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of Westminster
Location: University of Westminster, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom (51°31′01.20″N 0°08′34.70″W)
University of Westminster:
The University of Westminster (informally Westminster) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its antecedent institution, the Royal Polytechnic, was founded in 1838 and was the first polytechnic to open in the UK. Westminster was awarded university status in 1992.
The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent Street in the Westminster area of central London, with additional campuses in the Fitzrovia, Marylebone and Harrow areas of London. The university also operates the Westminster International University in Tashkent in Uzbekistan and a satellite campus in Paris, France through the Diplomatic Academy of London.
Westminster's academic activities are organised into seven schools, within which there are around 45 departments and 65 research centres. Westminster had a total income of £164.6 million in 2010/11, of which £5.5 million was from research grants and contracts.
Westminster is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Association of MBAs, EFMD, the European University Association and Universities UK.
History of University of Westminster
The Royal Polytechnic Institution opened in August 1838 to provide (in the words of its prospectus of 1837) "an institution where the Public, at little expense, may acquire practical knowledge of the various arts and branches of science connected with manufacturers, mining Operations and rural economy". The founding of the Polytechnic was in reaction to the rise of the famous Polytechnic type education in continental Europe specifically Germany Fachhochschule, and France École Polytechnique and the USA Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Sir George Cayley (1773–1857), the "father of aeronautical engineering", was the first chairman and the Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in August 1839. The Polytechnic housed a large exhibition hall, lecture theatre and laboratories, and public attractions included working machines and models, scientific lectures, rides in a diving bell and, from 1839, demonstrations of photography. Prince Albert visited the Polytechnic in 1840, when he descended into a diving tank, and became a patron in 1841. The first public photographic portrait studio in Europe opened on the roof of the Polytechnic in 1841.
The Polytechnic had begun life as a permanent exhibition of scientific gadgets and contrivances which also gave lantern-slide lectures and ran evening classes in practical science. John Henry "Professor" Pepper, who became a director in the early 1850s, helped to establish a series of evening classes in educational and trade subjects, and the Polytechnic organised an educational programme around the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Expansion gradually gave way to financial difficulty, reflecting a long-standing tension between education and the need for profit. A fatal accident on the premises in 1859 caused the first company to be wound up and a new one formed. Various regeneration schemes were considered, but in 1879 a fire damaged the roof, precipitating the final crisis.
