The University of Strathclyde was established by royal charter in August 1964, following the merger of the Royal College of Science and Technology with the Scottish College of Commerce. Discussions with the University Grants Committee had taken place for a decade before that, on the possibility of the Royal College entering a closer relationship with Glasgow University than its existing affiliation agreement. However, the granting of university status afforded the best opportunity for future development of the college. University departments were grouped in schools of study: mathematics, physics and computer science; chemical and materials sciences; mechanical and chemical engineering and naval architecture; civil and mining engineering and applied geology; electrical and electronic engineering; architecture, building science and planning; biological sciences; pharmaceutical sciences; arts and social studies; business and administration; and Strathclyde Business School. The schools of study were reorganised in 1982 into four faculties: of science, engineering, arts and social studies and business. In 1993, the university merged with Jordanhill College of Education. The college became the university's fifth faculty, of education, and continued to operate on the Jordanhill Campus in the west of the city, six miles distant from the John Anderson Campus in the city centre. With this merger, Strathclyde became the third largest university in Scotland.
Franco Valente was born in 1956 and grew up in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. Having completed his education at St Andrews High School in Kirkcaldy, he studied for a Higher National Diploma in Engineering at Napier College of Commerce and Technology, Edinburgh, from 1975-1978. He left college in June 1978 and worked as a production engineer until September 1979, when, at the suggestion of a friend who had lately taken a similar route, he applied to study for a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Strathclyde and was accepted for direct entry into the third year of the course in October 1979. He graduated with the degree of BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering in July 1981.
After leaving Strathclyde, he was employed by Det Norske Veritas in Oslo, Norway, from 1982-1984, firstly in the vibration analysis department and then in the ship strength department; and subsequently worked in Marseille, France, where he supervised the construction of carriers. He returned to Strathclyde in October 1984 to study for a postgraduate degree, graduating with an MSc in Marine Technology (by instruction) in 1986.
Having spent much of his career abroad working as a manager in the marine engineering sector, he returned to live in the UK following his retirement.
Brian Furman was head of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Strathclyde from 1994 to 2000, Professor in the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences from 2004 to 2008 and Emeritus Professor from 2008.
Donald Fraser was a Lecturer in English Studies at the University of Strathclyde from the 1970's onwards. He specialised in 18th century literature as well as leading the teaching for the drama classes. He had close connections with the Strathclyde University Theatre Group, having been involved in many productions.
Bill Speirs was a BA (Hons) politics student at the University of Strathclyde, 1970-1974, and a postgraduate student, 1974-1976.
Douglas Logan was an undergraduate student, 1962-1967, a research student, 1967-1969, and a lecturer in the department of Civil Engineering, 1970-1990, at the University of Strathclyde. He was a member of the British Computer Society from 1973 to 2000, an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE) until 2000, and a chartered engineer from 1990 to 2000.
Glenda White trained as a primary school teacher and worked in four primary schools in England and Scotland before moving into the field of teacher training. During the 1970s and early 1980s she lectured at Callander Park College of Education and Jordanhill College of Education, where she was Senior Lecturer in Primary Education. She then joined Her Majesty’s Inspectorate in 1985, inspecting pre-five, primary and secondary schools in the West of Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway. She moved on to become Chief Inspector of the Quality Assurance Unit at Strathclyde Regional Council in 1990, then Head of School Development for South Lanarkshire Council before taking early retirement. She subsequently became acting-headteacher of a ‘failing’ school and worked as an independent educational consultant, evaluating and advising schools and education authorities on aspects of quality assurance, management and the curriculum. Having fully retired from paid employment, she completed a doctoral thesis at the University of the West of Scotland on the life and work of the Scottish educationist, David Stow. Glenda White is presently an Honorary Teaching Fellow of the University of Glasgow and an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Strathclyde.
William Hamish Fraser was appointed Lecturer in History at the University of Strathclyde in 1967 and became Senior Lecturer in 1977. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1987 to 1993, and Professor in History from 1996 until his retirement in 2003, when he became Professor Emeritus.
Fraser obtained an undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen and a PhD in history at the University of Sussex in 1968.
Fraser published throughout his academic career on Scottish labour and social history. A selection of his publications include:
- 'Trade Unions and Society: the struggle for acceptance, 1850-1880', 1974
- 'The Coming of the Mass Market, 1850 -1914', 1981
- 'Conflict and class: Scottish workers, 1700-1838', 1988
- 'People and Society in Scotland', 1988
- 'Alexander Campbell and the Search for Socialism', 1996
- ‘A History of British Trade Unionism, 1700-1998’, 1999
- 'Chartism in Scotland', 2010
- 'The Wars of Archibald Forbes', 2015
- 'The Edinburgh History of Scottish newspapers', 1850 -1950, 2023
Cape Industries Ltd was registered in December 1893 as Cape Asbestos Company Ltd. It was incorporated in 1957. Its name changed to 'Cape Industries Limited' in 1974. Originally a company that specialised in mining asbestos, Cape developed asbestos-free products in the 1970s and developed a scaffolding division.
Barbara Thatcher was a lecturer in business at the Scottish College of Commerce and then a senior lecturer in economic history at the University of Strathclyde.
Thatcher graduated with a BCom degree in history from London. In 1949, she was appointed to lecture in the business administration department at the Scottish College of Commerce. Thatcher became the College’s Adviser to Women Students in 1963. The Scottish College of Commerce merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1964 and so Thatcher joined the University and became the first woman lecturer in the economic history department. She became a senior lecturer before retiring in late September 1981. In 1982, she became an honorary lecturer in the Department of History at Strathclyde. She maintained this position until 1987.
During her retirement Thatcher made ecclesiastical history as she became one of the first Episcopal women priests to be ordained in Scotland in 1995.
She died in 2012.
John Butt B.A, PhD., was a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Administration, Royal College of Science and Technology, from 1957 until 1964 when he became a lecturer in American Economic History at the newly formed University of Strathclyde. He was a senior lecturer from 1975 to 1976 when he was appointed Professor of Economic History. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Studies from 1978 to 1984. He was then appointed Vice Principle at the University of Strathclyde in 1988 and retired in the autumn of 1994.
Butt graduated with a BA from the University of London, subsequently gaining a PhD from the University of Glasgow. He joined the Royal College of Science and Technology in 1959 and was appointed to teach general studies with an inter-disciplinary team in the Department of Industrial Administration. The goal was to teach a range of courses including history, philosophy, geography and urban planning, and literature. In 1964, the College was given university status, and five new departments were created - Economics, Politics, Psychology, Administration and Economic and Industrial History. The Scottish College of Commerce merged with the university in 1964 and Butt introduced American Economic History. He was a senior lecturer from 1975 to 1976. Butt succeeded S. G. E Lythe as Professor of Economic History and in this role, he took on a new project – uncovering and writing the History of the University of Strathclyde. This involved case studies of individuals who made an important impact on the legacy of the university: John Anderson, David Livingstone, and Thomas Graham.
Butt served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Studies from 1978 to 1984 and Deputy Principal in 1986. On the 1st of August 1988 he was appointed Vice Principal.
He was also chairman of the governors of Craigie College, Ayr. He served on the military education committee and the general teaching council. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was a member of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
John Butt served the History Department at Strathclyde for 37 years, and under his management the History Department was granted an A excellence rating by the University Grants Committee. In autumn 1994 Butt retired from the University of Strathclyde. He died on 3 July 2002 at the age of 73.
A selection of publications by John Butt:
- 'Robert Owen, Prince of Cotton Spinners' (1971) (Co-editor)
- 'An Economic History of Scotland 1100-1939' (1975) (Co-author)
- 'A History of the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society Ltd' (1981) (Co-author)
- 'Essays in Scottish Textile History' (1987) (Co-editor)
- 'John Anderson’s Legacy. The University of Strathclyde and its Antecedents 1796-1996' (1996)
The Department of History at Strathclyde came into being in the 1960s and rapidly developed throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1959, the Department of Industrial Administration in the Royal College of Science and Technology was beginning to build up an inter-disciplinary team. By 1960 seven academics brought their individual specialisations to the staff: General Studies, Philosophy, History, Geography and Urban Planning and Literature. These staff members were: I.F. Clarke, Christopher Macrae, John Butt, Donald Gordon, Peter Green, Christopher Wiseman and Michael Gregory.
These members of staff, alongside others in the Royal College of Science and Technology, joined the campaign for university status and with it the inclusion of Arts and Social Studies. In 1961 Sir Keith Murray and the University Grants Committee (UGC) accepted the College for university status. The following year, March 1962, the Royal College saw further development, with five new departments created: Economics, Politics, Psychology, Administration and Economic History.
In 1962 Samuel George Edgar Lythe became the founding Professor of Economic History at the Royal College of Science and Technology. In 1963 five members of staff made up the Economic History department: Lythe, John Ward, Richard Wilson, Michael Sanderson, and John Moore. In 1964 the Royal College merged with the Scottish College of Commerce and became the University of Strathclyde. Two members of staff joined the Economic History Department from the College of Commerce: Tom McAloon and Barbara Thatcher. Gordon Jackson also joined in 1964, as did John Butt who introduced American Economic History to the department.
In 1974 the Senate and Court approved Lythe’s request for a new degree course: Modern History was founded in the university. The History department was then able to teach two-degree courses. John T. Ward was appointed as the first Professor of Modern History at Strathclyde. Lythe was also granted approval in 1974 to rename the department. It was no longer Economic History, but the Department of History.
Richard Doll was one of the most highly celebrated epidemiologists of the 20th century, He was best known for his work on smoking and lung cancer.
Alistair Goldsmith was educated at Jordanhill College School, Glasgow, and Marr College, Troon, Ayrshire. In the autumn of 1970, he commenced undergraduate studies at the Scottish Hotel School, University of Strathclyde, and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Hotel and Catering Management in 1973. He then completed a postgraduate course at Strathclyde, qualifying for the Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Management in April 1975. After leaving university, he joined the Trust Houses Forte Hotels company as Personnel Manager for St George's Hotel, Liverpool: a post secured via Professor John Beavis at the Scottish Hotel School, who 'matched' him with the role when approached by the company. He subsequently returned to Scotland to manage the hotel at Weem, near Aberfeldy, before moving to the Queen's Hotel, Prestwick. Whilst in Prestwick, he also worked as a volunteer on the Waverley, the world's last seagoing paddle steamer. This led to a full time post as Catering Officer for the Waverley Steam Navigation Company Ltd, Glasgow, from 1978-1980. Having re-established contact with the Scottish Hotel School, he was then invited to return there in September 1980 to assist with teaching for a term. This temporary arrangement became permanent, and he remained on the staff of the Scottish Hotel School until his retirement in 2009. Whilst lecturing there, he also gained two postgraduate research degrees from the University of Strathclyde: an MLitt in History, awarded in 1985, and a PhD in History, awarded in 2002 for his thesis on 'The development of the City of Glasgow Police c.1800-c.1939.' In retirement, Dr Goldsmith is an active member of the University of Strathclyde Graduates' Association, serving as its President in 2024.