Newcastle University

Professor Chris Brink's first 'official' duty as new Vice-Chancellor was to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional Development Agency.

The University has reaffirmed its relationship with the Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, by signing a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The signing ceremony, on 2 August 2007, was the first official duty of the new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Brink, who put his signature to the document with Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of One NorthEast. The ceremony is pictured below, with Professor Brink on the right.

The MOU states that the University's partnership with One NorthEast has deepened over the past two years through the development of the Newcastle Science City initiative and the new Regional Economic Strategy.

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Both partners are now seeking to build on this relationship and develop new activities as 'a clear demonstration of the potential of universities to contribute to extensive social and economic policy goals, both in North East England and the UK,' says the MOU.

It is likely that formal joint venture arrangements will be established to take forward specific areas of activity, which will be identified on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier, shortly before he took Office, Professor Brink had the opportunity to meet a number of high profile business professionals at a dinner hosted by international bankers, Coutts, on behalf of the University's Development and Alumni Relations Office.

The purpose of the evening, on 19 July, was to forge relationships between the University and businesses, with the overall aim of building awareness at encouraging and enthusing young talent to study and then stay in the North East, in order to enrich and expand the local economy.

Pictured below are Professor Brink, right, and Professor Christopher Edwards, left, the incoming and outgoing Vice-Chancellors of the University, attending the dinner with the Chairman of Council, Olivia Grant, centre.

Key themes of the discussions centred around how the pursuit of excellence should be balanced with relevance to student vocations, business and society in general.

Peter Wagstaff, Senior Private Banker at Coutts in Newcastle commented: 'It’s an exciting time for our local team and the University because Newcastle is experiencing rapid expansion and development. But we’re also conscious that both the business and professional communities need to be working closer with our academic institutions to attract, train and retain talented people into the area in order to sustain this development.'

Coutts is the international private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

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New Vice-Chancellor takes the helm (previous NewsLink article)