Title: ‘Let it be rational’. Rethinking Higher Education in the Modern World

Speaker: Professor David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Time: Light refreshments will be served from 6.00pm and the lecture will begin at 7.00pm

Venue: Faraday Lecture Theatre, Swansea University

Admission: Admission is free. Please confirm if you are able to attend the lecture by contacting Liz Shouaib on 01792 602850, or email: liz.shouaib@swansea.ac.uk.

This lecture will be delivered in the English language.

Speaker information: Professor David Eastwood became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham in April 2009. Previously, he was Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), a post he had held since September 2006. Former posts also included Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, and Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Board.

Professor Eastwood held a chair in Modern History at Swansea University, where he was also a Head of Department, Dean, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor. While at Swansea he co-founded the National Centre for Public Policy.

Full profile here.

­Event information: James Callaghan (1912 to 2005), who was British Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979, was President of Swansea University from 1986 to 1995. He became an Honorary Fellow of the University in 1992.

The James Callaghan Lecture Series was established on the occasion of the University's 75th anniversary in 1995 and to commemorate the Presidency of The Right Honourable Lord Callaghan of Cardiff.

In October 1996, Lord Callaghan returned to Swansea University to open the campus building named in his honour. The building fittingly reflects Lord Callaghan's working life, as it houses (amongst others) the departments of Politics and International Relations, and History.

Previous speakers in the series include the Right Honourable the Lord Heseltine CH, PC; Professor The Lord Kenneth Morgan, Labour peer and distinguished Oxford historian; George Abbey, former Director of the Johnson Space Center and the man who helped shape America’s space programme over three decades; Former Archbishop of Canterbury, The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Lord Williams of Oystermouth; and Former Archbishop of Canterbury, The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Lord Carey of Clifton.

Image of Professor David Eastwood courtesy of the University of Birmingham.