{"id":413,"date":"2024-09-30T15:32:05","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T14:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/?p=413"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:20:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T16:20:36","slug":"from-the-vice-chancellor-september-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/vice-chancellor\/2024\/09\/30\/from-the-vice-chancellor-september-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Vice-Chancellor \u2013 September 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Vice-Chancellor<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In my first newsletter of the new academic year: the Paris 2024 Games, our new Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience, the 2024 Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Awards, our Ambassador for Sport, Health and Wellbeing, the inaugural GSUN summit, and Loughborough\u2019s hat trick of nominations in the 2024 THE Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this summer were phenomenal events, showcasing the world\u2019s greatest sportsmen and women, and I was incredibly proud of the achievements of our Loughborough-linked athletes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They brought home a total of 35 medals across both games \u2013 seven gold, six silver and six bronze at the Paralympics and four gold, four silver and eight bronze at the Olympics. So strong were the Loughborough athletes\u2019 performances that we would have finished as a top 20 nation in the Paralympic Games if we were reclassified as a country and 16th in the OIympics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the highlights from this year\u2019s Games were Olympic gold for Daniel Wiffen in the men\u2019s 800m freestyle and bronze in the 1,500m freestyle, and gold for cyclist Sophie Capewell in the women\u2019s team sprint \u2013 both Daniel and Sophie are current Loughborough students. At the Paralympics, swimmer Tully Kearney won gold in the women\u2019s 100m and 200m freestyle S5, and for Jenny Holl, who\u2019s the cycling pilot for Sophie Unwin, won two golds, a silver and a bronze; Tully trains at Loughborough and Jenny is part of Loughborough Lightning Cycling.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A full list of our medal-winning athletes is available on our news pages<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside our athletes we must also celebrate the coaches, practitioners and support staff across the University who help our students, alumni and Loughborough-based athletes to achieve their goals, as well as those who ensure our sports facilities remain in peak condition for our athletes. Their dedication, day in day out, is truly outstanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must also acknowledge the world-leading sports-related research that takes place across the University, which underpins not only our own athletes\u2019 performance but that of sportsmen and women around the world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, our researchers in the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport<\/u><\/a> were asked to look at how wheelchairs would interact with the clay courts<\/u><\/a> being used at the Paris Games, and in this video<\/u><\/a>, gold medal-winning triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand explains why our heat lab, which helped her acclimatise to the Paris temperatures, is her \u201cworst, favourite place\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The totality of our outstanding Olympic and Paralympics performance underpinned being named Sports University of the Year<\/u><\/a> in the Times and Sunday Times and the Daily Mail university guides for 2025, which were both published this month.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also generated some excellent news coverage for the University, with more than 650 media mentions in 200-plus outlets, including BBC News, The Times, The Guardian and BBC Radio 4. Our Olympics and Paralympics videos on social media also had more than half a million views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our performance at the Olympics and Paralympics has enabled us to enhance Loughborough\u2019s global profile and reputation, which is a key part of our strategic vision, and shown how we can leverage our leading position in sport performance, research and education to meet our strategic\u00a0Sporting Excellence and Opportunity<\/u><\/a>\u00a0aim.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience appointed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This autumn we will welcome Professor Sam Grogan<\/u><\/a> as our new Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Grogan is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at the University of Salford, and prior to that was Dean of Students, with responsibility for leadership of the academic student experience. Before joining the University of Salford, he was Director of Higher Education at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and Head of the Department of Performing Arts at Bath Spa University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Board Member of Advance HE, which promotes excellence in higher education, and was also Round Table Chair for the launch of the Social Mobility Pledge, a coalition of more than 800 organisations that have committed to boost opportunity and social mobility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Grogan will bring invaluable experience in shaping and leading the delivery of first-class education opportunities for our students and ensuring they have the chance to develop the skills they need for whatever they do in their future lives \u2013 one of the key aspirations in our strategic plan<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll join me in giving a very warm welcome to Professor Grogan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Awards mark the contributions and achievements of staff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each year, the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Awards<\/u><\/a> allow us to recognise and celebrate the contributions of staff from around the University who have shown their commitment to the University’s aims and values, especially around the theme of \u2018togetherness\u2019, in keeping with the title of our strategy<\/u><\/a>.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year almost 250 nominations – a record number with every School and Professional Service represented – were submitted for eighteen awards across the six categories of research and innovation; education and student experience; equity, diversity and inclusion; international engagement and impact; sporting excellence and opportunity; and living the values.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to all those nominated and the incredibly worthy winners. Full details are available on the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Awards website<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 170 staff and guests attended the awards ceremony, which was compered by the wonderful Pauline Matturi from Organisational Development. Our student jazz band,\u202fTuxedo Swing<\/u><\/a>, were our musical entertainment for the afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as presenting awards on the night, we also recognise the winners and nominees in a dedicated space on campus near the West Park Teaching Hub, where we have a plaque, mounted on locally-sourced Mountsorrel granite, and seating area, surrounded by trees and shrubs. This new green space will provide a lasting legacy both to the achievements of our staff and to our sustainability ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n