Laurie Kazan-Allen studied history at Brandeis University (BA 1969). She was the founding editor, in 1990, of the 'British asbestos newsletter' (BAN), a quarterly publication distributed to victim support groups, environmentalists, solicitors, academics, medical personnel and research bodies in over thirty countries. Since 1999, Kazan-Allen was the coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. Kazan-Allen has been the recipient of awards in recognition of her work in raising awareness of asbestos disease, and contributing to the ban of the substance. Awards include: the 'Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Voice of the Victims, Tribute of Unity Award', April 2005; the 'Emeritus Professor Eric G. Saint Memorial Award, 2012'; the 'Construction Safety Campaign, Robert Tressel Award for services to working people', in 2013; and the 'Rachel LEE Jung-Lim Award', awarded by a confederation of Asian ban asbestos groups, 2013. Laurie Kazan-Allen's brother, Steven Kazan, was an American asbestos litigator.
The Glasgow Dilettanti Society was formed in 1825 as a society for the improvement of the fine arts. Membership was restricted to painters, sculptors, architects, engravers and etchers, or men professing taste and critical knowledge in one or other of these branches. The society organised regular exhibitions and built up a library for the use of members. Many of the leading artists of the day corresponded with the society and entered their works for exhibition. Although the society had its own premises in Buchanan Street for a time, latterly it operated from Anderson's College buildings. The society came to an end in 1843.
Hugh Lang was born in Largs, Ayrshire in 1779. He graduated in medicine at the University of Edinburgh and lived at Mansfield House, Largs. He made his fortune in the Danish West Indies, owning plantations producing sugar and rum in St Croix - the estates of Mon Bijou, Good Hope, William, Paradise and Adventure. Lang also took an interest in his local community. He was involved in the planning of Brisbane New Town at Largs and was a trustee of Brisbane School. He was a keen sailor and commissioned a yacht from Fifes of Fairlie.
Colin Garrett, a textile engineer, of Southport, Lancashire, spent a lifetime working in the textile industry, involved in all aspects - bleaching, dyeing and testing. Garrett attended evening classes at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow c 1912-1915. During his career he lectured widely, contributed articles to the journals in his field and prepared reports on textile processes. He was employed with several Scottish firms including Lumsden and McKenzie of Almondbank, Perth and McNabs of Howwood, Renfrewshire.
The Leith Buchanan Family were the owners of Ross Priory at Gartocharn on the shores of Loch Lomond. The Buchanan Family had been associated with this area since the 11th century, when they gained the lands of Cameron and Drummikill. The 'Lands of the Ross' were purchased by William Buchanan in 1625. The male line died out and the heiress of the Ross married Sir Alexander Wellesley William Leith in 1830.
The Glasgow School of Management was established in 1950 as a joint venture of the Royal Technical College and the Glasgow and West of Scotland Commercial College (later the Scottish College of Commerce). Joint courses in management had been offered from 1947, and links between the two institutions dated back to 1915 when the Royal College was first represented on the Board of Governors of the Commercial College. The Royal College Department of Industrial Administration was closely involved in running the management courses. The School of Management was administered by a Joint Committee of representatives of both colleges. This Joint Committee was abolished after the merger of the colleges to form the University of Strathclyde.
In 1915, the Glasgow Athenaeum Commercial College was reconstituted as the Glasgow and West of Scotland Commercial College (Incorporated).
In 1934, the College moved into a new building in Pitt Street, near Charing Cross, designed by James Miller. The College offered a wide range of commercial and professional courses including commercial and secretarial, business administration, accountancy, law, modern languages and social work. In 1944, the College founded the Scottish Hotel School and, in 1946, the Scottish School of Librarianship. In 1950, it established the Glasgow School of Management jointly with the Royal Technical College. Students studied for the associateship and diploma of the College, awards of external bodies, and external degrees of London University. In 1955, the College was renamed the Scottish College of Commerce.
In 1964, the Scottish College of Commerce merged with the Royal College of Science and Technology to form the University of Strathclyde.
The Glasgow Athenaeum was founded in 1847 to provide courses in commerce, languages, music and the fine arts. Classes were initially held in the Assembly Rooms, Ingram Street, but, in 1888, the Athenaeum moved to a new building at St George's Place and Buchanan Street.
In 1888, the commercial teaching side of the Glasgow Athenaeum separated in name to become the Athenaeum Commercial College.
In 1890, a School of Music was established as a discrete department of the Athenaeum, with its own principal and prospectus.
The Anderson College of Medicine had its origins in 1799 as the Medical Faculty of Anderson's Institution, Glasgow. Following the restructuring of technical education in Glasgow in 1887, the Medical School became a separate institution, called Anderson's College Medical School. In 1889, the School relocated to a new building near the Western Infirmary, designed by the architects, Honeyman and Keppie. In 1913, the School changed its name to the Anderson College of Medicine. Following the establishment of the National Health Service in 1947, the School amalgamated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Glasgow.
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. Within a decade, it operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of US$ 20 billion making it the 7th largest private bank in the world by assets.
On July 5, 1991, regulators shut BCCI down.
On the formation of the University of Strathclyde in 1964, the Royal College of Science and Technology Graduates and Former Students Association was renamed the University of Strathclyde Graduates Association.
The Association was the means for graduates to take an active interest in the University. As well as arranging meetings and social gatherings for graduates, the Association also had the right to appoint representatives to the Court and the General Convocation of the University.
The Graduates' Association Council met five times a year, in January, March, May, September and November, and held an annual general meeting for all members in November each year.
James Macauley gained an associateship in mechanical engineering at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College in 1909. He later became lecturer at the Royal Technical College from 1943-1945, then senior lecturer 1945-1953 in the natural philosophy department.
The Royal Technical College Staff Association was established in 1945 to elicit and express the opinions of its members in matters of College interest and to further the interests of technical and scientific education in Scotland. It was open to all members of the teaching staff. In 1959 it was wound up and its functions transferred to the Local Association of University Teachers.