Sir Michael Checkland opens new £25m University of Brighton building
Published 2 July 2010
Former Director-General of the BBC, Sir Michael Checkland, officially opened the University of Brighton's new £25 million Checkland Building on 1 July.
The state-of-the-art building, named after Sir Michael, houses the School of Education which recently received an "outstanding" rating by the Office for Standards in Education for its primary and secondary initial teacher education provision. The school also marked its centenary of teacher education this year.
The 9,000 square metre building, based at the university's Falmer campus, is also home to the languages and literature division of the School of Humanities.
Paul Griffiths, Lord Mogg, Sir Michael Checkland, Professor Julian Crampton
Sir Michael, an honorary graduate of the university, was chairman of the university's board of governors from 2002 until 2006. He also served as chairman of the Higher Education Funding Council for England from 1997-2001, governor of Westminster College, Oxford, and governor of Birkberk College.
Sir Michael thanked the University of Brighton for what he described as a "wonderful honour" and referring to his previous work in the field of education said: "I'm extremely pleased that this building will be the base of the university's prestigious School of Education.
"I was attracted to Brighton due its wide of range courses, its students ranging from school leavers to mature students, from part-time to full-time, and its work with the community and business as well as its in-depth research."
He added: "Brighton is an attractive and well-run university. I have been a great supporter of the university and I will continue to support it in the future, and I'm sure that this building will form a part of Brighton's continued success."
The university's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Julian Crampton, said: "The university has invested more than £60m in improving its estate, including the new Checkland Building.
"These improvements are proving to be a powerful draw for students and we have received over 35,000 applications. The university is in a robust financial position and we will continue to invest in our estate." He thanked the builders and architects involved in the construction.
Paul Griffiths, dean of the Faculty of Education and Sport, thanked Sir Michael for being a "good friend and advocate" of the university. He said: "The construction of the Checkland Building marks the culmination of a decade of investment in the Falmer campus. The building is one of the university's most ambitious estates projects, it was architecturally challenging and it is a key focal point for teaching and learning.
"This year marks 100 years of the School of Education and the recent Ofsted results are a testament to the hard work of our staff and students."
It took 19 months to construct the Checkland Building and special features include natural ventilation, a combined heat and power plant, a 160-seat lecture theatre, a 300-seat multi-purpose hall, an open learning centre, computer pools and an atrium café.
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Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton, 01273 643022
