HE Minister speaks at Foundation Dinner

Birkbeck welcomed David Lammy, MP for Tottenham and Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, as guest speaker at its Foundation Dinner on Tuesday 1 December.

This annual celebration marks the College's foundation in 1823 in honour of Birkbeck's founder, Dr George Birkbeck. It was hosted by the Master, Professor David Latchman, and attended by the President, Emeritus Professor Eric Hobsbawm, as well as Governors and friends.

The Minister spoke of the value and importance of part time education and Birkbeck’s role in this.  He also paid tribute to the ventures in Stratford and Tottenham and how they illustrated the continuation of the Birkbeck mission by offering quality provision in areas with traditionally low participation in higher education.

Guests included Prof Paul Brickell (Newham Councillor), Prof Sir Richard Brook (The Leverhulme Trust), Nicola Dandridge (Universities UK), Mr David Dangoor and Dr Judy Dangoor (The Exilarch's Foundation), Rt Hon Frank Dobson MP, Paul Head (College of North East London), Liam Kane (East London Business Alliance), Sir Peter Lampl (Sutton Trust), Denis MacShane MP, Prof Sir David Melville (Lifelong Learning UK), John Middleton (Thames Gateway Development Corp.), Stephen O'Brien CBE, Trevor Pears (The Pears Foundation), Paul Ramsbottom (Wolfson Foundation), Judith Rutherford (London Skills and Employment Board), Baroness Sharp of Guildford (Birkbeck Fellow), Anthony Spiro (Wiener Library), David Waller (GLG Partners), Trevor Williams (Lloyds TSB Corporate).

The event is held as near as possible to 2 December, when in 1823 Dr Birkbeck launched London's Mechanics' Institution (which became Birkbeck College) at the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the Strand, dedicated to the education of working people.

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