KEY APPOINTMENT IN THE FACULTY OF HEALTH

Keele's Faculty of Health has announced the key appointment of Professor Gordon Ferns to the combined post of Director of the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine in the Faculty and Director of R&D at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Professor Ferns is currently Dean of Medicine at the University of Surrey and Clinical Director of the NIHR Surrey and Sussex Comprehensive Local Research Network.  He has published over 300 articles, has received grant support from the MRC, BHF, BBSRC and MAFF, and was awarded a DSc from London University in 2003.

Professor Ferns qualified in Medicine from St Barts, University of London, then undertook specialty training in Chemical Pathology at the hospital, where he worked on the molecular genetics of diabetes and atherosclerosis, supported by a Wellcome Clinical Fellowship.  Following his MD, Professor Ferns spent three years in Seattle, Washington as American Heart Association-British Heart Foundation Fellow developing models of accelerated atherosclerosis.

He returned to the UK in 1991 to the post of Senior Scientist in the William Harvey Research Institute.  He was appointed to a Senior Lectureship in Chemical Pathology at the University of Leicester (1993-1995), before his appointment to the Chair of Metabolic and Molecular Medicine at the University of Surrey, where he has been for the past 14 years.  In 2007 he was appointed Dean of Medicine at the University and Clinical Director of the NIHR Surrey and Sussex Comprehensive Local Research Network.

CFM CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Awards were presented to more than 100 Commercial and Facilities Management staff at a special ceremony this week in Keele Hall.

The event, "Celebrating Success", brought together more than 300 members of staff from across the Directorate. The event also saw the launch of a new initiative called 'Total Recognition', a scheme devised by a group of CFM staff to recognise individuals and teams worthy of particular praise.

Jenny Tucker, Director of CFM, presented a raft of awards, which included health and safety, NVQs, equality and diversity and management certificates. 

Secretary and Registrar, Simon Morris, who paid tribute to CFM staff for their contribution to the success of the University, presented professional qualifications and industry awards. He also presented long service awards to Keith Inman, 25 years; Les Prestwood, 35 years, and Harry Swinney, 35 years.

The picture shows Karen Barratt receiving the Meetings and Incentive Travel Awards Best Conference and Banqueting Staff Gold Award from Simon Morris.

RAISING MONEY TO HELP UGANDAN SCHOOL CHILDREN

Staff and students in the School of Life Sciences raised £2,500 last year for their adopted school charity, supporting the education of Ugandan schoolchildren, many of them AIDS orphans, by providing funds for the Uganda Humanist Academy. To date, they have supported staff salaries, as well as providing textbooks and science equipment.  

This year's fundraising events kicked off with a staff and student five-a-side football match, with four teams participating.

Cheerleaders (pictured left to right: Lynsey Wheeldon, Amy Shaw, Jo Meist and Beth Close, all Life Sciences' staff) were on hand to collect donations from spectators. So far, they have raised more than £100 and plan more activities throughout the year.

VICTORIAN BALL IN VICTORIAN HALL

Keele Hall has once again hosted the annual fundraising ball for the Douglas MacMillan Hospice, which this year took on a Victorian theme, a perfect fit to its venue, Keele Hall ballroom, which has recently been refurbished in contemporary Victoriana style.

More than 250 guests were greeted by footmen at the doors, while 'Queen Victoria' and 'Prince Albert' played host for the evening.  The evening was interspersed with a Grand Auction, a tombola and text auction, which helped generate significant revenue. After dinner, dancing and a casino made it a memorable occasion for all who attended.

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CHANGES

Professor Ann Hughes, Professor of Early Modern History/ Research Institute for the Humanities, was one of six delegates from the United Kingdom who attended an International Symposium on Political and Cultural Changes in late medieval and early modern England, at the University of Wuhan in central China.

The two-day symposium, sponsored by Wuhan's Institute for 15th – 18th century World Historical Studies and the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies at Birmingham University, featured papers and lively discussion between British and Chinese scholars (senior figures and postgraduate students) working on early modern England. Professor Hughes gave a paper on 'Religion and the English Revolution'.

BRITISH ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

Keele Management School was strongly represented at the recent British Academy of Management Conference in Brighton, with papers by Mihaela Kelemen on "The contribution of American Pragmatism to researching management", Matthias Klaes on "Peer to peer (P2P) finance: Towards an alternative paradigm for retail finance",  Helen Oakes on "A framework for exploring the colonising potential of accounting and marketing in widening access to the arts"  and Teresa Oultram on " 'The production of future workers': The role of the apprenticeship scheme".

Professor Klaes will continue a longstanding engagement of the Management School in the Academy's Special Interest Group on Research Methodology by joining the group steering committee.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Naveed Sheikh, School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy/ Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice, who has recently returned to Keele after a year as Asia Fellow at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) and Kroc Fellow at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana), has been appointed editor-in-chief of the quarterly Routledge journal 'Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions'.