Teesside University becomes first modern University to win Times Higher award for UK University of the Year
Teesside University has become the first modern university to win the prestigious Times Higher University of the Year award. At the awards ceremony attended by over 1,000 people from the UK’s universities and by the HE Minister David Lammy MP, Vice-Chancellor of Teesside, Professor Graham Henderson said that he was ‘humbled’ but that the award was a tribute to the whole University community which included manual, support and academic staff. In their tribute the Judges said that “Teesside University has a history of working with communities and businesses that makes it the public benefactor par excellence.”
The University won a second award for Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative with the Judges concluding that ‘Teesside stood out for the strength of its engagement with the local business community’.
Modern universities also swept the field in other categories with Glasgow Caledonian University winning Widening Participation Initiative of the Year, the University of Greenwich beating off 5 other rivals to win Engineering Research Team of the Year. Southampton Solent, Bucks New, Coventry, Derby, UCLan (Central Lancashire), Northampton and Staffordshire Universities were all also short-listed for 2009 awards
Pam Tatlow, Chief Executive of the university think-tank said ‘There can be no better accolade to the quality, experience and the excellence of the teaching, research, management and leadership of the UK’s modern universities than the tributes paid to their work in these awards.
The success of Teesside University in being the first modern university to win the Times Higher University of the Year award is a timely recognition of the achievements of the University and its staff and the role paid by all of the UK’s modern universities in transforming lives and businesses throughout the UK. The fact that the University also won the award for employer engagement initiative of the year only serves to emphasise the importance of these universities’ to their regional and national economies.’
ENDS
Notes to editors
- million+ is a leading university think-tank, working to solve the complex problems in higher education. www.millionplus.ac.uk
- For more information and interviews please contact Pam Tatlow on 0207 7171655 or 07795 645241
- Further information about Teesside University can be found here www.tees.ac.uk