Harper Adams University - Campus Tour Guide

22 23 Making a difference then... andnow Ecosystems are irreversibly damaged; continent-size quantities of topsoil are beyond repair and current food resource will struggle to sustain life past 2050*. Inaction is no longer an option. Here at Harper Adams University, we are daring to take on these global challenges – and we are succeeding. Our mission is to advance knowledge, inspire and equip learners to deliver real change, building a sustainable future for our living planet. The scale of the challenges facing us demands that we must prepare our students to put what they learn into practise, to make a real, tangible difference today and in the future. We embrace new agendas, forge technological innovations, solve often insurmountable problems, all while delivering the best talent and brightest minds into the sectors we support. We do not take on these challenges lightly. More than a century’s worth of expertise has paved the way for a more confident Harper Adams; one defined by innovation, transformation, and a drive for difference. We have always been more than just a university; we are a conscious community of every curious mind, world shaper and impact seeker that has emboldened us since 1901. We so effectively deliver the difference the planet desperately needs, because of this collaboration and synthesis between our past and our future, institution and community, the known and the only dreamed of. Together, we make the difference. *United Nations Our planet is at breaking point Together, we make the difference Harper Adams is the University for food production, animal health and sustainable living environments. 1901 2008 1987 2021 1981 2020 2006 2022 1952 2017 1939-45 2016 1915 2012 1937 2013 After Thomas Harper Adams bequeaths his estate to the pursuit of agricultural education in 1892; Harper Adams College officially opens, welcoming its first six students. Harper Adams receives a Times Higher Education award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development after reducing food miles to food meters using the University Farm. Then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, opens the engineering Soil Hall – one of the largest covered soil halls in Europe and a first for agricultural education in the UK. Harper Adams launches the School of Sustainable Food and Farming alongside partners – an initiative that aims to inspire current and future farmers to achieve net zero.   Harper Adams is ranked number 1 in the world for employer reputation in Agriculture and Forestry by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Degree courses are first introduced, and with it, Harper Adams becomes one of the earliest providers of a BSc sandwich degree.  Harper Adams welcomes its first student intake to a new joint veterinary school with Keele University.   Harper Adams secures the power to award research degrees. The first National and College Diploma in Agricultural Engineering was offered at Harper Adams. The course was opened in the autumn of 1952 with 11 students.   The University is named Modern University of the Year in The Times Good University Guide 2016, securing the top ranking among the UK’s modern universities for six years running. Throughout the SecondWorldWar, Harper Adams remains open – for both study and to strengthen the country’s agricultural war effort; including training the Women’s Land Army from 1939 to 1944.  Work begins on the Hands-Free Hectare – within a year it completes the world’s first autonomous cropping cycle. In 2019, the project expands, autonomously growing and harvesting a full 35 hectares.  During the First WorldWar, Harper Adams becomes the first institution to provide courses for women in war time farmwork. Harper Adams is awarded university title by the Privy Council. This makes it Shropshire’s first university.   Limited experiments on the Harper Adams College farm leads to the Government’s Land Fertility Scheme.  Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal is installed as the University’s inaugural Chancellor.