with my husband and two cats. 

Working part-time as a Health 

Promotion Officer with the 

Healthy Schools team. Life is 

good, even at the age of 46. 

I have no regrets about leaving 

London. Cornwall. (9 Jun’04) 

Robathan, Barbara 

(KS’76) Teaching at North 

Devon College after taking 

a gap year and travelling around 

the world. Still together with 

Martin K76 and living in Devon. 

Martin is working for DfES. Our 

daughter Clare completed 

a degree at Kent and is now 

studying for an MA at Sussex. 

Devon. (28 Jun’04) 

Snaydon, Sarah 

(RH’76) Still teaching in 

Broadstairs and sending the 

next generation to Kent! Our 

lives were turned upside down 

in 02 as Geoff R75 died very 

unexpectedly, from a brain 

tumour. I miss him dreadfully, 

as do our daughters Rachel 

and Katie, but we are coping. 

Would love to hear from 

anyone who remembers 

fighting the catering subscription 

scheme and other highlights 

of the 70s. Kent. (23 Aug’04) 

1980s 

Landaeta Benavides, Gilberto 

(RT’80) I am looking forward 

to hearing from all the friends 

I met at Kent ’78-’81, those 

who shared with me at the 

Electronics Laboratories, 

my Latin American friends, 

my friends from the UK, France 

and many other countries. We 

founded the Latin American 

Society and had quite a few 

parties. Contact me at 

gilbertolandaeta@hotmail.com. 

Edo Miranda,Venezuela. 

(26 May’04) 

Southall,Tina 

(K’81) Still teaching in an inner 

city comprehensive, and 

enjoying it.Two marriages, two 

divorces, 2 live-in partners; 

one son, 12. Would love to hear 

from anyone who knew me 

back in the early 80s. Email me 

at tsouthall44@hotmail.com. 

London. (23 Aug’04) 

Ogon, Edward/Fast Eddy 

(DS’82) Now a practising 

lawyer specialising in intellectual 

property at my own law 

firm in Lagos. Also a member 

of the Federal House of 

Representatives. Married; 

3 children. It would be 

interesting to hear from anyone 

who knew me. Contact me at 

agashog@hyperia.com. Abuja, 

Nigeria. (14 May’04) 

Evans, Dave 

(DH’83) After studying with 

the Fransiscans ’90-’94 and Kent 

’93-’95, life has blossomed. 

I left the Catholic priesthood 

and returned to nursing. 

I now work as an educational 

consultant in sexual health 

and am working towards 

a doctorate. I would like to hear 

from old friends from Kent – 

wonderful days. Contact me at 

davidtevans@btopenworld.com. 

London. (7 Jul’04) 

Penman,Andrew 

(RT’84) Left Canterbury for 

London after a couple of years 

in the tax office (and indeed 

the George & Dragon). Still 

here, living in Camden Town, 

working near Oxford Circus 

in the dizzy heights of the world 

of personal tax. Still in contact 

with Jill Sutherland (Carlen) 

R84, Dominic Cox R85 and 

Dave Morpurgo R84.They still 

have not figured out it was us, 

not The Anarchists, who painted 

Craddock’s window black .... 

London. (9 Aug’04) 

Rainbird, Caroline 

(DH’84) Still at ABN AMRO, 

10 years this year! I am now 

CFO of our Global Group 

Shared Services business. 

Recently moved house to 

North London and am getting 

married in October. I have 

also taken up triathlons – 

have completed two already. 

London. (5 Jul’04) 

21

The Kent Falconettes 

cheerleading squad are 

now in their fifth year. 

Choreographer, Charlotte 

Bell, is freshly back from 

America, after cheering for 

the GB cheerleading squad, 

and the Falconettes have 

wasted no time in practising 

their new cheers and stunts. 

The Falcons American 

Football team have already 

started training for this year’s 

season and with the 

Falconettes ready to cheer 

them on to victory, this 

should be a year to 

remember.The Falconettes, 

who are supported by Kent 

Union, are looking for 

sponsors so if you think 

you can help just email 

Emma Hall at 

emmahall14@hotmail.com 

Sonia Overall (RH ’92) 

has just published 

A Likeness,a masterly 

portrayal of Elizabethan 

England, the lives of 

noblemen and servants, 

artists and courtesans 

(Fourth Estate). 

Left 

Distant model, by Nick 

Botting (R83) who studied 

Visual and Performed Arts 

at Kent 1983-86. 

Nisargand, Julie 

(EH’86) Hello to all my Kent 

friends. I have a new novel 

out, An Exaltation of Larks – 

hopefully it will be migrating 

to Amazon.com’s UK site soon. 

Not married, not a Republican 

but writing and publishing 

whenever I can. I would love 

to hear from anyone from 

86/87. Contact me at 

Julie_nisargand@hotmail.com. 

Beverley Hills, USA. (8 Apr’04) 

Collyer, Sarah 

(DH’87) Still happily married to 

Robin K87 and mother to three 

children. Living in rural Wiltshire. 

I am working part-time as a 

supply teacher and Robin is in 

IT sales. Wiltshire. (6 Jul’04) 

Sydney,Adam 

(EH’88) Masters in 

Screenwriting (American Film 

Institute). Spent several years 

at an ad agency and then 

decided to return to the UK 

to study screenwriting (again) 

at Royal Holloway College. 

Will be moving to London in 

September and would love 

to hear from old friends. Lake 

Worth, USA. (28 Jul’04) 

1990s 

Brelet, Georges 

(RT’92) Been working as 

a management consultant 

in Paris for over 5 years, mainly 

in the transport and telecom 

industries. Started rowing this 

year and enjoying it. Happy to 

hear from anyone from ’92 

or around. Contact me at 

georges_brelet@hotmail.com. 

Saint Germain-en-Laye, France. 

(23 Jun’04) 

Wolch,Amanda 

(KS’92) Joined the Department 

of Foreign Affairs and 

International Trade in ’97 and 

moved to Ottawa with my 

husband Don.Then spent three 

years at the Canadian Embassy 

in Washington DC dealing 

with trade issues and 9/11. 

Now back in Winnipeg on 

secondment and looking 

forward to being shipped 

abroad again, likely to Europe 

or the Middle East next 

summer. Winnipeg, Canada. 

(7 Apr’04) 

Hossein, Caroline 

(ES’93) Salut du Niger. I am 

living and working in West 

Africa with an international 

development organisation. 

Getting married in Barbados in 

April. I would love to hear from 

old friends; Abdullah Qahtani 

D91, Ondrej Morris-Okeke 

R93, Oxana Alexandrouna 

Dolbish E92 and Jamal. 

Email me at 

carolinehossein@yahoo.com and 

chossein@crsniger.org. 

(Baltimore, USA.) (19 Mar’04) 

Gad Attay, Gad 

(DA’95) After graduation 

I returned home to Egypt and 

am now working as an Assistant 

Professor (Lecturer) in the 

Department of Statistics at 

Cairo University. I would love 

to hear from my former study 

mates and anyone who 

remembers me. Contact me 

at hagas10@hotmail.com. 

Cairo, Egypt. (28 Jul’04) 

Welfare,Victoria 

(D’95) I’m retraining as an 

osteopath, due to qualify in 

2005. Also getting married to 

(Nicholas) Julian Davies K93 

who did his PhD under Richard 

Burns. It would be great to hear 

from anyone who knew us! 

Julian is now Principal of an 

independent VIth form college, 

and co-founder of a theatre 

group called One-Off, which 

does touring productions 

of popular plays and shows. 

Cambridgeshire. (26 Jul’04) 

Haigh, Richard 

(DA’96) Married Kristina 

Sarning D97 in July 2004 (Bob 

Eager said it would happen). 

We married in Knebworth and 

honeymooned in the Maldives. 

Hertfordshire. (8 Sept’04) 

Varley, Mark 

(DS’96) After graduating 

I worked for an internet startup 

in Edinburgh, travelled for 

a year in Asia, Australasia, South 

America and then moved to 

London in 2002 to work as 

a Management Consultant. 

Posted to Madrid in 2003 

where I have been living and 

working. Moving back to UK 

in August to Liverpool – nice! 

Still in touch with Lee Reynolds 

D96 and all of the Harkness 

Boys – Stu Wilson, Matt 

Johnson , Dave Harris, Steve 

Bartlett, Robin Oakley, Alex 

Tilson and Edwin Chan (all 

D96). Also see Annabel Wilkin, 

another ex-Kent Accenture 

Android, in the office from time 

to time. If anyone remembers 

me, drop me a line at 

mark.varley@accenture.com. 

Kent. (26 Jul’04) 

Harper, Elizabeth 

(DH’97) I lived and worked 

as a community development 

worker in rural Tanzania for 

16 months after completing my 

MA at Kent. Back working and 

living in London, but due to 

fly off again soon! Essex. 

(16 Aug’04) 

Kaufmann, Matthias 

(DS’97) I worked in Hamburg 

as a journalist for the Der 

Spiegel publishers and am now 

writing my thesis in Politics, 

supported by a scholarship 

of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. 

My topic is still related to British 

politics and discourse strategies 

and successes of German and 

British Social Democrats. 

Hamburg, Germany. (23 Aug’04) 

Schultens, Leonie 

(RS’98) MA (Graduate Inst of 

International Studies, Geneva). 

Now living in Jerusalem, trying 

to survive on meagre NGO 

jobs and commencing a PhD 

at Tel Aviv University in 

September. Anyone interested 

can reach me via email. 

Shalom and Salaam. 

Germany. (22 Apr’04) 

2000s 

Mupemo, Flavian 

(ES’00) Returned home after 

my time in Kent, started 

working for my former 

employer, the Zambia Wildlife 

Authority (ZAWA). I was 

appointed as Manager to the 

Department of Extension 

Services. I am responsible for 

implementing the Community- 

Based Natural Resources 

Management programme in 

Zambia (CBNRM). Our major 

focus is wildlife management 

both in protected areas and 

open areas while involving local 

community interests. I am so 

happy that my DICE days are as 

alive as ever in this field. It is like 

I left Kent yesterday! I salute my 

former lecturers and all the 

support staff who opened my 

eyes to a myriad of complex 

practices and experiences in 

community-based conservation. 

Thanks to you all. Zambia. 

(26 Jul’04) 

Elias, Melkiad 

(ES’01) I work for the 

Prevention of Corruption 

Bureau in Tanzania and I head 

the Legal and Prosecution 

Section. Given another 

opportunity, I look forward 

to doing my PhD at Kent Law 

School. I miss my lecturers, 

Dr Deborah Cheney and Prof 

Steve Uglow. Contact me at 

melkiadelias@yahoo.com. Dar 

Es Salaam,Tanzania. (2 Aug’04) 

Silfverstolpe, Caroline 

(RS’01) Currently working for 

the United Nations Mission in 

Kosovo in Pristina. Still together 

with Rafael Peralta R01 who 

is also with UNIMIK. We have 

been extremely lucky to be able 

to stay together and find work 

together. Sweden (27 May’04) 

Beaumont-Frenette, Genevieve 

(R S’02) Moved to Montreal 

after my graduation, with Karl, 

where we live happily. 

Worked for a year in a youth 

employment centre. Start 

an internship at the European 

Economic and Social 

Committee in Brussels (from 

Sept 04/Sept 05) so I shall be 

going back to Europe for 

a while! Quebec, Canada. 

(16 Aug’04) 

DEATHS 

Since the last issue of the 

Kent Bulletin was published, we 

have learned of the deaths of 

the following former Kent 

students. If you would like 

to be put in touch with the 

families or friends, please let us 

know.We may be able to help. 

Peter Sebastian Graham Jones 

EH’65, Nicholas Hadgraft 

EH’73, Jane Redfern (née 

Straw) RS’73:MA, Alistair M 

Ross EN’80, Angela M Gibson 

KH’81:MA, Darren White 

KN’81, Andrew P Lynn DH’82, 

Ronald M Denny RS’84:MA, 

Adam J Rose RN’91, Takako 

Cheyne (née Axazu) RN’97:MA 

We are also saddened to 

have to announce the deaths 

of the following members 

of staff: Peter Burgess; Lorne 

Hulbert; David Morgan and 

Dr Barbara Morris. 

22

1 

‘During one amazing 

session, in one room all 

the mentors wrote 

down their hopes and 

dreams and in another 

the young people wrote 

down theirs. Both groups 

came up with the same 

list: a home, a family and 

some financial security.’ 

Katie Abbotts E93 

1/3/4 Oxfam in the Sudan 

2 Katie Abbotts 

MAKING 

A DIFFERENCE 

Katie Abbotts E93 

I graduated in 1996 with a degree in Communication 

& Image Studies and no career plans. I was interested 

in media and advertising but had no knowledge of 

the realities, so initially I tried for work experience. 

My first job was as a public relations assistant 

in an agency in London. We worked hard hassling 

journalists to write about our clients’ products, 

drafted press releases and helped to plan how they 

could market themselves. I think I worked for about 

ten dot.coms that never made it to profitability, 

though I had thought each one would make me rich. 

After five years of this fast-paced work, I began to 

see life as a conveyor belt to clothes shops with 

expensive shoes and bags. 

In 2000 I heard about a mentoring scheme. I had 

been growing bored and disenchanted with my life, 

plus I was finding the gangs of kids hanging around 

street corners in my area increasingly scary. I applied 

and successfully trained to be a mentor to young 

people. During one amazing session, in one room 

all the mentors wrote down their hopes and dreams 

and in another the young people wrote down theirs. 

Both groups came up with the same list: 

a home, a family and some financial security. 

I was matched with a 15-year-old girl from Camden. 

We would meet each week at McDonald’s. We’d 

drink a milkshake in Regent’s Park and talk about life. 

Except that I wasn’t flunking my GCSEs and I wanted 

to quit smoking where she still thought it was cool, 

we had the same concerns. 

Many of the young people being mentored had been 

excluded from school, had drink or drug problems or 

had trouble with the police, and they were quite 

often isolated from their families so the impartial 

friendship of a mentor could make a difference. 

This led to my career change to PR consultant at 

Oxfam. Here, each day is different. One day I emailed 

Bishop Desmond Tutu to ask for his support on a 

campaign and received a reply in seconds. My 

colleagues are driven and committed to bringing 

about change. Last year I organised a charity music 

CD featuring donated music from bands such as 

REM and Coldplay. I travel regularly and expect to go 

to Sudan later this year. We want to raise more 

awareness of the crisis in Sudan and continue to 

deliver aid to the people who need it most. 

www.oxfam.org.uk 

2 3 4 

23

EVENTS 

1/2 University Symphony 

Orchestra 

© Martin Levenson 

These are highlights of a very full and diverse 

programme of events across the University 

over the next few months. For full listings 

please visit individual websites. 

ONGOING UNTIL 17 DECEMBER 2004 

Rutherford Exhibition. Paintings by Roy Oxlade 

and Rose Wylie, daily between 9am and 10pm. Free. 

2 DECEMBER 2004 

Quincy Kendell Charles dances Kathak. 

Undergraduate Quincy performs India’s answer to 

ballet with special guest Jayashree Acharya and 

musicians and dancers from India, Holland and the 

UK.Tickets £12 Conc £10. Indian menu available. 

Gulbenkian Box Office 01227 769075 For further 

information www.kent.ac.uk/gulbenkian 


Open Lecture by Dr David Hornsby. 

Lecturer in French, University of Kent, and Charles 

Giry-Deloison, Université d’Artois‘(Mes)entente 

cordiale’? Celebrating the world’s oldest love-hate 

relationship Brabourne Lecture Theatre, Keynes 

College at 6pm. Admission free. (The next series 

of Friday evening talks will begin on 4 February 2005 

in the Brabourne Lecture Theatre.) 


Choral and Orchestral Concert 

University of Kent Music Society Chorus and 

Symphony Orchestra. Leader Jeremy Ovenden: 

Conductor Susan Wanless. Brahms Schicksalslied, 

Opus 54; Kodaly Missa Brevis; Brahms Symphony 

No. 2 in D major, Opus 73.To book call 

01227 378188/827335 


7.45pm Gulbenkian Theatre, New Scorpion Band 

Traditional music for the Christmas season, featuring 

historical and folk carols, instrumental music for 

midwinter and seasonal readings from a selection 

of writers.Tickets £11 Conc £9. Christmas menu 

available Box Office 01227 769075 For further 

details www.kent.ac.uk/gulbenkian 

28 JANUARY 

Just East of Jazz 

7.45pm Gulbenkian Theatre. A dominant presence 

on the UK jazz scene, they captivate audiences with 

their intimate live performances.The band integrates 

jazz and East European-influenced melodies and 

rhythms.Tickets £12 Conc £10. Box Office 

01227 769075 

FRIDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2005 

The University Concert and Big Bands 

Gulbenkian Theatre. Keep an eye on the website 

for further details www.kent.ac.uk/music 

25 FEBRUARY 2005 

The University Chamber Choir 

Canterbury Cathedral Crypt. Keep an eye on the 

website for further details www.kent.ac.uk/music 

13 MARCH 2004 

Seeds for Africa Charity Fun Run 

5km run on the University of Kent campus, 

open to adults and children.To take part contact 

Alison Foley on 01227 823202 or email 

info@seedsforafrica.org For more information 

on the charity www.seedsforafrica.org 

40TH ANNIVERSARY PROGRAMME 

These are just some of the events being held to 

commemorate the University’s 40th anniversary next 

year. More information about the celebrations will be 

in the next issue of Kent magazine. 

26 JANUARY 2005 

Commemorative Thanksgiving Service in Canterbury 

Cathedral 2.30pm service officiated by the Dean, 

preceded by gowned procession of University 

dignitaries.This service signifies the start of the 

University’s 40th anniversary programme. More 

details of this programme will be posted on the 

website nearer the time. www.kent.ac.uk 

5 MARCH 2005 

The Colyer-Fergusson Concert 

Verdi’s Requiem. Keep an eye on the website for 

further details www.kent.ac.uk/music 

8–10 APRIL 2005 

60s Alumni Reunion Weekend 

Stand-up comedy at the Gulbenkian 

Grand Dinner. Live music from Hullabaloo. 

And much more!! 

Keep an eye on the Alumni website 

for more details and an online booking form 

www.kent.ac.uk/alumni/ 

28 MAY 2005 

Students’ Union Summer Ball 

4 JUNE 2005 

Open-air evening concert with fireworks finale 

MID-OCTOBER 2005 

Alumni London reception: House of Lords 

NOVEMBER 2005 

The Future of HE – symposium 

1 2 

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KENT MAGAZINE AW - University of Kent

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KENT MAGAZINE AW - University of Kent

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