The Princess Royal was in Coventry on Tuesday to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University of Warwick being awarded the Royal Charter of Institution. In 1965, Her Majesty The Queen granted the charter and the university’s first 450 undergraduates were welcomed to the campus in October of the same year.
Princess Anne on a previous engagement to the Open University.
Upon her arrival to Warwick University and in particular the International Digital Laboratory, Princess Anne was welcomed by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Sir Nigel Thrift, as well as meeting with academics, students and staff from across the campus.
Professor Thrift commented on the royal visit, “We were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to the University of Warwick to celebrate the 50th anniversary of receiving our Royal Charter of Incorporation from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.”
While on campus, Princess Anne was invited to unveil the foundation stone for a new Teaching and Learning building, due to open in 2016, which was inscribed with a message marking this milestone year. Professor Thrift continued, “Her Royal Highness’s visit to the university to unveil the foundation stone for a new Teaching and Learning building is a fitting occasion to reflect on our history and commemorate our most successful year. As we look ahead to the next 50 years, we are honoured that Her Royal Highness joined us today as we mark the beginning of a new chapter in Warwick’s success.”
Warwick University has this year been named as one of the world’s top 100 universities in all three international university rankings for the first time ever. It came in at 80 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16, it was 48th in the QS Annual World University rankings and was 92nd in the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities. The university also came sixth in The Times and Sunday Times league table of UK universities.
While at Warwick University, Princess Anne also learnt of the Warwick Manufacturing Group’s Academy for Young Engineers from Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, chairman of WMG.
Photo Credit: The Open University