To celebrate the University of Portsmouth’s 30th anniversary as a university, there will be a special Alumni celebration this weekend (Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September).
Former students from around the world will be welcomed back to Portsmouth to celebrate this important milestone and to connect again with classmates, lecturers, old haunts and the community that means so much to so many.
Over the weekend, there will be a special programme of festivities, including a celebration lunch hosted the University’s Chancellor, Karen Blackett OBE and Vice Chancellor, Graham Galbraith, faculty receptions, tours of new innovations including the Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Reality (CCIXR), talks about world-leading research and much more.
Trudy Monk, Head of Alumni Relations at the University of Portsmouth, said: “We are very excited to welcome nearly 800 alumni from the University, and its predecessor Polytechnic, back to Portsmouth this weekend [students from 1960s to the 2010s], to share their memories and reconnect with friends. On this special anniversary, we celebrate our graduates, and the extraordinary and positive impact they make across the world. They are at the heart of our University's community; our history and our future.”
If you live in Portsmouth and are a graduate of the University or Polytechnic (or their predecessor institutions) do visit the team in the Student Union common room this Saturday and post your memories.
The University’s roots as an institution date back to 1870 to the Portsmouth and Gosport School of Science and Art, and it became Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1969. In the same year, the first halls of residence - Rees Hall - opened overlooking Southsea Common.
In 1992, after a decade as one of the largest and best performing polytechnics in the UK, Portsmouth received university status and The University of Portsmouth was born on Tuesday 7 July 1992.
Since then, the University has grown to be one of the most successful young universities in the UK and the world. It teaches 31,000 students with over 5,000 international and EU students from 150 countries on a variety of undergraduate, postgraduate and master courses.
The University currently employs 2,550 full-time staff, making it Portsmouth's fourth largest employer, after the Royal Navy, Portsmouth NHS Trust and the City Council.
University research and innovation is helping to make the planet a better place – generating new knowledge and providing real solutions to important questions about the future of public health, global security, the environment and more.