Difference between revisions of "Keele University"

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|headquarters=England
 
|headquarters=England
 
|type=Public
 
|type=Public
|description=The largest campus university in the UK by area
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|description=UK university which pressured scientist researching aluminium toxicity to quit for fear of offending from big funders.
 
|website=http://www.keele.ac.uk/
 
|website=http://www.keele.ac.uk/
 
|motto=Thanke God for All
 
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'''Keele University''', officially known as the '''University of Keele''',<ref>https://www.keele.ac.uk/discover/ourhistory/</ref> is a [[Public university#United Kingdom|public]] [[research university]] in [[Keele]], approximately 3 miles from [[Newcastle-under-Lyme]], [[Staffordshire]], England. Keele was granted university status by [[Royal Charter]] in 1962 and was founded in 1949 as the '''University College of North Staffordshire'''.<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/thekeeleoralhistoryproject/keeleheraldrycoloursandscarves/|title=Keele's Colours and Badges</ref>
 
'''Keele University''', officially known as the '''University of Keele''',<ref>https://www.keele.ac.uk/discover/ourhistory/</ref> is a [[Public university#United Kingdom|public]] [[research university]] in [[Keele]], approximately 3 miles from [[Newcastle-under-Lyme]], [[Staffordshire]], England. Keele was granted university status by [[Royal Charter]] in 1962 and was founded in 1949 as the '''University College of North Staffordshire'''.<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/thekeeleoralhistoryproject/keeleheraldrycoloursandscarves/|title=Keele's Colours and Badges</ref>
  
Keele occupies a 625-acre rural campus close to the village of Keele and consists of extensive woods, lakes and [[Keele Hall]] set in [[Staffordshire Potteries]]. It has a [[science park]] and a conference centre, making it the largest campus university in the UK. The university's [[Keele University Medical School|School of Medicine]] operates the clinical part of its courses from a separate campus at the [[Royal Stoke University Hospital]]. The School of Nursing and Midwifery is based at the nearby Clinical Education Centre.
+
In [[2021]], Professor [[Christopher Exley]] chose to resign from his tenured post after years of administrative harassment from university leadership, after his scientific work on aluminium toxicity became too dangerous for [[Big Pharma]] university funders.
  
 
===Government funding cuts===
 
===Government funding cuts===
 
[[File:Keele Hall 0791.jpg|thumb|left|Keele Hall]]
 
[[File:Keele Hall 0791.jpg|thumb|left|Keele Hall]]
 +
Keele occupies a 625-acre rural campus close to the village of Keele and consists of extensive woods, lakes and [[Keele Hall]] set in [[Staffordshire Potteries]]. It has a [[science park]] and a conference centre, making it the largest campus university in the UK. The university's [[Keele University Medical School|School of Medicine]] operates the clinical part of its courses from a separate campus at the [[Royal Stoke University Hospital]]. The School of Nursing and Midwifery is based at the nearby Clinical Education Centre.
 +
 
In late 1985, after a series of cuts in university funding, Keele briefly considered merging with North Staffordshire Polytechnic, but negotiations collapsed.<ref>Walker, David 'Proposals Would Merge Britain's University of Keele with nearby Polytechnic of North Staffordshire'; Chronicle of Higher Education, 31, 10 (6 November 1985),39, 42</ref> In September 1983, the Secretary of State, via the UGC, had encouraged the idea, asserting that the most radical way of increasing the size of departments and diminishing their number is by the merger of institutions. At the time, Keele had a population of 2,700 students, compared to 6,000 at the less academically exclusive Polytechnic. [[Edwina Currie]], then Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, remarked, "A university which is now below 3,000 students has got problems. It simply isn't big enough".<ref>Kolbert (2000), p.221.</ref> [[Keele University Science & Business Park]] Ltd (KUSP Ltd) opened in 1987, partly to generate and diversify alternative sources of income.
 
In late 1985, after a series of cuts in university funding, Keele briefly considered merging with North Staffordshire Polytechnic, but negotiations collapsed.<ref>Walker, David 'Proposals Would Merge Britain's University of Keele with nearby Polytechnic of North Staffordshire'; Chronicle of Higher Education, 31, 10 (6 November 1985),39, 42</ref> In September 1983, the Secretary of State, via the UGC, had encouraged the idea, asserting that the most radical way of increasing the size of departments and diminishing their number is by the merger of institutions. At the time, Keele had a population of 2,700 students, compared to 6,000 at the less academically exclusive Polytechnic. [[Edwina Currie]], then Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, remarked, "A university which is now below 3,000 students has got problems. It simply isn't big enough".<ref>Kolbert (2000), p.221.</ref> [[Keele University Science & Business Park]] Ltd (KUSP Ltd) opened in 1987, partly to generate and diversify alternative sources of income.
 
In 1994, the Oswestry and North Staffordshire School of Physiotherapy (ONSSP), which had been a separate institution based at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in [[Oswestry]], [[Shropshire]], merged with Keele University, becoming Keele's Department of Physiotherapy Studies (now School of [[School of Health and Rehabilitation (Keele University)|Health & Rehabilitation]]). It moved to the Keele University campus. In August 1995, Keele University merged with North Staffordshire College of Nursing and Midwifery, forming the new School of Nursing and Midwifery.
 
  
 
In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy when the university decided to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of printed mathematical books, including some which had belonged to and had been heavily annotated by [[Isaac Newton]], in order to fund major improvements to the university library. Senior university officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although the sale was legal, it was unpopular among the academic community, and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1998/dec/23/ameliagentleman</ref>
 
In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy when the university decided to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of printed mathematical books, including some which had belonged to and had been heavily annotated by [[Isaac Newton]], in order to fund major improvements to the university library. Senior university officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although the sale was legal, it was unpopular among the academic community, and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1998/dec/23/ameliagentleman</ref>
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[[Sir David Weatherall]] was named as Chancellor in 2000. In 2001, Keele was awarded an undergraduate medical school in partnership with [[Manchester University]].  Initially, some students from [[School of Medicine, University of Manchester|Manchester Medical School]] began being taught at Keele. Finally [[Keele University Medical School|Keele's own medical school]] opened in 2007 with the first of cohort of students graduating in 2012.  In 2009, the university was awarded a [[Queen's Anniversary Prize]] for Higher and Further Education, for 'pioneering work with the NHS in early intervention and primary care in the treatment of chronic pain and arthritis, linking research to delivery to patients through GP networks and user groups'.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/6595247/University-and-college-awards-the-winners.html</ref> In 2006 the School of Pharmacy was created with the launch of MPharm degree programmes.<ref>https://www.keele.ac.uk/pharmacy/undergraduate/|title=Undergraduate</ref>
 
[[Sir David Weatherall]] was named as Chancellor in 2000. In 2001, Keele was awarded an undergraduate medical school in partnership with [[Manchester University]].  Initially, some students from [[School of Medicine, University of Manchester|Manchester Medical School]] began being taught at Keele. Finally [[Keele University Medical School|Keele's own medical school]] opened in 2007 with the first of cohort of students graduating in 2012.  In 2009, the university was awarded a [[Queen's Anniversary Prize]] for Higher and Further Education, for 'pioneering work with the NHS in early intervention and primary care in the treatment of chronic pain and arthritis, linking research to delivery to patients through GP networks and user groups'.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/6595247/University-and-college-awards-the-winners.html</ref> In 2006 the School of Pharmacy was created with the launch of MPharm degree programmes.<ref>https://www.keele.ac.uk/pharmacy/undergraduate/|title=Undergraduate</ref>
  
In early 2001, to cut costs, the faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences merged.  Due to declining popularity and funding, the German department closed in December 2004<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/dec/29/highereducation.uk1</ref> with the university retaining its physics degree despite the subject facing similar pressures.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/dec/09/highereducation.science|title=Keele plans to drop physics</ref>  Although degrees ceased to be offered in modern languages, a Language Learning Unit was created to provide Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish teaching for Keele students and staff.  This can lead to an enhanced degree title given sufficient electives taken.<ref>https://www.keele.ac.uk/llu/modernlanguages/</ref>
+
==Aluminium Research Group==
 
+
{{FA|Chris Exley}}
==Alumni==
+
From 1992 to 2021, the [[Aluminium Research Group]] was based at the Birchall Centre in Keele University. The Group, led by Professor [[Christopher Exley]], had as its focus Aluminium and Silicon in Biology, <ref>https://www.aluminiumresearchgroup.com/</ref> and  
;Academia and Science
 
* [[Eliathamby Ambikairajah]] – engineer
 
* [[Stan Beckensall]] – expert on prehistoric rock art
 
* Dame [[Sandra Dawson (academic)|Sandra Dawson]] – organisational theorist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Jonathan Dollimore]] – sociologist; cultural and literary theorist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Richard English]] – political historian<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Charles Iain Hamilton]] – historian<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Pradeep Mathur (scientist)|Pradeep Mathur]] – educationalist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Sam Nolutshungu]] – political scientist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[David Richardson (biochemist)|David Richardson]] – Vice-Chancellor of the [[University of East Anglia]]
 
* [[Beverley Skeggs]] – sociologist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* Dame [[Joan Stringer]] – political scientist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[John Thompson (sociologist)|John Thompson]] – sociologist<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
 
 
;Arts and Literature
 
* [[John Abram]] – composer <ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Paul Atterbury]] – writer, antiques expert<ref>http://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/</ref>
 
* [[Tony Barrand]] – anthropologist and folk musician
 
* [[Francis Beckett]] – English author
 
* [[Carol Birch]] – English novelist
 
* [[Joe Beverley]] – English-Canadian writer
 
* [[Peter Child]] – composer
 
* [[Alys Clare]] – novelist
 
* [[Paul Darke]] –  academic, artist and disability rights activist
 
* [[Jem Finer]] – founding member of [[The Pogues]]
 
* [[Janet Fitch]] – author
 
* [[Zulfikar Ghose]] – novelist, poet and essayist
 
* [[Andrew Glover (composer)|Andrew Glover]] – composer
 
* [[Jon Haylett]] – novelist
 
* [[Liz Kessler]] – author
 
  
* [[Marina Lewycka]] – novelist
+
In England, in [[1995]], there were 25 research groups on the dangers of aluminium. In 2019, there was only one, Professor Chris Exley’s team.<ref name=defense/> Exeley's team experienced intensified trouble after a [[2016]] scientific article on the connection between aluminium toxicity and aluminum as [[adjuvants]] in vaccines.<ref name=looking>https://www.thelookingglass.co.nz/how-a-university-its-major-funders-and-a-newspaper-killed-research-into-the-toxicity-of-aluminium-adjuvants-in-vaccines/</ref>
* [[Bernard Lloyd]] – actor
 
* [[Andy McDermott]] – British thriller author
 
* [[Marina Oliver]] – British romance novelist
 
* [[Keith Ovenden]] – English novelist and biographer
 
* [[Adrian Pang]] – Singaporean actor
 
* [[David Pownall]] – playwright and author
 
* [[Andy Quin]] – composer and jazz pianist
 
* [[Ken Rattenbury]] – musician
 
* [[Davide Rossi]] – musician, Goldfrapp; composer
 
* [[Antti Sakari Saario]] – composer, lecturer
 
* [[Peter Whelan]] – playwright
 
  
;Diplomacy
+
In [[2019]], the University suspended the team’s website, which compiled all of their research a site used by the university’s students and provided access to all funding.<ref name=defense>https://childrenshealthdefense.eu/public-health/prof-chris-exley-victim-of-scientific-assassination-says-outraged-french-medical-journalist/</ref> A $15,000 donation from [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr]] was because it might "jeopardise the strong relationships it holds with its existing major funders and partners."<ref>https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/is-pharma-censoring-the-science-at-one-major-university-by-choking-the-money-channel/</ref>
* [[Emran bin Bahar]] – ambassador for Brunei Darussalam
 
* [[David Cooney]] Irish ambassador to the UKhttp://www.keele.ac.uk/alumni/notablekeelites/
 
* [[Stephen Cutts]] – UN Assistant Secretary-General
 
* [[John Duncan (diplomat)|John Duncan]] – diplomat
 
* [[Peter Mond, 4th Baron Melchett]] – patron of [[Prisoners Abroad]]
 
* [[James Moran (diplomat)|Jim Moran]] – EU ambassador
 
* Sir [[Richard Mottram]] – chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee
 
* Dame [[Jo Williams]] – Chief Executive MENCAP
 
* [[Hso Khan Pha]] – Burmese prince also known as ''Tiger''
 
  
;Law
+
In [[2021]], Professor Exley chose to resign from the post after years of administrative harassment from university leadership. Exley claimed that during his last few years at Keele, on more than one occasion senior management attempted "spuriously-founded disciplinary action" against him. "I am sure that if I had remained at Keele as a lame duck professor they would have continued to hunt me down until I left."<ref name=looking/>
* Sir [[Peter Coulson]] – Lord Justice of Appeal, and Deputy Head of Civil Justice <ref>https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/senior-judiciary-list/</ref>
 
* [[Michael Mansfield QC]] – human rights lawyer
 
* [[Malcolm Shaw (academic)|Malcolm Shaw]] – legal scholar
 
* [[John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick]] – Member of the House of Lords and ex-Deputy District Judge
 
* Dame [[Fiona Woolf]] – Lord Mayor of London and ex-President of the Law Society
 
 
 
;Politics
 
* [[Abd Dhiyab al-Ajili]] – Iraqi minister
 
* [[Jack Brereton]] – Conservative MP
 
* [[Phillida Bunkle]] – New Zealand MP
 
* Professor [[John Clancy (Labour politician)|John Clancy]] – Former Leader, Birmingham City Council <ref> https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/26/john-clancy-brexit-uk-cities-world-stage</ref>
 
* [[Paul Clark (politician)|Paul Clark]] – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, MP
 
* [[Ash Denham]] – MSP for Edinburgh Eastern in the Scottish Parliament
 
* [[Don Foster, Baron Foster of Bath]] – ex-Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Development
 
* [[John Golding (British politician)|John Golding]] – politician
 
* [[Eric Joyce]] – Independent MP for Falkirk
 
* [[Claire Kober]] – Labour Council leader for the London Borough of Haringey
 
* [[Alun Michael]] – ex-Labour MP for Cardiff South Penarth and Minister of State for Home Affairs
 
* [[Madeleine Moon]] – Labour MP for Bridgend
 
* [[Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah]] – Namibian politician
 
* [[Priti Patel]] – Conservative MP for Witham in Essex and Home Secretary
 
* [[Clare Short]] – ex-Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood and Secretary of State for International Development
 
* [[Adelaide Tambo]] – anti-apartheid activist South African MP
 
* [[Ian Taylor (British politician)|Ian Taylor]] – politician
 
* Sir [[John Vereker (governor)|John Vereker]] – ex-Permanent Secretary for International Development and Governor of Bermuda
 
* [[Lynda Waltho]] – Labour MP for Stourbridge
 
* [[Gareth Snell]] - Former Labour MP for Stoke on Trent Central
 
 
 
;TV and journalism
 
* [[Phil Avery]] – BBC weather presenter
 
* [[Wayne Clarke (broadcaster)|Wayne Clarke]] – radio presenter
 
* [[Tony Elliott (publisher)|Tony Elliott]], founder of ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]''
 
* [[Jack Emery (director)|Jack Emery]], British director, writer and producer for stage, TV and radio
 
* [[Terry Milewski]] – Canadian broadcaster and journalist
 
* [[Gerry Northam]] – BBC investigative journalist
 
 
 
;Other
 
* [[Kojo Annan]] – businessman; son of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
 
* [[Maggie Atkinson]] – Children's Commissioner, England<
 
* [[Yvette Baker]] – champion orienteer
 
* [[Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate]] – Director of Parliamentary Affairs, Society of Biology
 
*[[Nataliey Bitature]]- social entrepreneur, Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur
 
* [[Robert Cooling]] – Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff
 
* [[David Edwards (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contestant)|David Edwards]] – second person to win ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire?''
 
* [[Jonathan Gledhill]] – Bishop of Lichfield
 
* [[Steve Jackson (UK game designer)|Steve Jackson]] – game designer
 
* [[Peter Moore (business)|Peter Moore]] – business executive
 
* Sir [[Nick Partridge]] – chief executive, Terence Higgins Trust
 
* [[Derek Tidball]] – theologian
 
* Sir [[Chris Woodhead]] – chief inspector of schools
 
}}
 
  
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}

Latest revision as of 01:38, 26 November 2022

Group.png Keele University  
(UniversityWebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Keele University Shield.png
MottoThanke God for All
Formation1949
HeadquartersEngland
TypePublic
UK university which pressured scientist researching aluminium toxicity to quit for fear of offending from big funders.

Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele,[1] is a public research university in Keele, approximately 3 miles from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Keele was granted university status by Royal Charter in 1962 and was founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire.[2]

In 2021, Professor Christopher Exley chose to resign from his tenured post after years of administrative harassment from university leadership, after his scientific work on aluminium toxicity became too dangerous for Big Pharma university funders.

Government funding cuts

Keele Hall

Keele occupies a 625-acre rural campus close to the village of Keele and consists of extensive woods, lakes and Keele Hall set in Staffordshire Potteries. It has a science park and a conference centre, making it the largest campus university in the UK. The university's School of Medicine operates the clinical part of its courses from a separate campus at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. The School of Nursing and Midwifery is based at the nearby Clinical Education Centre.

In late 1985, after a series of cuts in university funding, Keele briefly considered merging with North Staffordshire Polytechnic, but negotiations collapsed.[3] In September 1983, the Secretary of State, via the UGC, had encouraged the idea, asserting that the most radical way of increasing the size of departments and diminishing their number is by the merger of institutions. At the time, Keele had a population of 2,700 students, compared to 6,000 at the less academically exclusive Polytechnic. Edwina Currie, then Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, remarked, "A university which is now below 3,000 students has got problems. It simply isn't big enough".[4] Keele University Science & Business Park Ltd (KUSP Ltd) opened in 1987, partly to generate and diversify alternative sources of income.

In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy when the university decided to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of printed mathematical books, including some which had belonged to and had been heavily annotated by Isaac Newton, in order to fund major improvements to the university library. Senior university officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although the sale was legal, it was unpopular among the academic community, and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.[5]

21st Century Developments

New Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery

Sir David Weatherall was named as Chancellor in 2000. In 2001, Keele was awarded an undergraduate medical school in partnership with Manchester University. Initially, some students from Manchester Medical School began being taught at Keele. Finally Keele's own medical school opened in 2007 with the first of cohort of students graduating in 2012. In 2009, the university was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, for 'pioneering work with the NHS in early intervention and primary care in the treatment of chronic pain and arthritis, linking research to delivery to patients through GP networks and user groups'.[6] In 2006 the School of Pharmacy was created with the launch of MPharm degree programmes.[7]

Aluminium Research Group

Full article: Chris Exley

From 1992 to 2021, the Aluminium Research Group was based at the Birchall Centre in Keele University. The Group, led by Professor Christopher Exley, had as its focus Aluminium and Silicon in Biology, [8] and

In England, in 1995, there were 25 research groups on the dangers of aluminium. In 2019, there was only one, Professor Chris Exley’s team.[9] Exeley's team experienced intensified trouble after a 2016 scientific article on the connection between aluminium toxicity and aluminum as adjuvants in vaccines.[10]

In 2019, the University suspended the team’s website, which compiled all of their research – a site used by the university’s students – and provided access to all funding.[9] A $15,000 donation from Robert F. Kennedy Jr was because it might "jeopardise the strong relationships it holds with its existing major funders and partners."[11]

In 2021, Professor Exley chose to resign from the post after years of administrative harassment from university leadership. Exley claimed that during his last few years at Keele, on more than one occasion senior management attempted "spuriously-founded disciplinary action" against him. "I am sure that if I had remained at Keele as a lame duck professor they would have continued to hunt me down until I left."[10]


 

Employees on Wikispooks

EmployeeJobAppointedEndDescription
Chris ExleyAcademic19842021Pressured out by university management because of his research into the toxicity of aluminium
Jonathon PorritChancellor9 February 2012June 2022
Robbie SuttonAcademicNovember 2001July 2005

 

Alumni on Wikispooks

PersonBornNationalitySummaryDescription
Richard English1963Historian
Richard Mottram23 April 1946Spook
Civil servant
A former Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator
Priti Patel29 March 1972Politician
Ashten Regan8 March 1974
Malcolm Shaw1947Author
Academic
Lawyer
Editor
Can the US and Israel stitch up the genocide hearing at the International Court of Justice?<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a>
Gareth Snell
Fiona Woolf11 May 1948UKLawyer
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References