News archive 2006

Archbishop of Canterbury visits King's

8 May 2006, PR56/06

The Archbishop of Canterbury, and King's College London Visitor, Dr Rowan Williams, has spent today (Monday 8 May) at the College visiting the Guy's and Strand Campuses, meeting staff and students as well as attending services in the chapels on both campuses.

Dr Williams, who was elected Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002 having previously held the post of Archbishop of Wales, has been College Visitor since then, succeeding Dr George Carey.

The first part of the Archbishop's tour began at Guy's Campus where he was met by the Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, and the Dean of King's College, the Revd Dr Richard Burridge.

Dr Williams was first shown the Gordon Museum, which has a large and growing collection of approximately 8,000 pathological specimens together with a number of important historic collections. A visit to the Wolfson Building followed where he saw at first hand the work being undertaken in the area of stem cell research - an area in which King's is a world leader.

The tour proceeded to Guy's Chapel where Dr Williams met the Guy's Chaplain, James Buxton. The historic Guy's Hospital Chapel is a beautiful eighteenth century building which houses the tomb of Thomas Guy. It is also the resting place of Sir Astley Cooper, eminent 19th century surgeon and scientist, as well as other figures connected with Guy's.

The tour culminated with lunch where Dr Williams had the opportunity to meet students and staff from the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical & Health Sciences.

Strand tour

After lunch Dr Williams went to King's College London Students' Union in the Macadam Building on the Strand Campus. There he met members of the Students' Union, where they discussed issues of concern, including student debt and finances.

The Principal and the Dean then escorted Dr Williams on a tour of the newly refurbished South Range of the King's Building before having tea with staff and students.

In a short address to the assembled guests, Dr Williams said that he had enjoyed a very happy and memorable day at King's, and was pleased to have been able to meet so many staff and students from whom he had learnt a huge amount.

The Archbishop then preached at service in the Strand Chapel which was attended by Senior Officers and members of the College.

The College Chapel at the Strand is seen by many as the spiritual heart of the College. It is a focus for Christian worship at the Strand as well as a place of peace in a busy College. Designed by George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s, the Chapel has recently undergone a £1 million refurbishment.

The Dean commented: 'King's College London was founded by the then Archbishop of Canterbury in 1829 and we are proud of our continuing relationship with the Church of England and Lambeth Palace. We were delighted to welcome Dr Williams here today in his capacity as College Visitor and world class academic, and do all we can to support him in his important international role.'

Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduate students and nearly 5,600 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine and the sciences, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to four Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £100 million, and has an annual turnover of more than £363 million.

Further information
Public Relations Department, King's College London
Tel: 020 7848 3202 Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk

 

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