Bradford Uni at 60: Peace Studies, protests and Pink Floyd

In the 1960s, Britain's higher education sector underwent a revolution as the number of universities more than doubled and access to degree courses was widened - and as part of that revolution, the University of Bradford, which is now celebrating its 60th anniversary, was founded.

Before it became one of the new so-called "plate glass" universities that were symbols of a time of social mobility, the institution had been a technical college and had its roots in the education of textile workers in Bradford's many mills.

But, in 1966, the year England famously won the World Cup, the University of Bradford opened its doors for the first time, with Prime Minister Harold Wilson as its chancellor.

It went on to see the founding of the first ever School of Peace Studies in 1974; it was the jumping off point for future politicians such as Gavin Williamson, Clive Lewis and Michael Meadowcroft; and Felicia Hwang Yi Xin studied there before going on to become Miss International Indonesia in 2016.

As well as Wilson, the University of Bradford has seen a host of other famous names fill the post of chancellor, including Pakistani ex-prime minister Imran Khan, while its students have taken part in protests against the National Front in the 1970s; won a famous victory in TV's University Challenge in 1979; and got the chance to see memorable musical performances by Pink Floyd in 1971 and Nirvana in 1991.

Eight years after the university was founded, Tom Woodhouse, Emeritus Professor of the School of Social Sciences, became one of the founding members of its peace studies department in 1974 – the first of its kind in the world.

"I was a spritely and naive 24. I had no idea what peace studies was, but most academics didn't at that time," he smiles.

"It was very exciting. It was a real challenge because there was quite a lot of scepticism about the credibility about studying peace."

But what made Bradford different was that it was a relatively new university and "very keen on establishing progressive degree programmes", Woodhouse says.

"They decided there should be a peace studies department in a British university, partly because King's College London had a war studies department.

"And, being progressive, Bradford decided it would take the offer from the Quakers to establish a chair in peace studies, and that's really why it came to Bradford."

Adam Curle, the department's first professor, who established the programme in Bradford, was a Quaker who had led a research centre at Harvard University in the US.

"People at the time thought it was rather odd move to go from Harvard to Bradford, but he did," says Woodhouse.

"Bradford is distinctive for that and for having continued to specialise in that area globally from the last 52 years, which is quite a claim that we're proud of."

Keith Long remembers his time at the University of Bradford in the early 1970s for different reasons.

As an 18-year-old from Newcastle, he came to Bradford in 1971 - the same year the legendary Pink Floyd played a gig at the university - to start a four-year sandwich course in pharmacy.

Long remembers the city of Bradford as a diverse place that opened his eyes to the world.

"I enjoyed meeting people from all over the place because it was fairly cosmopolitan, which was very nice," he says.

While studying, he lived in the all-male Revis Barber Hall on Laisteridge Lane, while the women were across the road at Dennis Bellamy Hall, he remembers.

More than 50 years later – and after running his own pharmacy near Bournemouth - Long has maintained his connection with the university.

In 2022, he donated money to its pharmacy department to improve access.

Another ex-student, filmmaker Pratibha Parmar, was the first person in her family to go to university, which she says was "a huge milestone".

Now, Parmar is a feminist documentary maker who featured in the BBC's 100 Women in 2016 and has won awards for LGBT filmmaking, but she says that in 1974 she was a "guinea pig" on the university's first human purposes and communications course.

Parmar says that living in Bradford, "I got politicised about being an immigrant".

"I never saw myself as an immigrant, but that's kind of where the fascists, the National Front, used to march through Bradford," she explains.

"I became very active in the anti-racist, anti-fascist committee within the university.

"Bradford really was a catalyst for so many of my interests and helping me to find my own voice and who I am in the world and who I was in the world."

When Wilson, himself from nearby Huddersfield, opened the University of Bradford, he said it was set up with with open access in mind, which allowed people from working class backgrounds to get university educations.

Wilson was later followed as chancellor by Pakistani cricketer and politician Khan and now BBC journalist Anita Rani.

At this summer's graduation ceremony, Bradford-born Rani spoke about being the first woman in her family to go to university.

"Educate a woman and you don't just change her future, you change the future of the generations that follow," she said.

"And the fact Bradford is consistently ranked number one in England for social mobility? Come on. That's something to shout about."

According to the Higher Education Policy Institute, the University of Bradford has topped England's Social Mobility ranking for five years in a row.

The index, compiled by London South Bank University, ranks universities based on the number of socio-economically disadvantaged graduates and "the social distance they travel".

That outlook has had an impact on the city, with the university hosting a variety of research departments connected to local business and industry.

Supermarket chain Morrisons, which has its roots in Bradford, has sponsored a degree programme at the university, and earlier this month the university announced a Yorkshire Robotics Hub to help manufacturers adopt automation.

For Prof Sherif El-Khamisy, the university's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Global Engagement, civic engagement is one of the university's key responsibilities.

"One of the university's main missions, as a civic organisation, is a responsibility to the community, society and the region," he says,

Speaking about the robotics hub, Prof El-Khamisy says "direct access" to local businesses benefits both the city and the university.

"It will allow the university to fulfil that civic mission more efficiently and more robustly by having direct access to local companies and upskilling the workforce."

Prof Phil Coates, one the university's leading experts in engineering, claims the title of the institution's longest-serving academic, with 48 years under his belt at the University of Bradford.

He joined as a temporary lecturer in 1978 and has never left.

"I turned down all sorts of places like Oxford, jobs in industry, that would have tripled my salary," he says.

"One reason was because I had established in Bradford a particular research laboratory, which was quite substantial."

As part of that work, Coates has built strong relationships with industry and academics across the globe - especially in China.

In 2018, Coates was presented with China's top scientific award for overseas academics by President Xi Jinping.

"It was astounding. It was very honouring," he says.

"We've created a community, we've created something that feels more like a family of leading researchers, and we've done enormous amounts together."

He says while the University of Bradford and the city have changed over the years, one thing that has not is the "spirit".

"The really friendly spirit in Bradford is something that is quite difficult to replicate in bigger institutions," he says.

"I have a mantra to value people - and I think the university has been that sort of place for many people."

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