A Pro-Vice Chancellor, Provost and CEO, of the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus (UNNC) has been formally appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace.
Professor Chris Rudd attended the investiture ceremony today (Friday 18 May 2018) after being named in the New Year Honours list.
He was joined by his family for the ceremony which was conducted by HRH Prince Charles.
He said: “The investiture at Buckingham Palace was one of those very memorable days which could only happen in the UK. With the Royal Wedding weekend looming London was super busy with road closures and huge crowds lining the palace railings. It felt very privileged to show my pass and enter the gate, to the envy of the large crowds.
“The ceremony itself, for someone used to several graduation events was very special. Impeccably delivered with all of the trappings of a state occasion. A lot of awards to a wide cross section of UK citizens but never hurried. The Prince spoke knowledgeably of Nottingham’s overseas operations and warmly reflected on his recent visit to the University of Nottingham Malaysia. He congratulated us on the University spirit of enterprise! I naturally encouraged him to continue collecting Nottingham campuses with a visit to Ningbo.
“As we left the ballroom it was delightful to be approached by a member of the investiture team to thank me for the wonderful time her son had reading for his masters at the University of Nottingham, which included a semester at our partners the Fudan University in Shanghai. Truly a small world...”
Professor Rudd’s appointment recognises his services to Higher Education and Sino-British Cooperation.Alongside his international reputation as a material scientist, he has led UNNC as Provost since 2015.
His academic success came through developing patented lightweight structures and synthetic bone replacements. He has also played an integral role in furthering both Nottingham and the UK’s relationship with China.
His leadership of UNNC has been recognised through numerous British and international awards and he is a board member of the China-Britain Business Council. Since becoming Provost at UNNC, the first Sino/foreign university partnership in China, he has led on enhancing the quality of both research performance and student outcomes.
He played a pivotal role in securing significant investment from Ningbo Municipal Government, Zhejiang Provincial Government, and business in wide-ranging initiatives driving growth and development of UNNC and the visibility of UK Higher Education in China more broadly.
Outside his leadership role, he has devoted significant time to fundraising both in the UK—where he has been a notable member of a team raising over £2m through cycling challenges for charitable causes and in China – where he has led fundraising initiatives for a new library at UNNC, an innovation fellowship and a scheme to recruit international scholars to the university.
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Notes to editors:
The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.
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