Remarkably, Lancaster was able to identify alumni from over half the world’s 193 nations after only twenty years from its foundation; just one more example of an institution that has achieved outstanding and often understated success in its first sixty years. It is interesting to reflect on a period of the university’s history that began with its roots in the continuing post-war redevelopment of the late 50s and early 60s and now extends its influence and its alumni across every profession and in every corner of the land and the world in a complex new millennium.

We began very modestly, of course, with the first 330 students located at St Leonard’s House in central Lancaster, lectures in the Grand and socialising at the Shakespeare, and a strong culture of innovation and radical enthusiasm. Our first graduation ceremony, at the Ashton Hall, took place in December 1965 when small groups of business and science postgraduates from Bowland and Lonsdale colleges received their degrees from Princess Alexandra and the academic procession would have been seen walking between St Leonard’s House and the Town Hall. By 1973 we had achieved the modest total of 5842 alumni, from across 74 nations; members of our first four colleges and mostly located at Bailrigg from 1968 onwards.

By 1983 we had added another 16.771 graduates, including some from 111 countries, but these were anxious years, dominated by the straitjacket of the Thatcher cut backs when she first formed a government. Student numbers actually fell for a time, and capital works investment came to a standstill. A further graduating cohort of 22,083 from 1984 to 1993, including those from 118 countries, highlights the recovery from these constraints to a period of rapid growth and rising research reputation under our third vice-chancellor, Harry Hanham.

Despite the retrenchment that resulted from an extensive and essential capital programme and consequential cash flow difficulties during the first part of the 1994 to 2003 decade, the University was pleased to see another 39.000 graduates, involving 153 countries, take on the world outside and make it their own. We also launched the major re-development of the colleges, beginning with the second attempt to provide adequately for postgraduate members of the Graduate College, continuing the move to Alexandra Park of Lonsdale and Cartmel colleges, and completing the expansion of the remaining six undergraduate colleges. The demolition of Grizedale College into a neat pile of blond bricks, and the building of its townhouses, completed a ten-year project.

The Lancaster of the new millennium was more self-confident and better placed to take on global challenges, riding its way up league tables and resisting efforts by others to push it down. During 2004 to 2013 there were 48,337 Lancaster graduates. involving 170 countries, an eight-fold increase from the first decade. That number will be comfortably exceeded when the full figures for the sixth decade are known.

Many elements have to come right simultaneously to make for a leading and internationally significant institution: high quality and well-motivated staff, sound and imaginative leadership, well-respected and self-critical management, excellent facilities and strong self-belief and determination. Looking back at all but four of those sixty years, I often reflect on the consequences of the cumulative decision-making, each step building on or mitigating earlier moves, that have shaped the university. I see an institution that, while never without blemishes, was fortunate to have most of these features in place most of the time.

Importantly, the primary task of shaping the best student experience possible, including through the colleges, must be a powerful contribution to the many stories we receive of our graduates’ successes. Behind the rhetoric of degree days -- staff watching people whose destinies they have helped to shape walk across the platform and set off for new lives -- are the sorrows and joys of Lancaster and memories that will never dim. In seeking some perspective on the university’s development in its first six decades, our alumni feature amongst our proudest achievements. We salute you all!

Marion McClintock - Honorary Archivist and Honorary Fellow (May 2024)