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The University of Westminster (formerly the Polytechnic of Central London) is a university in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, formed in 1992 as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992
Further and Higher Education Act 1992

The Further and Higher Education Acts 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within the United Kingdom....
. Its antecedent institution, the Royal Polytechnic Institution dated back to 1838.

University of Westminster's headquarters is situated on Regent Street
Regent Street

Regent Street is one of the major high street in London's West End of London, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations....
 in the West End of London
West End of London

The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres....
.






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The University of Westminster (formerly the Polytechnic of Central London) is a university in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, formed in 1992 as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992
Further and Higher Education Act 1992

The Further and Higher Education Acts 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within the United Kingdom....
. Its antecedent institution, the Royal Polytechnic Institution dated back to 1838.

Overview

Universityofwestminster
The University of Westminster's headquarters is situated on Regent Street
Regent Street

Regent Street is one of the major high street in London's West End of London, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations....
 in the West End of London
West End of London

The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres....
. There are plans to celebrate 170 years of the university by publishing a new History of the University in 2008. The university serves more than 23,800 students from 132 countries studying a variety of programmes. These range from undergraduate and postgraduate courses to tailored professional programmes and short courses. Many Westminster students study part-time: courses are available both during the day and in the evening.

The University of Westminster was ranked 55th out of 122 university-level institutions in the United Kingdom in 2005, by The Guardian
The Guardian

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 newspaper.

Westminster is recognised as a world leader in Media and Communications and Art and Design research as measured by the UK Government Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). Communications, cultural and media studies research at the University is ranked 2nd nationally, and Art and Design Research was judged 6th nationally.

The University of Westminster Students' Union provides a range of activities for its members. It is based at the Marylebone
Marylebone

Marylebone is an affluent, inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It can be pronounced as Marribun or Mar-lee-bone Marylebone is in an area of London that can be roughly defined as the area bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone Road to the north, Edgware Road to the west and Portland Place to...
 site, next to Baker Street
Baker Street

Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It forms part of the A41 road. It is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at 221B Baker Street, an address that does not actually exist....
 tube station, where Inter:Mission, a social venue costing £750,000, was launched in 2006. The Union also operates another bar, The Undercroft, and a night club, Area 51, located on the University's Harrow
Harrow, London

Harrow is a town in the London Borough of Harrow, North West London. It is a suburb situated 12.2 miles west northwest of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan....
 site.

The Union was founded in 1966 as The Polytechnic Students' Union. Its first four Presidents were Owen Spencer-Thomas
Owen Spencer-Thomas

Owen Robert Spencer-Thomas Member of the British Empire was born into a farming family on 3 March 1940 in Braughing, Hertfordshire, England. He is perhaps best known as a television and radio news journalist over three decades, but he has also done a wide range of philanthropric work as volunteer Charitable cause fundraiser, pioneer and cam...
 (1966-1967), Roger Beavil (1967-1968), Alan Smith (1968-1969) and Dick Dixon (1969-1970).

The University of Westminster is home to the Diplomatic Academy of London
Diplomatic Academy of London

The Diplomatic Academy of London is the longest established England institution that offers postgraduate and training programmes in Diplomatic studies and International Relations, in London and Paris....
, which operates postgraduate degrees on international politics and diplomacy
Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics and culture....
.

The University helped to establish Westminster International University in Tashkent
Westminster International University in Tashkent

Westminster International University in Tashkent is Uzbekistan's newly established university. The university is the first in Central Asia to offer a Western education, with UK qualifications....
 in 2002 at the invitation of and with the co-operation of the government of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....
.

History


The University has had four different names during its history:

  • The Royal Polytechnic Institution (1838-1881)
  • Regent Street Polytechnic (1881-1970)
  • The Polytechnic of Central London - known as PCL (1970-1992)
  • The University of Westminster (1992 to present)


1838-1881 Royal Polytechnic Institution

The Polytechnic Institution opened to the public at 309 Regent Street on 6 August 1838, under the chairmanship of the distinguished scientist and aeronautical engineer Sir George Cayley
George Cayley

Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet , sometimes known as "the father of Aerodynamics", was a prolific English engineer from Brompton, Scarborough, near Scarborough, England in Yorkshire....
. Its aim was to demonstrate new technologies and inventions to the public. The Polytechnic played a significant role in the popularisation of science and engineering, and it became a major tourist attraction in Victorian London.

1839

The Polytechnic was the first institution in London to demonstrate the new science of photography
Photography

Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an ....
, and in 1841 the first photographic studio in Europe opened on the roof of the building.

1841

The name changed to The Royal Polytechnic Institution when Prince Albert, the Prince Consort became Patron.

1848

A new theatre was added to the building and became known for its spectacular magic lantern
Magic Lantern

Magic lantern may mean:*magic lantern, the ancestor of the modern slide projector*Magic Lantern , the FBI's keylogger.*The Magic Lantern is the name of a theater in Prague which served as the headquarters for the reform movement ...
 shows.

1850s-1870s

The Director of the Polytechnic, Professor John Pepper, was internationally known as a showman and popular science lecturer; he invented the popular theatrical illusion known as Pepper's ghost
Pepper's ghost

Pepper's ghost is an illusionary technique used in theater and in some magic tricks. Using a plate glass and special lighting techniques, it can make objects seem to appear or disappear, or make one object seem to "morph" into another....
.

1881

The Royal Polytechnic closed in 1881. In 1881 the Regent Street Polytechnic was founded. It was then known in full as The Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute, Regent Street. The Polytechnic was subsequently to have a significant influence on English higher education and perhaps an even greater one on sport.

The University's founder was Quintin Hogg who is described on a memorial plaque in the rebuilt flagship building (1911) as an "Education and Christian Benefactor", who "expanded his work by founding the Polytechnic in 1881-2". In Portland Place
Portland Place

Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. It was laid out by the brothers Robert Adam and James Adam for the Duke of Portland in the late 18th century and originally ran north from the gardens of a detached mansion called Foley House....
, is his statue, a memorial to both him and to those staff and students who died during the First World War
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. The imagery of Hogg's statue conveys the values and priorities of his Polytechnic, because he is depicted giving equal value to book learning and sporting activity. In essence, it reflects the ethos of muscular Christianity
Muscular Christianity

Muscular Christianity is a term used to refer to a movement within the Victorian era which stressed the need for energetic Christian activism in combination with an ideal of vigorous masculinity....
, a popular strain in Victorian
Victorian era

The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the period of Victoria of the United Kingdom reign from June 1837 to January 1901....
 culture. In the Fyvie Hall in the main building, a plaque explains that the reconstruction in 1911 was a memorial to the late Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910....
 and it refers to the commitment of the Polytechnic to the "physical and moral development of youthful subjects".

Organisation

The University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees via its departments:

  • School of Architecture and the Built Environment
  • School of Biosciences
  • School of Law
  • School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages
  • School of Media, Arts and Design
  • School of Integrated Health
  • School of Informatics (formerly the Cavendish School of Computing Science)
  • Harrow School of Computer Science
  • Westminster Business School
    Westminster Business School

    The Westminster Business School is the business school of the University of Westminster. It is located at the Marylebone Campus of the University close to Baker Street in London, England....


Smoke Radio


Smoke Radio is a student-run radio station at the University of Westminster. The station broadcasts online, from a studio located in the Media Arts and Design campus of the university, located in Harrow. Smoke Radio is a member of the Student Radio Association.

In 2007 Smoke Radio won the Silver Award for "Best Station 2007" at the Student Radio Awards, and then won the award again in 2008, making Smoke Radio the UK's second best Student Radio Station for two consecutive years.

History

It was established in 2004 by then students: Joe Haddow, Tim Pryor, Sam Gregory and Mark Jackson with additional help from others throughout the University of Westminster - including Radio Production Lecturer, Matthew Linfoot. After the intake of new students in September 2005 the station took to running a 24 hour playout system and began a broadcasting a schedule of live programmes during the week.

In 2006 Smoke Radio had won awards at the Student Radio Awards
Student Radio Awards

The Student Radio Awards is a UK awards scheme celebrating talent within the UK student radio industry, held annually since 1996 by the Student Radio Association and supported by BBC Radio 1....
, including the Gold Award for "Best Journalistic Programming" and two Bronze Awards for "Best Marketing and Station Sound" and "Best Station 2006". At the 2008 Student Radio Awards
Student Radio Awards

The Student Radio Awards is a UK awards scheme celebrating talent within the UK student radio industry, held annually since 1996 by the Student Radio Association and supported by BBC Radio 1....
, Smoke Radio also picked up a Bronze Award for "Best Interview", for an interview with British humorist, Danny Wallace; and the Gold Award for "Best Newcomer" was awarded to the first-year work of Dan Roberts.

The Smoke

The Smoke is the newspaper of the University of Westminster. It was originally printed in 1992 as a magazine. In 2006, The Smoke was switched to a newspaper format, initially being published fortnightly during term time. The newspaper currently features News, Comment, Politics, Media Business, Film, Music, Arts and Culture, Fashion, Sports, Science and Technology, Listings and Comic Strips.

A Smoke newspaper archive is now being built on its new UWSU minisite. www.uwsu.com/newspaper

Sites and halls

This University is divided into four sites: three in central London
Central London

The term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London"....
 and the fourth in Harrow
Harrow, London

Harrow is a town in the London Borough of Harrow, North West London. It is a suburb situated 12.2 miles west northwest of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan....
. The nearest Tube
London Underground

The London Underground is a metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK....
 station to the Harrow site is Northwick Park
Northwick Park tube station

Northwick Park is a London Underground station on the Metropolitan Line. It is in Zone 4, and lies between Harrow-on-the-Hill station and Preston Road tube station....
, on the Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line

The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in TfL's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first rapid transit in the world, opening on 10 January 1863 ....
, which takes 18 minutes from Baker Street
Baker Street tube station

Baker Street tube station is a station on the London Underground located at the junction of Baker Street and the Marylebone Road. The station lies in Travelcard Zone 1 and is served by five different lines....
; Kenton
Kenton station

Kenton station is a Network Rail station served by London Underground and London Overground trains. It is located on the south side of Kenton Road in Kenton, a short walk from Northwick Park tube station on the London Underground Metropolitan Line....
 also nearby. The site includes a Business School, Computer School and Media School. Each site has its own library, IT and catering facilities.

There are several Halls of Residence dispersed throughout London, including Furnival House in Highgate, and Alexander Fleming situated near Old Street; one hall is based at the Marylebone site, Wigram House in Victoria and as of September 2005 there are two based at the Harrow site.

Sport

From 1898, the polytechnic awarded the Studd Trophy
Studd Trophy

The Studd Challenge Trophy was presented annually from 1898 for the best performance by aPolytechnic athlete during the previous year.The winners' names are engraved in marble on the staircase wall at the back of the Regent Street foyer of what is now the headquarters of the University of Westminster....
, an annual trophy for the best sports performance. Over the years, the award was given to sportsmen from various disciplines, such as swimming
Swimming

Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through water, usually without artificial assistance. Swimming is an activity that can be both useful and recreational....
, boxing
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
 and cycling
Cycling

Cycling is the use of bicycles, or - less commonly - unicycles, tricycles, Quadracycle s and other similar wheeled human powered vehicles as a means of transport, a form of recreation or a sport....
, but the majority of awards have been given to athlete
Athletics (track and field)

Track and field athletics, commonly known as athletics or track and field, is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing and jumping....
s. Award holders include:
  • Willie Applegarth
    William Applegarth

    William "Willie" Reuben Applegarth was a United Kingdom athletics , winner of gold medal in 4x100 m Relay race at the 1912 Summer Olympics.Born in Guisborough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, William Applegarth was one of the best European sprinters during the World War I....
     (1912/13), Olympic
    Olympic Games

    The Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event established for both summer and winter sports. There have been two generations of the Olympic Games; the first were the Ancient Olympic Games held at Olympia, Greece, Greece....
     medallist sprinters
  • Albert Hill
    Albert Hill

    Albert George Hill was a United Kingdom Athletics , winner of two Olympic Games gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics.Born in Tooting, London, Hill started out as a long distance runner, winning the British AAA championships over 4 miles in 1910....
     (1919/20), Olympic gold medallist and middle-distance runner
  • Harry Edward
    Harry Edward

    Harry Francis Vincent Edward was a runner from Great Britain who won the bronze medal in both the 100m and 200m sprint race at the 1920 Summer Olympics....
     (1922), Olympic sprint bronze medallist
  • McDonald Bailey (1950), sprinter
  • Colin Campbell (1968 and 1970)
  • Alan Pascoe
    Alan Pascoe

    Alan Peter Pascoe, MBE was a United Kingdom Athletics who gained success in Hurdling. After his athletics career, he has been successful in events Promotion and consulting....
     (1971/72/73/74/75), hurdler


The other two sports with which the university has a strong association are cycling
Cycling

Cycling is the use of bicycles, or - less commonly - unicycles, tricycles, Quadracycle s and other similar wheeled human powered vehicles as a means of transport, a form of recreation or a sport....
 and water polo
Water polo

Water polo is a team water sport. It is the oldest continuous Olympic team sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper with a maximum of six substitutes....
.

People


Notable lecturers

  • Philip Bagwell
    Philip Bagwell

    Philip Bagwell was a prolific and widely-respected United Kingdom labour and transport historian.Born in Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight, he grew up in a radical tradition....
    , labour and transport historian
  • Cherie Blair
    Cherie Blair

    Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth Queen's Counsel, is an England barrister. She is married to former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair....
    , senior barrister, wife of Tony Blair
    Tony Blair

    Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007....
  • David Greene, architect and founder of Archigram
    Archigram

    Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s - based at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London - that was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical projects....
  • Andrew Groves
    Andrew Groves

    Andrew Groves is an England fashion designer based in London who was notorious during the 1990's for his runway collections at London Fashion Week....
    , fashion designer
  • John Keane
    John Keane (British Political Theorist)

    John Keane was educated at the Universities of Adelaide, Toronto and Cambridge, is Professor of Politics at the University of Westminster and at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin ....
    , political theorist
  • Chantal Mouffe
    Chantal Mouffe

    Chantal Mouffe is a Belgium political theorist. She holds a professorship at the University of Westminster in England. She is best known as co-author of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy with Ernesto Laclau....
    , political theorist
  • Ezra Pound
    Ezra Pound

    Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an United States expatriate poetry, critic and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist poetry movement in the first half of the 20th century....
  • Martin Rowson
    Martin Rowson

    Martin George Edmund Rowson is a United Kingdom cartoonist and novelist. His genre is political satire and his style is scathing and graphic. His work frequently appears in The Guardian and The Morning Star....
    , political cartoonist and novelist


Notable alumni


  • Carlos the Jackal
    Carlos the Jackal

    Ilich Ram?rez S?nchez is a Venezuelan-born Left-wing politics revolutionary. After several bungled bombings, Ram?rez S?nchez achieved notoriety for a 1975 raid on the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, resulting in the death of three people....
    , self-proclaimed leftist revolutionary and mercenary, terrorist
  • Christopher Bailey
    Christopher Bailey (fashion designer)

    Christopher Bailey is an English fashion designer. He joined Burberry in March 2001. In his role as Creative Director, Christopher is responsible for the design of all Burberry collections and product lines including Burberry Prorsum, Burberry London, Thomas Burberry and all Burberry licensed products globally....
     Design Director, Burberry
    Burberry

    Burberry is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing and fashion accessory. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks....
  • Arnis Balcus
    Arnis Balcus

    Arnis Balcus is a photography and video artist. Born in Riga, Latvia, Balcus lived and worked in his home town before moving to London, United Kingdom in 2004....
    , photography and video artist
  • Luke Busby
    Luke Busby

    Luke Busby is an England music producer-songwriter, best known for being part of UK electronic pop band Temposhark, with singer/songwriter Robert Diament....
    , producer/songwriter
  • Charlie Brooker
    Charlie Brooker

    Charlton Brooker, commonly known as Charlie Brooker, is an England comedian, writer, columnist and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satire pessimism....
    , Commentator
  • Sir Anthony Caro
    Anthony Caro

    Sir Anthony Caro, Order of Merit, Order of the British Empire, is an England, abstract art sculpture whose work is characterised by assemblies of metal using 'found' industrial objects....
    , OM
    Order of Merit

    The Order of Merit is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order bestowed by the Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. It was established in 1902 by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom as a reward for distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture....
    , CBE
    Order of the British Empire

    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
    ,sculptor
  • Wilfred Cass
    Wilfred Cass

    Wilfred Cass Order of the British Empire co-founded the Cass Sculpture Foundation.Aged 84, Wilfred lives in the grounds of the 's sculpture park in Goodwood, near Chichester, West Sussex, with his wife Jeannette....
    , CBE
    Order of the British Empire

    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
    , businessman and philanthropist
  • Caroline Cox, Baroness Cox
    Caroline Cox, Baroness Cox

    Caroline Anne Cox , Baroness Cox Royal College of Nursing is a Cross-bencher member of the United Kingdom House of Lords. She also is the founder and CEO of an organisation called the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust....
     of Queensbury, lobbyist
  • Gordon Cullen
    Gordon Cullen

    Thomas Gordon Cullen was an influential England architect and urban designer who was a key motivator in the Townscape movement and carried it on into the latter part of the 20th century....
     CBE, RDI, Hon FRIBA - English Architect and author of Townscape (d.1994)
  • Rob Diament
    Rob Diament

    Robert Diament is an England singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of UK electronic rock band Temposhark. Diament runs his own UK record label Paper and Glue, whilst also working with and advising a number of contemporary British artists, in particular the painter Stella Vine....
    , singer/songwriter
  • Sam Dodwell
    Sam Dodwell

    Sam Dodwell RI was an English painting....
    , Cornish artist
  • Mladen Dolar
    Mladen Dolar

    Mladen Dolar is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist, film critic and expert in psychoanalysis.Dolar was born in in Maribor as the son of the famous literary critic Jaro Dolar....
    , Slovenia
    Slovenia

    Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north....
    n philosopher
  • Emmy the Great
    Emmy the Great

    Emma Lee-Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. Moss was born in Hong Kong, and emigrated as a child with her family to London at the age of 12....
    , (Aka Emma Lee Moss) UK anti-folk artistr
  • David Gascoyne
    David Gascoyne

    David Gascoyne was an England poetry associated with the Surrealist artistic movement....
    , poet
  • Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäki
    Paavo Siljamäki

    Paavo Siljam?ki, is one-third of the UK based Trance music group Above & Beyond . "Paavo Olavi Siljam?ki" is also a solo project for Paavo. Apart from that, Paavo is also member of Aalto, Dirt Devils, Free State, Rollerball, Tranquility Base, Zed-X and OceanLab....
    , two-thirds of trance group Above & Beyond
    Above & Beyond (band)

    Above & Beyond is a trance music group formed in 2000 by Jonathan Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljam?ki. The trio are popular in the trance scene for their uplifting trance productions and collaborations with many vocalists....
    .
  • Ann Guise, (Lubas) fashion designer
  • Trisha Goddard
    Trisha Goddard

    Trisha Goddard is an England television presenter well known for her morning talk show Trisha, which currently airs on Five . In Australia she is known as a long time presenter of Play School ....
    , TV presenter/Chat show host
  • Alan Heath
    Alan Heath

    Alan Heath is a United Kingdom publisher and writer, chiefly noted as a Holocaust historian.Heath was born in Chelmsford, Essex on 9 November1961....
     - publisher and historian.
  • Jack Howe
    Jack Howe

    Jack "Jackie" Howe was a legendary Australian sheep shearer at the end of the 19th century. He shot to fame in pre-Federation of Australia Australia in 1892 when he broke the daily and weekly shearing records across the colonies....
     RDI - Industrial Designer
  • Stephen Hesford
    Stephen Hesford

    Stephen Hesford is a United Kingdom politician and the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Wirral West ....
    , Labour politician
  • Michael Jackson
    Michael Jackson (TV)

    Michael Richard Jackson is a United Kingdom television producer and executive. He is notable for being one of only three people to have been Controller of both BBC One and BBC Two, the main television channels of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and for being the first media studies graduate to reach a senior level in the British media....
    , Chairman, Universal Television Group USA
  • Denis Jenkinson
    Denis Jenkinson

    Denis Sargent Jenkinson, Jenks or DSJ as he was known in the pages of Motor Sport , was a journalist deeply involved in motorsports. As Continental Correspondent of the UK-based Motor Sport magazine, he covered Formula One and other races all over Europe....
    , motor racing journalist, Continental Correspondent of Motor Sport magazine and world champion sidecar passenger
  • Anoop Jethwa, Honourary Barcelona fan, famous for always wearing the blue and red shirt in class
  • Asif Kapadia
    Asif Kapadia

    Asif Kapadia is a United Kingdom filmmaker of Indian descent. He directed several award-winning films, including The Sheep Thief , which won the Cin?fondation Award for Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival, and The Warrior , which won the BAFTA Award for Best Film....
    , director/screenwriter
  • Irrfan Khan,Indian Bollywood actor
  • Barry Laden
    Barry Laden

    Barry Laden , is an entrepreneur and writer. Educated at City of Portsmouth Boys' School and the University of Westminster, he part qualified as an accountant before entering the business world....
    , fashion entrepreneur and writer
  • Markus Lupfer, fashion designer
  • Iain MacMillan
    Iain MacMillan

    Iain Stewart Macmillan was the British photographer famous for taking the cover photograph for The Beatles' album Abbey Road in 1969. After growing up in Scotland, he moved to London to become a professional photographer....
    , photographer, famous for cover of Abbey Road (album)
    Abbey Road (album)

    Abbey Road is the eleventh official U.K. album and seventeenth U.S. album released by The Beatles. Though work on Abbey Road began in April 1969, making it the final album recorded by the band, Let It Be was the last album released before the Beatles' dissolution in 1970....
  • Dale Mills, Australian human rights activist and journalist
  • Trevor Miller
    Trevor Miller

    Trevor Miller is a screenwriter, author and playwright who Record Mirror suggested ?is hailed by some as the voice of a generation.? His plays include HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT and THE FLESH TRADER both of which debuted at The London New Play Festival....
    , author and screenwriter
  • Carri Mundane
    Carri Mundane

    Carri Mundane is an England fashion designer. Born as Carri Munden, she is also credited as Carri Mundane and CassettePlaya, her fashion label....
     Fashion Designer for Cassetteplaya
  • Jake Nava
    Jake Nava

    Jake Nava is a music video and commercial director. He grew up in London Borough of Hackney, London, England and later moved to the United States....
    , music video and commercial director
  • Hsiao-Hung Pai
    Hsiao-Hung Pai

    Hsiao-Hung Pai is a writer on migrant labour issues best known for her book Chinese Whispers: The True Story Behind Britain's Hidden Army of Labour....
    , Taiwan
    Taiwan

    Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
    -born journalist and author
  • Scarlet Page
    Scarlet Page

    Scarlet Lilith Eleida Page is an England Photographer. She is the daughter of Jimmy Page andCharlotte Martin ....
    , photographer and daughter of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page
  • Neal Purvis
    Neal Purvis

    Neal Purvis is a screenwriter best known for co-writing the last four James Bond films with his long-time collaborator Robert Wade ....
    , scriptwriter (007 series including Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace)
  • Ian Ritchie
    Ian Ritchie Architects

    Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd is a leading United Kingdom architect, founded in London in 1981 by Ian Ritchie . Ritchie also co-founded the engineering firm Rice Francis Ritchie with Peter Rice and Martin Francis in Paris in 1981....
    , CBE
    Order of the British Empire

    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
  • Jon Ronson
    Jon Ronson

    Jon Ronson is a Cardiff-born journalist, author, documentary filmmaker and radio presenter. His journalism and columns have appeared in British publications including The Guardian newspaper and Time Out magazine....
    , journalist
  • Alireza Sagharchi
    Alireza Sagharchi

    Alireza Sagharchi RIBA FRSA is a United Kingdom architect. He received his Diploma in Architecture from the University of Westminster, London in 1986....
    , architect
  • William Shields, aka Jehst
    Jehst

    William G. Shields, better known as Jehst or a slew of aliases including The High Plains Drifter and Jay Star, is an English Rapping and co-founder of hip hop label YNR Productions....
    , UK rapper and poet
  • Owen Spencer-Thomas
    Owen Spencer-Thomas

    Owen Robert Spencer-Thomas Member of the British Empire was born into a farming family on 3 March 1940 in Braughing, Hertfordshire, England. He is perhaps best known as a television and radio news journalist over three decades, but he has also done a wide range of philanthropric work as volunteer Charitable cause fundraiser, pioneer and cam...
    , MBE
    Order of the British Empire

    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
    , television journalist, Anglican clergyman and first president of the Students' Union
  • Philip Tew
    Philip Tew

    Professor Philip Tew is an England academic. Professor in English in the School of Arts at Brunel University , Tew is a leading expert in the field of contemporary and modern British fiction after 1945, and various strands of critical or 'high' theory, particularly metarealism and materialism....
     Professor of English (Post-1900 British Literature), Brunel University.
  • Manish Sahi
    Manish Sahi

    Manish Sahi is one of India's pioneering FM radio presenters and one of a handful of high profile radio personalities who became regular fixtures on Page 3....
    , radio broadcaster and columnist
  • Anand Tucker
    Anand Tucker

    Anand Tucker is a film director and Film producer based in London. He began his career directing factual television programming and adverts. He co-owns the production company Archer Street....
    , film director of Shopgirl and And When Did You Last See Your Father?
  • Stuart Vevers
    Stuart Vevers

    Stuart Vevers graduated from the University of Westminster in 1996. His first job was at Calvin Klein followed by Bottega Veneta, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton where he worked with Marc Jacobs....
    , fashion designer
  • Danny Wallace, TV presenter and author
  • Roger Waters
    Roger Waters

    George Roger Waters is an England rock music musician. He is best known as the bass guitar player and one of the main songwriters in the English rock band Pink Floyd from 1964 to 1985....
    , Richard Wright
    Richard Wright (musician)

    Richard William "Rick" Wright was an English piano, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound....
     and Nick Mason
    Nick Mason

    Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is the drummer for Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1964. He also competes in auto racing events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans....
     of the rock group Pink Floyd
    Pink Floyd

    Pink Floyd are an English Rock music band who initially earned recognition for their psychedelic rock and space rock music, and later, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music....
     studied architecture in the 1960s but only Roger and Nick graduated .
  • Jamie Willcox, Jon Courtney
    Jon Courtney

    Jon Courtney, who grew up in Reading, Berkshire, is a vocals and guitarist in the United Kingdom Rock band Pure Reason Revolution. He is also responsible for most of the songwriting and lyrics, though some songs are attributed to former band-member Greg Jong....
     and Chloe Alper
    Chloe Alper

    Chloe Alper is a UK/France musician and artist, best known as a singer and bassist in the British New prog rock group Pure Reason Revolution. Her career began with girl Punk rock band Period Pains ....
     of British Rock Group Pure Reason Revolution
    Pure Reason Revolution

    Pure Reason Revolution is a United Kingdom Rock music group formed at the University of Westminster in 2003. Their music incorporates elements of progressive rock and grunge rock....


  • Samit Basu
    Samit Basu

    Samit Basu is the author of The Simoqin Prophecies, The Manticore's Secret and The Unwaba Revelations, the three parts of The GameWorld Trilogy, a fantasy trilogy published by Penguin Books, India....
    , writer
  • Seamus McGarvey
    Seamus McGarvey

    Seamus McGarvey BSC, born 29 June 1967 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, began his career as a still photographer before attending film school at the University of Westminster in London....
    , cinematographer
  • Alec Carlin
    Alec Carlin

    Alec Carlin is a screenwriter and film director. He was born in Kampala, Uganda and attended boarding school in England at Gordonstoun and Frensham Heights School and then the University of Westminster....
    , writer, film director


Fashion design


A number of notable fashion designers have attended the University of Westminster. These include Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood, Order of the British Empire, Royal Designers for Industry is a British fashion designer largely responsible for bringing modern Punk fashion and New Wave music fashions into the mainstream....
 and Christopher Bailey
Christopher Bailey (fashion designer)

Christopher Bailey is an English fashion designer. He joined Burberry in March 2001. In his role as Creative Director, Christopher is responsible for the design of all Burberry collections and product lines including Burberry Prorsum, Burberry London, Thomas Burberry and all Burberry licensed products globally....
, who have each been awarded British Fashion Designer of the Year in the past. Other notable alumni include Katie Hillier, accessories designer for Marc Jacobs; Stuart Vevers
Stuart Vevers

Stuart Vevers graduated from the University of Westminster in 1996. His first job was at Calvin Klein followed by Bottega Veneta, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton where he worked with Marc Jacobs....
, the Creative Director of Loewe
Loewe (brand)

Loewe is a Spain luxury clothing and accessories brand owned by the LVMH....
 and Carri Mundane
Carri Mundane

Carri Mundane is an England fashion designer. Born as Carri Munden, she is also credited as Carri Mundane and CassettePlaya, her fashion label....
 the Creative Director of Cassetteplaya.

A number of Fashion Designers have also been awarded honorary doctorates from the University. These include Christopher Bailey in 2006, Jeff Banks
Jeff Banks

Jeff Banks is a renowned Welsh Fashion design of both men's and women's clothing, jewellery, and home furnishings....
 in 1992, and Zandra Rhodes
Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes, Order of the British Empire, Royal Designers for Industry, is a British fashion designer.Zandra Rhodes was introduced to the world of fashion by her mother, who was a fitter in a Paris fashion house and a teacher at Medway College of Art....
 in 1999.

Ceramics


With the creation of the University in 1992, the studio pottery course formerly taught at Harrow School of Art was developed into a BA degree. In line with the requirements of study at degree level, the course was expanded to examine the studio approach within broader contexts and critiques. Teachers on the course include three professors – Christie Brown, Nigel Wood and Edmund de Waal
Edmund de Waal

Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal is a United Kingdom ceramic artist .Born in Nottingham, England in 1964, he is considered one of the leading British potters of his generation....
. The BA Ceramics course is still referred to as 'The Harrow Course' amongst some studio potters
Studio pottery

Studio pottery is made by modern artists working alone or in small groups, producing unique items or pottery in small quantities, typically with all stages of manufacture carried out by one individual....
. In November 2008 the University commenced a consultation over plans to close the course.

External links

  • – Official website


Video clips