Rutherford's Ladder: v. 1

"Rutherford's Ladder: The Making of Northumbria University, 1871-1996" is the story of one of the largest universities in Britain and the academic institutions from which it was created. It is aimed at those who have a professional interest in higher education - as students, researchers or teachers; and those who are interested in the way in which higher education institutions have developed in recent times. The influences - personal, political and policy - which come to bear on that development are also explored. The narrative is not only informative but also entertaining and accessible to the general reader. Rutherford's Ladder reflects the important contribution that a group of colleges in the North East of England, each with their distinctive histories and cultures, grew to become a major Polytechnic and then the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, to give it the formal title it adopted in 1992. Northumbria University and its predecessor institutions have never been bounded solely by the region of which it is proud to be a significant influence, and in which it has firm roots. Its current position is that of a mature, innovatory university, with a vision of its future as one of the world's leading teaching and learning universities. In its journey to this position, Northumbria University has affected, and been affected by, national and international developments in nineteenth, twentieth and now twenty-first century higher education. Within the UK, the context has been of responsiveness to continuous, ever-accelerating and radical change in the external policy environment. The book will be a standard work, circulating for many years to come.