OBE for Cornish Education Figurehead
Combined Universities in Cornwall press release
Dr. Ian Tunbridge, Executive Director of Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), has been awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours List for services to education.
Dr. Tunbridge has been active in promoting university level education in Cornwall since the 1980s, both in his current role and in his previous post as Dean of the University of Plymouth Colleges Faculty.
Dr. Tunbridge is delighted with the news, commenting, "This truly is a great privilege, though I'd like to think that it gives recognition to the many people at the universities and colleges working in Cornwall who have overcome tremendous obstacles to create the exceptional higher education resources we have in the county today. As a Cornishman I care passionately about Cornwall's changing fortunes and I have long believed that the greatest thing we can do to regenerate the county is to give its people the education opportunities they need to fulfil their ambitions. It has been a tremendous pleasure to see so many people taking up those opportunities, and to see them go on to play valuable roles in our society and economy. With my CUC colleagues I now hope to help build on what has been achieved thus far to create a university infrastructure for Cornwall which attracts international acclaim for its excellence and which acts as a source of pride for local people."
Prof. Steve Smith, Chair of the Combined Universities in Cornwall Steering Group, congratulated his colleague, saying, "On behalf of the CUC partners, I would like to add my congratulations to Ian on receiving his OBE. Ian has been involved in many successful projects which have benefited higher education and transformed lives in the South West. He has always been committed to opening up higher education to as many people as possible and a firm believer in its benefits and I'm sure that colleagues across the region will join me in congratulating him on the receipt of this well-deserved accolade."
Dr. Tunbridge was born in Launceston in 1953. He was the first of his family to go to university and gained a PhD in Sedimentology at the University of Reading. He worked for Shell UK before accepting a position with the University of Plymouth as a Lecturer in Geology. After following a traditional academic career for 10 years, he pursued his growing interest in helping people from all backgrounds and age groups to benefit from higher education.
In 1989 he accepted the task of establishing the University's acclaimed regional partner college network, which became the University of Plymouth Colleges Faculty (UPC) in 2003. UPC allows people across the South West to gain University of Plymouth qualifications from their local college.
In 2007 he took up the newly created post of Executive Director of Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique partnership of universities and colleges which is fast becoming recognised as Europe's leading collaborative higher education initiative. To date the partnership has attracted £120 million of EU and UK Government investment, allowing CUC's partner institutions to create higher education facilities at a dozen campuses across Cornwall, thereby providing many more opportunities for people to study locally. Thanks to CUC Cornwall's student population now exceeds 5,300.
Dr. Tunbridge now lives with his wife and two children in Liskeard. Alongside his other commitments he is a governor of Liskeard School and community College, Chair of the Aimhigher Peninsula Partnership and also sits on the board of the Devon and Cornwall Learning and Skills Council.
