 |
The Watt Club is the alumni association of Heriot-Watt University and the oldest association of its kind in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1854, today the Club has over 82,000 members worldwide. [1]
| |
The Watt Club is the alumni association of Heriot-Watt University and the oldest association of its kind in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1854, today the Club has over 82,000 members worldwide. [1]
The Watt Club was founded on 12 May 1854 following the unveiling of a statue of James Watt outside the Watt Institution and School of Arts (later Heriot-Watt University). At a late-night event to celebrate the occasion, [2] Edinburgh Jeweller John E. Vernon argued for the formation of an organisation that would celebrate Watt's life, stating:
"[a club should be formed] whose object would be to sup together on the anniversary of the birth of James Watt…and also to promote the interests of the School, by raising a fund each year to provide prizes." [3] : 144–145
A club was subsequently formed with Vernon as its first President, [4] and proceeded to hold its first dinner in celebration of Watt's birthday on 20 January 1855. Such dinners remained popular for several years, with the status of members increasing as the organisation's notoriety grew.
Membership of the Watt Club began to decline in the 1880s, however, and in 1910 the organisation officially ceased to exist. It remained defunct until 1935, when a request from the Science Museum to borrow one of its old medals from Heriot-Watt College led to renewed interest in the organisation. The Club was subsequently reconstituted on 28 November of that year.
After Heriot-Watt became a university in 1966, the Watt Club allowed graduates to become members free of charge. Following this the roles of the Club and the Graduates' Association of the University became increasingly similar, and the two bodies ultimately merged in 1994. As a result, the Club became the official alumni association of the University, a position it has held ever since. [5]
Students of Heriot-Watt automatically become life members of the Watt Club upon graduation from the University. Members are entitled to vote in the Club's elections, attend its annual meetings and receive a variety of additional benefits. In particular, they have access to the organisation's local branches around the world and ambassadors on four continents. [6]
The Club elects a president every two years who chairs the organisation's annual meetings, represents the views of members to the senior management of Heriot-Watt and takes part in various ceremonial functions. The Club also appoints a vice-president to act in the role when the president is unable to do so., [4] and has a Council of up to 20 members which seeks to further the organisation's aims and objectives. [7]
Each year, the Watt Club gives awards to Heriot-Watt students whose work is considered of outstanding merit:
Yasmin Schembri was awarded the Watt Club Medal for Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society in 2022.
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name. The first classes were held on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students. It has been ranked as among the best public universities in the United States by major institutional rankings, and is renowned for its engineering program.
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Episcopal Church.
The University of Warwick is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand higher education. The Warwick Business School was established in 1967, the Warwick Law School in 1968, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) in 1980, and Warwick Medical School in 2000. Warwick incorporated Coventry College of Education in 1979 and Horticulture Research International in 2004.
The Association of MBAs (AMBA) is a global organisation founded in 1967 which focuses primarily on international business school accreditation and membership.
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) is an engineering institute located in Chromepet, Chennai, India. It is one of the four autonomous constituent colleges of Anna University. It was established in 1949 by Chinnaswami Rajam as the first self-financing engineering institute in the country and later merged with Anna University. The institute was among the first educational institutions in India to offer new areas of specialization such as aeronautical engineering, automobile engineering, electronics engineering and instrumentation technology. MIT was the first self-financing institute opened in India.
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican monks, and the College Hall is built on the foundations of the monastery's nave. Emmanuel is one of the 16 "old colleges", which were founded before the 17th century.
The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washington, mother of the first president of the United States, George Washington. The General Assembly of Virginia changed the college's name to the University of Mary Washington in 2004 to reflect the addition of graduate and professional programs to the central undergraduate curriculum, as well as the establishment of more than one campus.
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is a technical university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.
Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) is a state funded college located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, and one of the oldest engineering colleges in Asia. Founded in 1887 and formerly known as the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, it adopted its present name on 26 January 1997. VJTI is an academically and administratively autonomous institute, but it is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. The institute is financially supported by the Government of Maharashtra.
Heriot-Watt University is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institute in the UK. The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.
Van Mildert College is a college of Durham University in England. Founded in 1965, it takes its name from William Van Mildert, Prince-Bishop of Durham from 1826 to 1836 and a leading figure in the University's 1832 foundation. Originally an all-male college, it became co-educational in 1972 with the admission of female undergraduates.
Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine, and was formed by the merger of several historic medical schools, with core campuses at South Kensington, St Mary's, Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Chelsea and Westminster. The school ranked 3rd in the world for medicine in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Newman College is an Australian Roman Catholic co-educational residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. During the university year it houses about 220 undergraduate students and about 80 postgraduate students and tutors. The college was named after John Henry Newman, a former Anglican and major figure in the Oxford Movement who became a Roman Catholic in the 19th century. Although most strongly affiliated with the University of Melbourne, a small number of undergraduate students attend RMIT University, Monash University's Parkville and City campuses, and the Australian Catholic University.
Edinburgh Business School (EBS) is the Graduate School of Business of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. Heriot-Watt University awards degrees by Royal Charter. Heriot-Watt University was ranked as the 3rd best British university to study Economics by Business Insider in 2017, and featured in the Academic Ranking of World Universities Top 200 to study Finance and in the QS World University Rankings Top 200 to study Statistics & Operational Research. There are currently over 11,850 active students studying Edinburgh Business School programmes and more than 19,200 graduates across 165 countries worldwide.
A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other British universities and at some universities in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus is a satellite campus of Heriot-Watt University based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Established in 2005, it was the first campus of an overseas university to open in Dubai International Academic City.
A common room is a group into which students and the academic body are organised in some universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland—particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the University of Bristol, King's College London, University of Dublin, Durham University, University of York, University of Kent and Lancaster University. At some Cambridge colleges, it is called a combination room. This terminology has, in addition, been taken up in some universities in other English-speaking nations. The terms JCR, MCR, and SCR are used by Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Toronto.
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most prestigious, currently ranked second best in the world and the best in Europe by QS World University Rankings. Among the university's most notable alumni are 11 Fields Medalists, seven Turing Award winners, 47 heads of state, 14 British prime ministers, 194 Olympic medal-winning athletes, and some of world history's most transformational and iconic figures across disciplines, including Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, John Milton, Vladimir Nabokov, Jawaharlal Nehru, Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, Manmohan Singh, Alan Turing, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and others. Cambridge alumni and faculty have won 121 Nobel Prizes, the most of any university in the world, according to the university.
Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union (ICSMSU) is the students' union of the Imperial College School of Medicine. It is charged with representing and advocating for the educational, pastoral, social and extracurricular needs of all the undergraduate students within the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London, and is a constituent union of Imperial College Union.