As tends to happen in busy households, we were reading different bits of the newspaper over supper as a prelude to converging on the crossword.   Nicky turned a page and, looking at a large photograph, exclaimed ‘I know him!’. The photograph was of a special needs assistant in the north London primary school Nicky taught…

I’m relying on the internet here, which as we all know is far from being the most trustworthy of information sources.  A ‘promise of barmen’, a ‘bench of bishops’, a ‘rookery of clerks’, an ‘observance of hermits’, an ‘alley of clowns’: I can understand those collective nouns and they have a reassuringly eccentric feel.  It…

Several years ago, I was at a large conference dinner in Beijing. In a break between courses, a choir of Chinese children sang to us – a medley of songs tailored for their global audience. Amongst the more culturally incongruous of songs was their rendition of ‘Danny Boy’. As it happened, I’d found myself sitting…

Universities are success stories.  They educate large numbers of young people – participation in higher education has risen consistently in the UK and globally.  They undertake research which has produced striking advances in medicine, sciences, arts, social sciences and humanities.  Universities fuel the knowledge economy. They create value for cities and communities.  And so on. …

About thirty years ago, I picked up a book in a second-hand shop which I’ve gone back to time after time.  It’s called Pandaemonium – which was, of course, Milton’s invented name for Satan’s palace in Paradise Lost. It’s by Humphrey Jennings, a pioneering documentary filmmaker who died in 1950 at the early age of…

It’s that time of year again. Decorations out of the loft, presents to wrap, family gatherings to prepare for. And so, with apologies, here is a fairly obvious variation on an old favourite which simply reminds everyone of the fabulous people who do such great things across the University. On the first day of Christmas…

There are two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the…

We all know instinctively that diversity matters.  We know it from everyday lore sayings: “two heads are better than one” – which at the most basic level is a reminder that we all need others, with different perspectives and different points of view.  There’s a good deal of evidence from management consultancy surveys that more…