When was the University of Kent founded?
The University of Kent was founded by royal charter on the 4th of January 1965. The first group of 500 students arrived on campus on the 11th of October 1965.
Questions about University of Kent
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Which Nobel Prize winners graduated from the University of Kent?
Two University of Kent alumni have won the Nobel Prize in Literature: Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, who studied English and Philosophy and graduated in 1978, received the prize in 2017; and Abdulrazak Gurnah, who completed a PhD in 1982, received the prize in 2021.
Why did the University of Kent at Canterbury change its name?
The university changed its name to the University of Kent on the 1st of April 2003, following its expansion beyond Canterbury to campuses in Medway, Tonbridge and Brussels. The original name had also been partly chosen because the Canterbury campus straddled a boundary between the city and county of Kent, a distinction that local government reforms in the 1970s had already made obsolete.
What happened to the Cornwallis Building at the University of Kent in 1974?
In July 1974 a tunnel from the disused Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, running beneath the university, collapsed under the Cornwallis Building. Part of the building sank nearly a metre within about an hour on the evening of the 11th of July. The university used its subsidence insurance to demolish and replace the damaged corner of the building.
What is the University of Kent's connection to early internet history?
Unix computers arrived at Kent in 1976, and in 1979 the university set up the first Unix-to-Unix copy (UUCP) test service linking it to Bell Labs in the United States. In the early 1980s Kent provided the first UUCP connections to non-academic users in the United Kingdom.
What is the University of Kent's planned merger with the University of Greenwich?
On the 10th of September 2025 the University of Kent announced plans to merge with the University of Greenwich. Degrees will continue to be awarded under either the Kent or Greenwich name rather than a single unified designation, and the two institutions will form the London and South East University Group.