News - Professor Alan Livingston Honoured
University College Falmouth press release
As a lasting recognition of the vision and energy of the outgoing Rector of University College Falmouth, a building at the College's Woodlane Campus that houses two of its most successful courses - BA(Hons) Graphic Design and BA(Hons) Illustration - has been renamed The Alan Livingston Building.
Having trained as a graphic designer and typographer specialising in information design and architectural graphics, Professor Alan Livingston was Head of the School of Design at the University of Central Lancashire prior to his move to Falmouth in 1987.
During his 22-year tenure, Professor Livingston has transformed University College Falmouth from a small art school at the UK's most westerly edge into one of the world's most highly respected institutes for Art, Design, Media and Performance. The College attracts students from across the globe and is renowned for the employability of its graduates in the creative industries.
Professor Livingston's drive and determination to provide the people of Cornwall with a real alternative to leaving the county to study elsewhere helped to inspire the development of the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative - a unique partnership of further and higher education providers in Cornwall that has resulted in a major expansion of higher education opportunities in the county. In January 2006, Professor Livingston was awarded the CBE for his services to higher education in recognition of his achievements.
At the College's annual garden party for staff, the Chair of the Board of Governors, James Williams, invited Professor Livingston to accept "a small thing to remember us by." That "small thing" was the renaming of the building to commemorate his significant contribution to the College's success. The slate plaque showing the new name of the building was created by local craftsman, Joe Hemming. MA Graphic Design Course Leader, Bryan Clark had collaborated with Joe on the design and typeface of the plaque, and BA(Hons) Textile Design Course Leader, Di Downs, had designed a silk covering, adorned with the College's logo.
"I am shocked and very touched to have been honoured by this permanent memento of my time here," said Professor Livingston. "I've loved being in Cornwall and UCF is engraved in my heart. I am handing over a very buoyant institution and you should all be immensely proud of the part you have played in this. We have come a long way because we have never lost our nerve and because we consistently deliver, so continue to be bold, continue to be different, and strive to change minds and challenge ignorance. Never become ordinary and always maintain the strength of character in this place."
Under his leadership, the College has undergone a period of rapid development and expansion. Significant achievements have included the acquisition of the Tremough Campus in Penryn in 1999, and its transformation into a world-class campus in collaboration with the University of Exeter with significant funding from the European Union.
In 2004, the College was awarded the right to confer its own degrees and adopt the status of University College. In April 2008, Professor Livingston facilitated the College's merger with Dartington College of Arts, whose students and staff will relocate to Falmouth in 2010 as part of an ambitious plan to establish Arts University Cornwall by 2012/2013.
Professor Livingston retires at the end of August. He will be succeeded by Professor Anne Carlisle.
For further information about University College Falmouth, visit http://www.falmouth.ac.uk, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 213730.
University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name. It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.
This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing. The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2012/2013 that will be unique to the South West.
The College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.