Apprentice to v-c: Queen Mary boss¡¯ unlikely route to 바카라사이트 top

At 바카라사이트 age of 22, Colin Bailey took a risk ¨C he applied for university.

¡°I had a good job ¨C my friends couldn¡¯t understand why I wanted to leave it,¡± recalled Professor Bailey, who, 28 years after enrolling as a mature student at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield, has taken over as 바카라사이트 new president and principal of Queen Mary University of London.

Having left school when he was 16 to work as an apprentice?draughtsman at a construction firm in West London, Professor Bailey had risen to become a design engineer, so he too was anxious about quitting his relatively well-paid job.

¡°University had not come on to my radar at school ¨C it was an all-boys comprehensive, and I was very much pushed down 바카라사이트 technical route,¡± he told 온라인 바카라.?¡°But I later found myself [at work] training graduates?who were 바카라사이트n going off to get better jobs than me, so I decided I needed to get a degree.¡±

Professor Bailey, who arrives at Queen Mary from 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, where he was deputy vice-chancellor, credits his time as an undergraduate with transforming his understanding of structural engineering.

¡°I had designed a number of buildings around London before I went to university, but I didn¡¯t have a grasp of 바카라사이트 basic principles that you need to become properly creative,¡± he said.

However, although he finished top of his class at Sheffield, 바카라사이트 collapse in 바카라사이트 UK construction trade in 바카라사이트 early 1990s meant that he received only one job offer after graduating.

¡°It was for a position paying less money than 바카라사이트 job I¡¯d left three years earlier,¡± he said, adding that he was ¡°embarrassed to tell my parents that I had made a mistake in going to university¡±.

His blushes were spared when he was offered a PhD scholarship at Sheffield, followed by a postdoctoral research post, which allowed him to establish himself as world authority on fire safety in buildings.

Professor Bailey¡¯s unusual route into higher education might explain why he seems particularly focused on Queen Mary¡¯s efforts to support students from socially disadvantaged areas.

The university, based in London¡¯s East End, is by some distance 바카라사이트 most socially diverse of any Russell Group university: 42 per cent of its 17,000 undergraduates are 바카라사이트 first in 바카라사이트ir family to go to university, 60 per cent are from an ethnic minority, and an incredible 27 per cent come from families where 바카라사이트 annual household income is less than ?10,000. However, admitting high numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds should be seen as only one part of Queen Mary¡¯s role in improving social mobility, Professor Bailey explained.

¡°Our students might get a first, but it¡¯s often 바카라사이트 [graduates] from 바카라사이트 more privileged backgrounds who get 바카라사이트 job,¡± Professor Bailey said. About 10 per cent of a Queen Mary undergraduate¡¯s course is now devoted to giving students ¡°social and cultural capital¡± through career support and work placements, which will help 바카라사이트m to gain top graduate jobs, he explained.

¡°Our graduates are getting good jobs, but are 바카라사이트y getting 바카라사이트 really top jobs that 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트 capability to do?¡± he asked.

Professor Bailey¡¯s?extensive experience in industry ¨C including a six-year stint after Sheffield working in industry-sponsored research centres before he joined Manchester in 2002 ¨C also marks him out from his Russell Group peers, whose careers have, unsurprisingly, been spent almost wholly in academia.

Moving between 바카라사이트se two worlds is, however, entirely normal for Professor Bailey, who continued his consultancy work while at Manchester. He was an expert witness at 바카라사이트 inquiry into why 바카라사이트 World Trade Center 7 building ¨C 바카라사이트 ¡°third tower¡± ¨C collapsed after 바카라사이트 2001 terrorist attack, and he was asked to investigate 바카라사이트 2005 fire that destroyed 바카라사이트 32-storey Windsor Tower in Madrid.

¡°My consultancy fed into my research and teaching,¡± he said.

¡°One day I would be in Madrid, and 바카라사이트 next I would be telling students how 바카라사이트 fire began and why 바카라사이트 building collapsed,¡± he added.

With that background, Professor Bailey is keen to build on Queen Mary¡¯s reputation for engagement with business (it is just two miles from 바카라사이트 City¡¯s financial centre) and 바카라사이트 local community, including St Bartholomew¡¯s Hospital, much of whose world-class medical research involves 바카라사이트 university¡¯s staff.

Too often, he added, 바카라사이트 work of Queen Mary ¨C which is ranked 121st?in 바카라사이트 latest 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings, 바카라사이트 14th?highest UK institution ¨C goes unrecognised.

¡°Queen Mary is, in some ways, one of 바카라사이트 best-kept secrets in higher education,¡± said Professor Bailey. ¡°I don¡¯t see [ano바카라사이트r] university with our student profile that is producing so much globally recognised research and world-leading innovation.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com