Lord Wakeham

On Thursday 16 April, Lord Wakeham was formally installed as the new Chancellor of the University amidst pomp and ceremony in the Howell Lecture Theatre. The proceedings were opened by a procession of Senate and Emeritus Professors, followed by the Platform Party which included the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, the Vice-Principal, the Pro-Vice-Chancellors, the Chairman of Council, the University Treasurer and the Secretary-General and Registrar, all of whom had marched in a stately fashion from the Wilfred Brown Building (in a rare interval of sunshine).

An audience of nearly 400 invited guests included members of Lord Wakeham's family, the University's first Chancellor, Lord Halsbury, an impressive array of Honorary Graduates, local politicians and business people, members of Court, Council and Senate, and staff of the University. They heard Lord Wakeham extolled for his contributions to public service as a member of Her Majesty's Government and subsequently as the mastermind of electricity privatisation and Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (amongst many other duties) in the citation for the award of the honorary degree of Doctor of the University read by Professor Martin Cave.

The Chancellor undertook to "accept the office and the duties and responsibilities of Chancellor of Brunel University" and "to uphold the rights and reputation of the University to the best of [his] ability" and was formally welcomed to his post by the Pro-Chancellor, Dr Peter Trier.

Lord Wakeham then addressed the audience, taking as his theme "Ideas - the Engine of Progress". His speech highlighted how ideas, particularly of economic management, have shaped political and social developments in the last 200 years or so, and stressed the importance of universities in nurturing and propagating ideas. He explained how changes in the nature of communications media, and particularly in their speed, were significantly changing the way democracies operated and raising important questions about the privacy of the individual. He concluded, with F D Roosevelt that "freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world" was one of the four essential freedoms. Lord Wakeham stressed his commitment to the self-regulation of the press in order to ensure its preservation.

Following the Installation, the Vice-Chancellor hosted a buffet lunch for Lord Wakeham and the audience in the Newton Room, enabling internal and external guests to meet the Chancellor and to develop other contacts to further the work of the University. Under the direction of Professor Billett, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (External Relations), departments and research centres of the University had organised a stunning display of work which filled the Conference Suite and which guests were invited to tour when exhausted by the free-flowing conversation and wine at lunch. The 26 stands displayed the applications of frontier technology in the work of Materials Engineering, Information Systems and Computing, Mathematics and Statistics, and Electrical Engineering, amongst others. Displays from the Department of Health Studies showed work in progress on reproductive epidemiology and promoting excellence in health care. BIB set out the University's contribution to manned space flight and the British and Foreign School Society marked the bicentenary of Joseph Lancaster who founded the school which eventually became Borough Road College, an illustrious antecedent of the University.

The day was an important and memorable one for the University, the Chancellor and all the participants. The Chancellor and his family expressed their appreciation of all the work, from the cleaning of the campus to the care and courtesy shown to all guests, which went to make the day such a success.

	Brunel Home > ... > Honorary Graduates > 1998 > Lord Wakeham Lord Wakeham Lord Wakeham is a chartered accountant and served as a minister in Government from 1979 to 1994. He was Secretary of State for Energy, Leader of the House of Commons, Leader of the House of Lords and Government Chief Whip. He was Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission from 1995 to 2001 and Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords 2000. On Thursday 16 April, Lord Wakeham was formally installed as the new Chancellor of the University amidst pomp and ceremony in the Howell Lecture Theatre. The proceedings were opened by a procession of Senate and Emeritus Professors, followed by the Platform Party which included the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, the Vice-Principal, the Pro-Vice-Chancellors, the Chairman of Council, the University Treasurer and the Secretary-General and Registrar, all of whom had marched in a stately fashion from the Wilfred Brown Building (in a rare interval of sunshine). An audience of nearly 400 invited guests included members of Lord Wakeham's family, the University's first Chancellor, Lord Halsbury, an impressive array of Honorary Graduates, local politicians and business people, members of Court, Council and Senate, and staff of the University. They heard Lord Wakeham extolled for his contributions to public service as a member of Her Majesty's Government and subsequently as the mastermind of electricity privatisation and Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (amongst many other duties) in the citation for the award of the honorary degree of Doctor of the University read by Professor Martin Cave. The Chancellor undertook to "accept the office and the duties and responsibilities of Chancellor of Brunel University" and "to uphold the rights and reputation of the University to the best of [his] ability" and was formally welcomed to his post by the Pro-Chancellor, Dr Peter Trier. Lord Wakeham then addressed the audience, taking as his theme "Ideas - the Engine of Progress". His speech highlighted how ideas, particularly of economic management, have shaped political and social developments in the last 200 years or so, and stressed the importance of universities in nurturing and propagating ideas. He explained how changes in the nature of communications media, and particularly in their speed, were significantly changing the way democracies operated and raising important questions about the privacy of the individual. He concluded, with F D Roosevelt that "freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world" was one of the four essential freedoms. Lord Wakeham stressed his commitment to the self-regulation of the press in order to ensure its preservation. Following the Installation, the Vice-Chancellor hosted a buffet lunch for Lord Wakeham and the audience in the Newton Room, enabling internal and external guests to meet the Chancellor and to develop other contacts to further the work of the University. Under the direction of Professor Billett, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (External Relations), departments and research centres of the University had organised a stunning display of work which filled the Conference Suite and which guests were invited to tour when exhausted by the free-flowing conversation and wine at lunch. The 26 stands displayed the applications of frontier technology in the work of Materials Engineering, Information Systems and Computing, Mathematics and Statistics, and Electrical Engineering, amongst others. Displays from the Department of Health Studies showed work in progress on reproductive epidemiology and promoting excellence in health care. BIB set out the University's contribution to manned space flight and the British and Foreign School Society marked the bicentenary of Joseph Lancaster who founded the school which eventually became Borough Road College, an illustrious antecedent of the University. The day was an important and memorable one for the University, the Chancellor and all the participants. The Chancellor and his family expressed their appreciation of all the work, from the cleaning of the campus to the care and courtesy shown to all guests, which went to make the day such a success.	Vice-Chancellor (left) with Lord and Lady Wakeham
1998 Trevor Baylis Bernard Baruch Gillian Collins Charles Engel Robert Evans Michael Hoffman Jiri Holenda Phililp Jones Richard Layard Denise Platt David Potter Lord Wakeham