Over the lastyear two of ourstudents orrecent alumnihave died. TaraHepburn, fromthe Bahamas,who graduatedin Law last yearbut died soonafterwards andNuhu Ahmed,from Nigeria,who was

reaching the end of his law studies whenhe died earlier this year. In my speech atGraduation I recounted this news, afterwhich - to my surprise - Tara Hepburn'sparents came and introduced themselves.They were attending the graduation ofone of their godchildren, who had alsostudied at Buckingham.

It was brave of them to revisit Tara'suniversity, where memories would havebeen fresh, but I am glad they didbecause they heard the paragraph Idedicated to Tara and Nuhu in my speech.Here it is, slightly shortened: "We alsomourned the deaths of Tara Hepburn andof Nuhu Ahmed. These were sadoccasions but alleviated, at least for me,by the moving remembrance ceremoniesthat Sasha Lightbourne and Daniel Bakpaand their fellow students from theBahamian and Nigerian Societiesarranged on campus. I've never worked ina university where students are as kind toeach other, and as respectful of theirmemories, as at Buckingham. It wasparticularly touching when the balloonsreleased on the Beloff lawn in TaraHepburn's memory, actually flew moreclosely together as they rose into the sky,like a message of solidarity. Buckinghamis meant to be a family, and those twoceremonies were led by the studentsthemselves. Out of tragedy we can findcomfort in the instincts of our students.

Terence KealeyVice-Chancellor

Graduation day at Buckingham is alwaysa joyful and emotional event with studentsand their families returning for theceremonies, in the Church of St Peter andSt Paul, and the Swan Ball in the evening,held in the gorgeously decoratedmarquee.

Who better to describe the event than theorganisers, Mr Tom Merrick and Mrs PatSmith and one of our graduating students,Mr Philip Hodgkinson:

Graduation Day last Saturday was anexciting and successful day, culminatingin the magnificent Swan Ball that wentthrough to breakfast on Sunday morning.With the clearing up now done, thoughtsare already turning towards the plans fornext year. The Graduation Working Partyhas already held its first meeting to reflecton this year and consider improvementsfor next year.

Pat Smith & Tom MerrickGraduation Officers

I welcome the opportunity to be able tosay to all those who helped organise andstaff the graduation, a great big THANKYOU. Please pass on my appreciation ofeveryone’s efforts.

Whether at the registration in the Anthonyde Rothschild Building, the Church or theReception in the marquee afterwards,here was always someone on hand tohelp direct and support us on our big day.With the numbers graduating I'm not sureit could have been done any better or anymore efficiently.

All the fellow graduates I spoke to wereimpressed with the setting, the way thewhole thing was handled, the order ofservice book and the certificate itself. Itwas a wonderful, colourful, happy event,handled with just the right amount ofpomp and decorum.

As a mature student at Buckingham, andas someone who previously had manyyears’ experience in the world of industryand business I hope I'm qualified to saycongratulations all round to the team whomade our big day even bigger.

Philip Hodgkinson (Law’ 07)

Continued on page 3

Spring/Summer 2007

Message from theVice-Chancellor

Graduation 2007

xxx

This year was going togo more slowly thanlast year ..... I wassure it was! Howwrong could I havebeen. With a goodJanuary intake andmany new students toget to know, awonderful graduation

ceremony and Swan Ball, a snowfall sodeep that many staff couldn't get to workand the students simply had to amusethemselves by building snowmen andhaving snowball fights, 2007 has got off toa fun-filled, VERY busy, start. We haveeven arranged a student photographiccompetition so that the best picture of thesnow scene on campus will betransformed into this year’s Christmascard. So we are busy getting to know ourfuture alumni!

As you will see in this edition, we have anew Student Sabbatical Officer, AyomikuBabalola-Elewa and a new Alumni AnnualFund & Country Groups Co-ordinator,Beth Carter. Ayo takes over from IvaNetzova who did a wonderful job for the

past year and has now moved to MiltonKeynes to work with her boyfriend,alumnus Peter Simeonov, setting up acompany that will import yoghurt fromBulgaria. Beth takes over from Kate, whoworked hard to help set up the earlystages of our new Alumni Annual Fund.Letters were sent out at the end of lastyear and we were overwhelmed when wesaw that we had received almost £10,000before the end of February. Thegenerosity of many of our alumni will helpour current students so much and a smallportion of this money will go firstly tocreate a memorial garden on campus inhonour of those students who have died.Our current students very much want thisproject to go ahead. Most sadly, we havelost two alumni and one student this year.

Should you wish to give to the AAF, youcan contact Beth or give online. Towardsthe end of this year we will publish a list ofthose who have given (you may, ofcourse, wish to remain anonymous), andnext year we will be arranging an eventfor our donors. We will also, in the nextissue, let you know what else we haveused the donations for.

We have an "appreciation scheme" whichrewards alumni who recommend a studentto come to Buckingham. I have been told,on occasion, that the money should bekept for the University. This is just to letyou know that any money of this naturewill be donated to the Annual Fund.

Beth will also be arranging alumnimeetings in the countries where marketingtrips are taking place and as there is nowa plan for a year in advance, she will haveplenty of time to send letters should wenot have email contact with you.However, I do encourage you to registeronto the AlumNet website(www.buckingham.ac.uk/alumnet) if youhaven't already done so, as it is such agood way for us all to stay in touch witheach other. And that is our aim - andindeed our purpose in life!With all good wishes, Anne

Anne MatsuokaPR/Alumni Relations OfficerTel: +44 (0) 1280 820 338email: anne.matsuoka@buckingham.ac.uk

Happy New Yeareveryone! I hope thiswill be a year ofsuccess, fulfilment andperfection.

I hope you all haven’tstarted breaking yourNew Year’s resolution.I haven’t broken any

and that’s because I don’t have any NewYear’s resolution-therefore none to break!

My name is Ayomiku Babalola-Elewa(BA International Studies’ 07), I wasfortunate enough to take over from IvaNetzova (LLM ’05) and get to work withthe Alumni and Publicity team up in theattic. My job so far has been a beautifulexperience and I love every moment of it. I mustn’t forget to say I am not the newestgirl in the team. The newest girl is theAlumni Annual Fund and CountryGroups Co-ordinator. Do you want toknow more about her, like her name?Please go to page 13 of this issue.

I would like to congratulate those whograduated with me on 24th February. It

was a memorable day, filled withexcitement and fun from the graduationceremony held in the church to the SwanBall held in the marquee on Beloff lawn. The events of the day have been featuredin this edition of the Independent. Itsunbelievable two years has gone by sincewe all came to the University.

Do let’s keep in touch through the Alumnidepartment.

The articles published in the Independentwill continue to be a source of pride andencouragement to all Buckingham alumni,staff and current students. This edition ofthe Independent will feature, among other

things, success stories of our alumniaround the world, and an interview withthe coordinator and academic admissionstutor of the MA in Global Affairsprogramme, Dr Deborah Davenport. Italso includes, with deep sadness, theobituary of one of the key founders of theUniversity of Buckingham, Dr John W.Paulley.

Do you remember what happens everysummer? It’s the ALUMNI SUMMERPARTY! This year the party will be held inthe heart of London, Trafalgar Square, atthe Pitcher and Piano. It will be held on22nd of June, starting at 7pm and endingat 11pm, just enough time for everyone tomingle and catch up on old times. I hopeto see you all there! More details aboutthis are featured in this issue.

Ayomiku Babalola-Elewa (BA InternationalStudies’ 07),Student Sabbatical OfficerTel: +44 (0) 1280 820 230 (2230)email: ayomiku.babalola-ele@buckingham.ac.uk

2

Editor’s News

Ayo’s News

3

Alumni Honorary Graduates

It is with great please that we send congratulations to two of our distinguished alumni who had Honorary Degrees conferredupon them at the Graduation ceremony this year

Mr Mark Lancaster Doctor of Science of the University

Mark Lancaster was raised and educated in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire. He read his first degree atBuckingham (Business Studies, 1992). Mark is now the Conservative MP for North East Milton Keynes,where he lives with his wife, Katie, a practising solicitor. He was promoted to the Whips Office in October,2006. Mark spent the last summer recess in Afghanistan, serving alongside the British forces, in hiscapacity as a Major in the Territorial Army. This follows similar voluntary service in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Prince Olagunsoye OyinlolaDoctor of Laws of the University

Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Law, '03) was born in Osun State, Nigeria. His father, Oba Oyinlola, was Kingof Okuku where he reigned from 1934 to 1960.

The Prince is currently Governor of Osun State where, earlier this year, the Osun State University (thepersonal initiative of the Governor), a multi-campus University based over six different cities in Osun, wasstarted. As an advocate of fairness, equity and justice, Prince Oyinlola strongly belives that society shouldnot be a theatre for unnecessary conflicts but one where tolerance, love, peace and dialogue shouldflourish. These are goals that our own international community at Buckinghamalso strives to achieve.

Further honorary degrees were given to:Professor Robert Pearce (formerly Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham) Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wales Lampeter (pictured right with his wife Chris)Mr Charles Moore andSir Gordon Jewkes.

Graduation 2007

Graduation Day

My proudest moment has always beenwinning the District Cross CountryRunning Championships when I wastwelve-years-old but I think I can safelysay that Graduation Day at BuckinghamUniversity has finally topped the bill.

What I found strange about the wholeUniversity experience was that prior tograduation day it somehow didn’t feel thatI had achieved anything all that special. It

was just another two year’s study after all. What made the day so special to me,however, were the speeches made onstage and the comments from my tutorsthat made me realise what anachievement this degree actually was. Notto mention the overly proud parents. Having already found employment in thejob of my dreams, I cannot say howfortunate I am to have been given the

opportunity to study at BuckinghamUniversity and to have had the backingfrom my family at home. Where ever lifetakes me from now, I will never forget thesupport I have received from theUniversity and the friends I have madealong the way. The degree programmehas been far from easy but I will neverforget my two years at BuckinghamUniversity.

Kerry Thronhill(English Literature with Journalism ’07)

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Lawyer Marc Telemaque (LLB’ 91)has been appointed as the new CabinetSecretary in Bermuda.The Royal Gazetterevealed that the 36-year-old formerPermanent Secretary to the Ministry ofTransport and Tourism had been given therole. Former Assistant Secretary to theCabinet Kenneth Dill becomes Head ofthe Civil Service .Government hasseparated the two jobs for the first timesince the early part of this decade.

A Bermuda Regiment Major, Mr.

Telemaque was educated at PagetPrimary School, the Berkeley Institute andthe University of Buckingham in England.

He started his own law firm, Telemaqueand Associates, on the Island and becameAide-de-Camp to the Governor for twoyears before joining Government in 2002.His appointment then, aged 32, aspermanent secretary of the Ministry ofTransport, made him the youngestpermanent secretary to be appointed inGovernment history.

He remained permanent secretary whenthe Ministry joined with Tourism in 2004and has also served as acting permanentsecretary for the former Ministry of Healthand Family Services and actingpermanent secretary for the Ministry ofPublic Safety and Housing.

By Sam StrangewaysThe Royal Gazette (Bermuda)1 December 2006

Alumni at Work

Alumni Entrepreneurs

Here are some words on thechallenges Robin and I had on our wayto [some degree of material] success:

Robin and I met atBuckingham (actually,just before) andalways got on well. Ithink we were the onlylunatics whowindsurfed throughthe winter on WillenLake [withoutwetsuits!]…but had agreat time.

After we left, I became a solicitor, andRobin a banker. But we always nurtureda dream – to start our own company. Oneday, after a visit to Finland (and havingbeen told he needed glasses) Robin saidthe choice in the UK was terrible – andthere was a gap in the market for sometrendy, new specs to replace the awfulNHS frames available then. Mrs Thatcherseemed to agree and the sector wasprivatised, now free to choose what tosell.

The challenges we faced then seemed tome (as a rather naïve articled clerk) huge:we had no company, no money and nobusiness experience! None of this

phased Mr T who immediately suggestedwe bid to distribute Jean Paul Gaultierframes in the UK….we hired a room for aday, put a name on the door (Inspecs)and invited the Japanese manufacturer tosee our ‘company’. That day we took along lunch break while our third partner(returned to Scandinavia) took a day offto collect the Manufacturer’srepresentative from Heathrow. We gotour girlfriends (now wives) to ring tomake out it was a busy office!

When he had left, we heard nothing untilRobin chased, and then we heard wewere appointed distributors for a leadingname. But, we still had no company, nomoney and no experience. We didmanage to open a bank account, and getan overdraft for our first stock delivery(just as well as it cost 3 times my articledclerks salary!). So we started, but it washard. We often refer to this period as ourMBA – a huge learning curve at our ownexpense [time, money and experience]but, it was a lot of fun.

Inspecs began as a small company, andthat was (and remains) a strength for bothof us: humble beginnings we have neverlost sight of. But, after 5 years it was(nearly) strong enough to employ Robinwho bravely left a very good job to joinInspecs. Then it went from strength tostrength. In 1996 we moved into

manufacturing, and took on severallicences. We, started designing and manufacturing for ourselves. Then, webegan an export drive. In 2001 we movedinto fashion retail, and now have more

than 50 shops. Weare based in abeautiful HQ nearBath[www.inspecs.com]and have 600+employees and salesforecast at Euro 65Mthis year.

Challenges remain –the World is toughand getting tougher –but the opportunities

remain also. We have recently developeda unique dual fuel system for HGVs [withgrant aid, British patents and we hopeBritish manufacturing]. And, we plan toroll this out in 2007.

We try to stick to the plan: work hard,enjoy life and have fun – as well asproducing something extraordinary andindeed unique in the Inspecs Group. Wework with many inspired and inspiringpeople, and genuinely enjoy what we do.

Christopher Smith (European Studies’84) and Robin Totterman (Politics,Economics and Law ’85)

Lawmaps.orgA venture started earlier this year by twoBuckingham alumni, David Stubbs (LLB2005) and Paul Hogarth-Blood (LLB2006) recently received coverage in TheTimes Law Supplement (28 November).Their not-for-profit venture, Lawmaps.org,is a website providing learning resourcesfor anyone with an interest in English law.The site uses computer software to mapout areas of the law, and the resultingmaps resemble spider diagrams. Much of the material was gathered byPaul and David while they were studyingat Buckingham. Lawmaps.org has a third

member, Mathieu Moss, who becameinvolved after he met David during hisLegal Practice Course at the Inns ofCourt. The School of Law and has alsocontributed significantly to theresource.Paul Hogarth-Blood said:”Wewere enthusiastic about sharing our workbecause of the success we haveexperienced. We have taken care toidentify different lines of legal argumentand valuable dissenting judgements forcrucial cases. Pupils will be able to usethis as the basis for their criticism of thelaw Apart from providing an alternative tolearning the law from traditional sourcessuch as textbooks, as a non-profit-making

organisation we hope to make acontribution, albeit a small one, to thewider movement for free legal informationand in turn to help combat access costs.” Paul, David and Mathieu hope toencourage up-and-coming people in thefield to contribute case summaries andtheir criticisms of the law to the website sothat it can grow as a knowledge base. Charlotte Walsh, Dean of the Law Schoolat Buckingham, said, "We wish our alumniwell in their new venture."

Lauren Hardy PR/MediaCommunications Co-ordinator

Marc Telemaque confirmed in Cabinet Secretary post

Christopher Smith

Robin Totterman

5

Alumni at Work

Brendan O’Flaherty

Brendan O'Flaherty (BSc BusinessStudies ’05) is preparing for a life at seaafter qualifying as a ship's third officer inthe Royal Fleet Auxiliary. He now hopes toreceive a posting by April after graduatingfrom the prestigious Britannia Royal NavalCollege in Dartmouth on Thursday,December 7 2006.

Originally from the port of Falmouth inCornwall, he moved to this area to marryhis 34-year-old wife Lorraine, originallyfrom Finmere.

He went on to study business at theUniversity of Buckingham, after which heworked in recruitment and finance for 18months.

After completing a gruelling seven-weektraining programme, he is now lookingforward to supporting senior officers onships supplying British forces around theglobe.

By Gavin MooreBuckingham and Winslow Advertiser(Buckingham)19 December 2006

Alex Jovy (English with European Lawand German '95),The University's own Oscar-nominatedfilm director and producer, has just set upa website entitled www.itsourmovie.com.Alex has decided that its time for achange in the film industry. “You get thechance to both act and become partowner of a cinema release feature film.The film is of an award winning script andwill be shot by Alex Jovy”. It is a sort ofpop idol but for actors! Anyone interestedis more than welcome to have a look atthe site and get in touch with Alex.

Brendan prepares for a new life on the ocean waves

Alumni News

Hal Serudin

Sandra Saraya Dutta, wife Hal Serudin,and Aisha Nortalim, Daughter

I recall what Martin Luther King once said:“Change does not roll in on the wheels ofinevitability, but comes through continuousstruggle.” I left Buckingham University ata watershed in my life, having survived amajor RTA (Road Traffic Accident) in 1997which left me in a wheelchair for the bestpart of 1997/8.

This mishap delayed my graduation date

by a year, but allowed me to meet newfriends and brought literally a new lease oflife. After the course, sponsored by myemployer Royal Brunei Airlines, I wasappointed head of the Public Relationsdivision. I was then unexpectedly offeredwork in Singapore with InternationalCommunications firm Fleishman-Hillard (F-H). My then MDrecalls introducing me to the firm as theonly person he knew who had gottenmarried, moved country and changed joball in the space of a week!

A consultancy such as F-H provides aplethora of opportunities, interesting multi-industry experience and honescommunications, project and serviceorientation skills like no other. I wasfortunate to be able to work with illustriousbrands such as BMW, MINI, LockheedMartin and Hitachi Ltd. One of my careerhighlights included the international launchof the BMW 7 Series in Italy. Othersincluded Asian Aerospace; Asia’s largestshow of its kind - the backdrop for me torun the communications offensive fordefence contractor Lockheed Martin,which included the launch of the Joint

Strike Fighter, the next generation ofmulti-role military aircraft.

It was time to have a baby, and also totake stock. Our daughter Ashia was bornin late 2002 and, barely two months old,headed with her mother to meet me inFinland. The purpose of our rendez-vous? An intensely enjoyable two yearscompleting an International MBA course.Braving a minus 30 degree winter, welearnt never again to complain aboutBritish weather. Our near arctic missionwas to be rewarded, however, with thehospitality of the Finnish people, afascinating insight into Scandinavianculture and, like Buckingham, a pot-pourriof nationalities.

We are back in the warmer climes of Asia,at the invitation of my firm to handleautomotive, consumer and healthaccounts. We have been blessed to haveexperienced so much and would like toconvey our best wishes to all staff andfriends at Buckingham University who mayremember us.

Hal Serudin (BSc Business Studies ’98)

Quotes of The Season

Linda Evans(LLM ’95)Thank you Anne and all the Alumni Team! It isalways a pleasure to hear from you all andeven better to get a lovely birthday messagefrom my favourite University!

Emil Vassilev (MBA ’02, LLM ‘03)Thank you and the Alumni team for greetingme on this very special day! Your card revivedmany happy memories of the good times thatI was lucky to have had at Buckingham.Please, pass on my warmest regards to Anneand the girls and do stay in touch.

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Iain Holmes(Business Studies ’03)

On Thursday November 9th Harvard andYale took their centuries old rivalry to thepolo field. In typical US intercollegiatefashion. It was a 4 chukkar arena match.This match was special because it wasthe first time Harvard and Yale had playedintercollegiate polo in 15 years, and oneformer Harvard Polo member stated thatHarvard hadn't beaten Yale in any level ofpolo in the last 45 years. Iain Holmes,University of Buckingham class of 2002(Business Studies) was one of the co-founders of the recently reformed HarvardPolo Club and is one of their starringplayers. Iain, a British expatriate who haslived in the United States for the past 12years, is currently enrolled in Harvard’spost-baccalaureate Pre-Medical programand is doing medical research under oneof the Harvard Medical School Professors.In a very exciting fluid match Harvard wasable to pull off a decisive win 13 to 7, with3 goals scored by Iain. ‘It is always greatto play polo; however pulling off a victorylike this is especially exciting – it is hard tobelieve Harvard hadn’t beaten Yale in thatlong’ Iain said.

In the post game picture - Iain is theHarvard Player on the right side of thephotograph!

'The Hidden Backroad - AMessage from one who hadthought he was at the End ofhis Development'

Buckingham was, quite simply, aRenaissance for me. Coming there in2001, a weary writer lumped all his worldlypossessions into a room in Sunley House(how the floor stood the strain I'll neverknow because I did not travel light inthose days) and thought: 'So far, so good,so what now?'

Well, 'now' entailed a rollercoaster trip thattested my skills as a writer and researchstudent to the limit. I 'did' the BiographyMA - one of the rarest and most rewardingwriting programmes available anywhere -and lived to tell about it with hundreds ofgreat in-class anecdotes. I met manyextraordinary people, made wonderfulfriends, led a few seminars, and absorbedthe essences of many cultures so verycasually that I might as well have beenliving on some kind of latter day Atlantis.

Now, five years on from the last days ofwrapping up my degree, I've had time torealise that, although there were timeswhen the compressed programme did getme a little flustered, I actually enjoyed thechallenge of working under that kind ofpressure. Strangely, I still managed toparticipate in activities - bar committee,student revue, etc - and never once felteither lonely or overcommitted. Above all,I sensed that I was getting somewhere:working hard and fast, to be sure, butseeing enough progress to appreciate thatmy efforts really counted. Writing severalpieces for The Ugly Duckling was icing onthe cake!

I'd say 'Buckingham' to people who justwant to cut to the chase with their

academic development. There, they willbe able to realise many things, animportant one being that the last thing astudent is at Buckingham is a facelesscomponent of some amorphous studentbody. Because the university is unique I'dalso recommend living on campusbecause (and not to sound saccharin) itwill change a person's perspective on lifein general.

* * * * * *Graduating in 2003, Johnny founded hisproofreading company The Text Vet thefollowing year. Johnny looks forward tocontinue offering Buckingham students ahigh quality essay/thesis checking, worddirecting and editing service. Studentscan find this at www.textvet.co.uk. Johnnyis also an award-winning writer. His latestwork, Séances with the Living, is out inDoublebay books this March. The horroranthology emerges alongside the re-release of Johnny's first published novel,Souls of the Southern Stars. You can findout more about his writing onwww.johnnysgeddes.com.

Johnny is also working in the Voice-overindustry and is known as the Voice ofAtlantis.

Johnny Geddes (MA Biography ’03)

Alumni News

Women who make theworld betterBelow is an article from June Arunga(LLB’ 06) recipient of the awardmentioned above:

It is my personalopinion that thereare so manyothers moredeserving of thisaward than myself.Those who havesuccessfully raisedchildren whilehaving full timecareers in various

fields, those who have changed our worldthrough scientific research andtechnological innovation, to theexceptionally accomplished women whoare in business (like the CEO of Ebay andthousands of others who actuallychampion the visions for their respectivecompanies and offer leadership for theproduction of goods and services thatimprove people's lives, making payroll foremployees, and profits for theirshareholders).

But I am honored to received the award,and hope it will help me meet morepeople with whom I could work in future.One day I hope to be like the manysuccessful women whom I greatly admire,

several of whom (from my own mother tomy friends in the UK and US), continue tobelieve in me and encourage me as I startout in life, and have been wonderful rolemodels.

The link leads to the announcement of the"Women who make the world better" award. www.iwf.org (I wouldencourage you to please nominate adeserving person who in your opinionmakes the world better)

I am very grateful to the IndependentWomen's Forum for conferring this honoron me.

June Arunga

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News from Medinah

Our set was the first in the School ofAccounting and Financial Management.Professor Watson had the onerous task ofteaching us Accounting. We actually allgraduated in February 1980!

In those days we were called Licenciates!!And Page Hill was Page Hill, understand itno longer exists....pity!!!!

Thanks to Professor Watson, I am now aChartered Accountant as is Alison Treco(BSc Accounting and FinanacialManagement ’80) (nee Spencer, she wasa partner in Peats before setting up herown consultancy). The third in our trio isHelen Kassardijan (BSc Accountingand Finanacial Management ’80) (a guruin world commodities). We still are intouch and visit each other after all theseyears.

I got married in 1990 and have three boysthe oldest of whom is preparing to gainadmission into the university in September2007. Hakeem (truly by far my better half!)is also a Chartered Accountant and werun a property development company(called Hydraform) based in Abuja,Nigeria. I was the Financial Controller ofEko Hotels before leaving to set upHydraform.

Like most I have juggled being a good oldmum, a loving wife, an innovative directorand last but not least a woman. In Africantradition how well I have juggled dependson how well my children do in life.

It has not been easy living in Nigeria asyou may all be aware. We have had ourown share of growing pains. But Babs,Phillip, Rotimi, Richard, Ada, Kayode,Yinka, Gani, Gerry and so many of us firstsets of University College of Buckinghamhave survived!

Anyway I CANNOT forget Bucks, Lille andall the friends I made (from all over theworld) but have lost touch with so many.Sonia, Caird, Dinah, Pamela...ifperchance anybody reads this andremembers Flakee (my alias ) email meon medinahh@yahoo.com

Olufolake Medinah Huthman (neeOkulaja) BSc Accounting andFinancial Management ’80

News from Ona Erike

I am an alumni of the Law School(graduated in 1985), and have been livingand working in the United States eversince. I just recently read the copies ofThe Independent that had been sent tomy parent's home in Nigeria, and wasquite impressed with the developmentsand growth at Buckingham. After ourgraduation in 1985, I got married in July1985, had a set of twins in 1986 who arenow 20 years old and third year universitystudents. I had a third child in 1989, whojust turned 17 years old and is nowpreparing to enter university in September2007.I was admitted to the New York Barin 1989, worked with a legal publishingcompany and then later practised on myown for several years. I have beenemployed as an Administrative Law Judgefor New York State since August 2001 andit has been quite interesting, challengingand stressful work.Ona Okeke-Erike (LLB Law ’85)

Alumni News

Sum-Wah Lam’s News

Below is the narrative description aboutmy experience and its impact on meduring and after, my time at the Universityof Buckingham. I joined the University ofBuckingham in 1986 as a BritishGovernment Overseas DevelopmentAdministration Scholar, which would leadto the award of a M.Sc, in the school ofBiological Sciences, where Professor AlanBrook had the chair.

Study during the year was extremelydemanding and we had to write eachweek an essay not less than 3,000 words

to train students how to put thingstogether, the presentation of ideas, andhow to argue. Then, we had 8 lecturehours with two to three taught courseseach week, plus two to three laboratorysessions with the maximum of twoconsecutive days to complete oneexperiment. How to collect data, and howto do data analysis were also importantcomponents of training. My contributionto new knowledge then was to study howto let fish grow at their maximum speedbut with the minimum amount of food,which was very important in the economyof the fish industry.

Dr Sum-Wah Lam

The final training was the graduationthesis. Mine was supervised by Dr. KerryShephard, who closely monitoredprogress and guided me throughout. Imust thank Kerry who spent many hourswith me discussing the best way toproceed with the experiment. My thesiswas a study portraying how to maximizethe growth effect of the carp with theminimum amount of food, which wouldmean a contribution to the economy offish growth. After one year of full timetraining, I found myself competent in using

scientific method to handle things put infront of me, though in order to be verycompetent in research, I still had toreceive further training from the Universityof Hong Kong, which was aCommonwealth University. I also didanother postgraduate course after mystudy at the University of Buckingham, atthe University of Strathclyde. From this,you can see my approach in handlingproblems and situations is to use theBritish scientific approach. Indeed Iconsider myself a British trained scientist.The University of Buckingham was astarting point to train in the organization ofknowledge. All my important influentialthinking and ideas originated and wererefined after receiving research training inthe UK. I will tell anyone that the Britishapproach to training scientists is the bestamong any of the developed countries, asscholars there always use the simplestmethod to train their students which canlead their students to the correct path tounderstand the universe, which is just oneword…… "Simplicity".

Dr Sum-Wah Lam(MSc Fisheries ’88)

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Congratulations to all thefollowing alumni whohave recently married,become engaged oradded to their families:

Engagements

Charlie Brooker (BSc Business Studies'00 and LLB '03) and Robert Venn arehappy to announce their engagement,which took place in the midst of themorning rush hour in Canary Wharf on31st January 2007. They are greatlylooking forward to their wedding in July2007.

Fiona Hewitt (LLB Law and Politics ’99)and Christian Button are happy toannounce their engagement which tookplace on 14 February 2007.

Marriages

Johnny Geddes (MA Biography ’03) andhis wife Sarah are happy to announcetheir marriage. It took place on 30 June2006 in Las Vegas. This is what Johnnyhad to say: ‘’My parents and brother werepresent and Sarah and I enjoyed anotherworldly honeymoon in Hawaii’’.

Megumi Sakurai (nee Katakabe) (BScPsychology with EFL ‘98) and herhusband Tatsuya Sakurai (BSc(Econ)AFM ‘99 are happy to announce theirwedding which took place in October 2005.

Ailsa Dennett (LLB ’97) and her husbandRoss are happy to announce theirwedding which took place on 23September 2006 on the Isle of Man.

Jackie Moore ( MBA ’05) and herhusband Andy are happy to announcetheir wedding which took place on 24November 2006 at the Bitter End YachtClub, Virgin Gorda, BVI

Jamila Yakasai (BA English Studieswith media communication ’05) and herhusband Babagana Mohammed Abbaare happy to announce their marriagewhich took place on the 17 February 20

Ken'ichi Minamino visiting student(English Language (EFLS) withLiterature ‘01) and his wife Aya, arehappy to announce their wedding whichtook place in Osaka on 2 December,2006. They went on honeymoon to NewCaledonia. Michelle Hind (LLB ’04)travelled from Buckingham for thewedding.

Births

Spencer Voakes (BSc Business Studies’97) and his girlfriend, Aranya are happyto announce the birth of their beautifuldaughter Jennifer Suprinya Voakes. Shewas born on 19 October 2006 weighing3.88kg.

Xenia Yun (LLB ’02) and her husbandJoseph are happy to announce theirmarriage and the birth of their twins. Thisis what Xenia had to say: ‘’ We gotmarried in Kazakhstan in Almaty on 9June 2006. We had a civil and churchceremony. My twins were born on 18October 2006 one minute apart from eachother. Their names are Emilia andValentina. First Emilia was born and sheweighted in at 2.8kg and Valentina at2.6kg, both were 49cm in length. I hadthem at Portland Hospital in London’’.

Engagements... Marriages...

9

Emmanuel Lebel (ex IT staff) and hiswife Celine are happy to announce thebirth of their son, Theo. This is whatEmmanuel had to say…..The new bornThéo, 3.4kg (7lb 8oz), 51.2cm (20''),arrived a little bit ahead of schedule onFriday 12 January. Baby and mother aredoing great. We are enjoying each andevery moment and trying to realise what'sjust happened!”

Folake Olubunmi-Ehindero (LLB ’94)and her husband Femi are happy toannounce the birth of their sonToluwaloju Olaolu . Her daughter’s nameis Ayomide (Ayo) and her older son isMoronfoluwa (Folu).

Alison Rochat-Spechter (LLB ’91), says“I am well - keeping busy with work (60%)and the 4 children, 2 cats and 2 fishes!She sends a picture of her children,Jeremy (10), Joanna (8), Naomi (6.5)and Emily (nearly 5)”.

Fatima Mohammed (BSc BusinessStudies ’98) and her husband NuhuUmar are happy to announce the birth oftheir son Almin. He was born on 16December 2006.

Miki Nagano (BSc Psychology withEnglish language ’00) and her husbandSatoshi are happy to announce the birthof their ‘healthy and happy boy’ Sotaro.Miki says in her message, ‘He has startedsmiling and talking. He says "Ah" and"Woo"!

Julia Baumgartner (MA Decorative Artsand Historic Interiors) and her husbandThomas are happy to announce the birthof their son, Lorenz Thomas Curt Georg.He was born on 6 November 2006 at19:19. Julia says “my husband and I arevery happy with our baby boy. He isalready very interested in every thingaround him and loves me carrying himaround.”

Misty McCroy (HR Manager) and herhusband Lawrence are happy toannounce the birth of their son, BenLorcan. He was born on the morning ofMonday 5 March 2007. Mother and babyare doing well.

Paul Keatley (Information systems withbusiness studies ’04) and his wife YanWang (MBA ’02) are happy to announcethe birth of their son, Oscar. He was bornon the 1 December 2006.

...and Births

10

Chola Chilufya is Doingthe Moonwalk

Chola in Fashion Targets Breast Cancert-shirt. The campaign celebrated its 10thanniversary in 2006.

A Very Happy New Year to you.

Hope that you have had a great start tothe New Year.

This year, I have taken on the challengeto complete the full Playtex MoonwalkMarathon in London. I and thousands ofwomen will take to the moonlit streets ofLondon to raise £6m for breast cancerresearch and cancer care. Organised byWalk the Walk, The Playtex Moonwalk isin its 10th year and to date has raised inexcess of £20m.

Please visit my pagewww.justgiving.com/cholachilufyaisdoingthemoonwalk to support me and help meraise money for Breakthrough BreastCancer.

Any donation, no matter how small wouldbe much appreciated as every penny Iraise will be going towards breast cancerresearch and education.

May 2007 bring you much success andhappiness in all your endeavours.Many thanks in advance for your support!

With Best Wishes,

Chola Chilufya ( BA Politics withFrench ’04 )

Hiro’s Career Change

Yasuhiro Kushiya (Economics, ’01) haschosen a completely different path in lifefrom the one he had imagined. ReadHiro’s story and then let us know if yourcareer path was altered by yourexperiences at Buckingham:

Before I went to Buckingham I had worked

in a local bar kitchen in Tokyo, so I usedto cook for my friends and neighbours atBishops Court. One day one of myneighbours came and said; ‘Hiro, you likecooking and you’re Japanese, why don’t

you make sushi for us sometimes?’Well ask your Japanese friends if theycould make proper sushi; ‘That’s for theprofessionals’ they’d reply. I told him itwasn’t as easy as it looked, but hisquestion made me realise how popularsushi actually was. After my BSc(Econ) Itried office work for a few months, but itwasn’t for me. My mind was made up – Iwanted to be a sushi chef. It wasn’t aneasy decision, but what helped was thissimple but important lesson I learned fromBuckingham; no matter what people say,your hard work will eventually berewarded.

The place I’m working at is called SUSHIAOKI, one of the best sushi bars in Tokyo.What’s special about AOKI is that,amongst other things, traditionalcraftsmanship and new ideas are both atwork, and in balance. Working at AOKI isquite competitive, and I am yet to becalled a ‘chef’ because people spendaround ten years to become a good chef.I’m only halfway, but I’m looking forward tothings to come. Here, as in Buckingham,working hard is the way to succeed, andone day when I’m good enough I’d love tocome and serve my sushi at theGraduation Ball. May that happen before too long!

Yasuhiro Kushiya ( BSc (Econs)Economics, ’01)

Sunni Lau’s NewsI graduated from the University ofBuckingham in 2003, BSc BusinessStudies (Hons). On returning to HongKong, I went straight into the banking andfinance industry with a local based Bankresponsible for equities research and

investment advisory duties. Hong Kong is one of the most importantfinancial centres worldwide and everyfinancial activity is regulated by variousindependent commissions. It took me verylittle time to get all the relevant licensesfor conducting my duties at the bank and Iwas actually in the field in less than threemonths. The bank allocated some clientsfor me to serve; most of them wereexpatriates from all around the world. Thisis where my communication skills andunderstanding of cultural differences that Ilearnt from Buckingham was put to gooduse. I gained very valuable experiencewhile working as an investment advisor fora year and a half before moving on towork for the giant banking group, CreditSuisse Group. At Credit Suisse, I wasspecialising in mutual funds investmentadvisory services mainly targeting high networth individuals. While I was inBuckingham, I had a good friend who wasIndian, and I learnt a lot about the Indianculture and how they think in bothbusiness and personal feelings. However,at that time I never knew how useful itwould be for my future career. Iremember closing a deal worth US$1million for Credit Suisse Group with anIndian client living in Hong Kong. Theclient trusted me because I knew theirculture so well and I was able to build arapport with him, and I am certain Iwouldn’t have closed that deal if I hadn’tcome to Buckingham.

I’m now Assistant Vice President for anInvestment and Fund ManagementCompany responsible for setting upmutual funds that invest money in theAsian pacific markets, in particular Chinaand Vietnam. I am currently in talks withthe university that my company may beable to offer opportunities forBuckingham graduates who are interestedin the Fund Management field.

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone avery happy Chinese New Year.

Sunni Lau (BSc Business Studies ’03)

Alumni News

11

Kirsten’s News

Many years have passed since I arrivedon campus in January 1994, leaving twoand a half years later with a LLB inEnglish and European Law and languagestudies and my MA in InternationalRelations and Politics under my belt.Student life at Buckingham was uniqueand the friendships that went back thenhave enriched my last decade and havetaken me all over the world for bothbusiness and pleasure. The independentand global outlook of Buckingham,together with the Kurt Hahn spirit of myschooling, has given me the incentive toget up and do my own thing. After ahappy and successful career working as aqualified solicitor for great firms in the CityI finally ventured into setting up my ownlegal practice in 2006.

K Law is a new kind of law firm. I createdan advisory model which suits clientsfrom a diverse range of backgrounds. Welook after private individuals and theirproperty purchases. TV presenters, sportspersonalities, fund managers,accountants and bankers as well assmall, medium and large businesses formanufacturing industrial or consumerproducts and services, even high streetfood stores use our services. The practicespecialises in a range of services fromprivate client on and off shore taxstructures and property conveyancing tocorporate legal support and employmentlaw. Whenever I pick up a law book Iremember Buckingham and the excellentteaching, encouragement and vision Ireceived from the University.

On a recent trip to Mauritius, where Icaught up with Jean Christope Bellepeau.

K Law embraces the virtual world in aunique and cutting-edge way. Through thewebsite www.KLaw.biz we enable ourclients to stay fully informed at any stageof our engagement by logging into theirown secure on-line file 24 hours a dayusing a username and password. Thisprovides a much more efficient and costeffective way of employing our time whichin turn benefits the clients, and theiradvisors, exponentially. Please feel free

to get in touch with me at K@KLaw.biz !Another passion I have pursued since Iwas introduced to it at University is polo. Iplay all year and recently returned fromthe first women’s polo tournament onsnow in Klosters. I am currently offering aunique opportunity to potential sponsorsto support my team in the 2007 season.

Kirsten Ladebeck (LLB ’96, MA ’97)

Abdul Buba

I will start by congratulating the February2007 graduates as well as saying bigthank you to the members of the Schoolof Humanities, especially LindaWaterman, Secretary to the EconomicsDepartment.

To be honest, when I first arrived inBuckingham, I did not expect much of theUniversity and the town itself. However,after being there for two years, I canconfidently say that I made too-hasty ajudgement. There is no doubt that thetown is small but the University and thelocals more than compensate for its size.Buckingham University brings togetherover 80 nationalities and the relativelysmall class and tutorial groups set anatmosphere where students receivepersonal attention from the lecturers andgain a high level of academic tuition.

At Buckingham University, I was exposedto different cultures of the world andfound a flavour of their different traditions;this has helped me understand the waythings work worldwide. Asides from this,Buckingham town is just a few minutesaway from Silverstone, the home ofBritish Grand Prix; going to watch aFormula 1 race was quite a thrill.

I am now so in love with the Universityand the town that I have decided to goback for a Masters’ degree in GlobalAffairs.

Abdulqadir Buba (BA InternationalStudies ’07)

Below is an article Larissa Boyer(Visiting Student English Literature’ 06)wrote for the Lehigh magazine: the Brownand White

The Pride and Prejudice

Larissa Boyer

Initially there were two reasons why Iapplied to the summer study abroadprogram at Buckingham. First, I wanted tostudy in England. I didn't have to learn adifferent language and already knew Iloved the country after a family visit in2005. Second, I wanted an internship.Buckingham provided this, and anamazing internship I wouldn't have gotten any other way at that.

After the initial internship phase inLondon, I arrived at Buckingham,expecting a good time, but not realizingjust what I was in for. It turns out studyingat the University of Buckingham was thebest part of my summer, as well as one ofthe most memorable experiences of mylife.

I met some friends I will treasure forever.Those friends allowed me to study abroadin several countries while never leavingEngland. I had friends from Pakistan,Malaysia, the Philipines, India andNigeria. I got to practise my Russian(however bad it was) and learned theproper way to say Edinburgh from a trueScotsman.

Come mid-August, I didn't want to leave.My friends would tell me I should transferto Buckingham, and part of me wanted toseriously consider that. Now that I'mhome, it seems as if Buckingham was thisamazing dream from which I was rudelyawakened. All I want to do is fall backasleep and return to that dream. Is it timefor bed yet?

Alumni News

12

Interview withDr Davenport

Dr Deborah Davenport, full-time Lecturerin International Political Economy, came tothe University of Buckingham in January,2006. Since her arrival from MississippiState University, she’s had a very busytime, teaching two new undergraduatecourses in Politics of Latin America andInternational Organisation, taking over theInternational Relations Concepts andTheories course, reading the proofs of herPalgrave Macmillan book GlobalEnvironmental Negotiations and USInterests, working on new articles, andlaunching the MA in Global Affairs, ofwhich Dr Davenport is Coordinator andAcademic Admissions Tutor. I am lucky tocatch her in her room and happy to beable to interview her for the Independent.

Although there’s the sound of busy typingfrom within, as soon as I knock at the doorDr Davenport gets up to receive me andimmediately tells me to call her Debbie.

Dr Deborah Davenport

There is plenty of evidence of a busy,international life in Dr Davenport’s office,from the crates of books recently shippedfrom the US, not all of which have beenunpacked, to the conference papers fromnegotiations on the International TropicalTimber Agreement which she attended inGeneva and more recently in Yokohama.

So, Debbie, could you give theIndependent readers a briefautobiographical sketch?Well, I came into the field of internationalrelations rather sideways. I’m Americanand I studied Music and Spanish for my first degree at Wellesley College,then taught Music and English as aForeign Language for a while in SaudiArabia and in London. But I grew veryconcerned at the state of the global

environment in the late 1980s and Idecided that maybe my internationalbackground could be put to use in someway. So I got an MA in InternationalStudies from the University of Salford andfrom there was able to go on to get myPhD at Emory University in Atlanta. Thatwas really lucky, because that openedsome doors for me and I wound up, whilestill a doctoral student, directing theenvironmental work of the CarterPresidential Center.

So you worked for former U.S.President Jimmy Carter? Sounds prettyimpressive. What sort of work did youdo there? The biggest project I had was to conducta collaborative, participatory effort onreforming land use policy in Guyana,where President Carter had a stronginterest. I spent more than a year thereworking on that project, which included,among other things, holding 18 publicconsultations all across Guyana as well asa national two-day conference on land usepolicy reform.

It’s good that you’ve come back toEngland after a time spent away. Whatattracted you and have you found a lotof changes since you were last here?Yes, I was away for about 15 years, but Iwas really drawn to come back and teachat Buckingham because it in many waysreminds me of where I did my first degree,in that it is small and personal--and has, ifI may say so, a beautiful campus--but ithas the added benefit of havingpostgraduate students as well as undergrads, and I like working withboth.

What do you most like aboutBuckingham?I love my students! It’s such a treat to getto teach students from literally all over theworld. Amazingly, it’s the best way in theworld to get beyond ethnic and religiousdifferences and see people as individuals.And the students here seem much morecosmopolitan in their outlook than manyother students I have taught. I have foundsome of the discussions we’ve had intutorials to be quite interesting andinspiring.

And what do you most dislike, I ask,hoping that we won’t get into a veryBritish discussion about the weather.One reason I was drawn back to Britain isthe (somewhat) ‘greener’ lifestyle than inthe US. Although I was a bit dismayed tosee how much people here rely on carsnowadays—this seems different to when Iwas here 15 years ago—there is still amuch greater environmentalconsciousness here than in the US. So Iuse a fan instead of an air conditioner!

Can you tell me a little bit about the MAin Global Affairs and its genesis? The programme was really the brainchildof Buckingham alumnus, Charles Henn.It’s designed to give professional trainingto students wanting a career at theinternational level, working forgovernment, an international organisation,or in the private, non- governmentalsector. It’s special in two ways. First, itruns for an entire 12 months, with threecourses per term for four terms; it’s thusmuch more intensive than the usual one-year MA degree. Second, and even moreimportantly, students get hands-onexperience in the kind of reasoning,writing, and oral skills that they will use intheir professional lives.

And what about your specialistcourses on it, particularly the one inInternational Negotiation? I sort of feelyou’re passionate about that.Yes, I’ve been to too many United Nationsnegotiation processes which aredominated by certain countries at leastpartly because their delegates are simplymore skilled in the art and language ofnegotiation. This course is intended tohelp students understand the process ofnegotiation and participate effectively.

What sort of students are taking theMA programme so far? Well, true to Buckingham tradition, wehave applicants from all over the world. Ofthe first cohort of 12 students, 7 areUniversity of Buckingham alumni. As theprogramme becomes better known andmore established, it will be interesting tosee if the proportion changes. I have beenvery pleasantly surprised at the largenumber of applications we’ve had for theApril 2007 intake. Most interestingly, we’vehad a number of applications from peoplewho have been working for a while—someeven already in fairly high-levelgovernment positions—who see a benefitto furthering their education here, probablyfor their longer-term career prospects.

There are lectures to be prepared andpapers to be written and a trip to Atlantacoming up over the break, so I feel I haveto leave Dr Davenport to her academicwork. As I close the door, I can hear thesound of typing resume and I have a goodfeeling because I think I know that theworld’s trees are in good hands.

The British edition of Dr Davenport’s bookGlobal Environmental Negotiations andUS Interests appeared in December 2006and is available from Amazon or theUniversity bookstore.

Linda WatermanSecretary Department of InternationalStudies/Economics

University News

13

News from the AlumniOffice

Bethany Carter

Hi everyone! My name is Bethany Carter (Beth) and Ihave just started work in the PR/Alumnioffice as 'Alumni Annual Fund andCountry Groups Coordinator'

Before coming to the University ofBuckingham I studied a three year degreeat Bath Spa University and graduated in2005 with a 2:1 BA/Hons degree inCreative Studies in English and MediaCommunications. I enjoyed my time atuniversity and made some very goodfriends with whom I know I’ll stay in touchfor the rest of my life. This is why takingon the role of looking after the countrygroups is very exciting as I understand theimportance of staying in touch with thepeople who make the universityexperience so memorable even after ithas ended.

The staff and students I have met duringmy time here so far have spoken aboutthe University with such pride andenthusiasm. The alumni have shown their

enormous support and generosity withdonations given to the annual fund and Iam very much looking forward to workingalongside such supportive and loyalpeople.

This role is going to be both a busy andexciting one and I hope to be up-datingyou with my progress in the next issueand I look forward to meeting many moreof you in the future.

Bethany CarterAlumni Annual Fund and CountryGroups Coordinator.Tel:+44 (0) 1280 820230Email: bethany.carter@buckingham.ac.uk

News from the FoundationOffice February 2007Donations in 20062006 came to an exciting end as theyear’s donations reached the £1 millionmark. Thanks are due to the Vice-Chancellor and the late Lord Harris whodevoted his last months to securingdonations for us. Thanks are also owed toour alumni who responded enthusiasticallyto the Alumni Annual Fund.

The Athenaeum LunchThe Chancellor and Vice-Chancellorhosted a lunch for donors or members oftheir families at the Athenaeum in Londonin November. It was gratifying to seeMichael Beloff and Tony Yablon, both sonsof two founding fathers of Buckingham,the late Max Beloff and the late RalphYablon respectively, conversing with LordTanlaw, another loyal friend of theUniversity. Buckingham began to feel likean extended family. Boris Johnson, theConservative MP for Henley-on-Thamesand Shadow Minister for Higher Educationspoke on the courage required to reformeducation.

The Palamountain DinnerIn January 2007, the Palamountain Trustgenerously hosted a dinner at theLeathersellers' Hall in the City of Londonto celebrate the success of thePalamountain Medal winners, and theUniversity.

The late Edgar Palamountain, in whosememory the award was created, was amember of Council and Chairman of theFinance and General PurposesCommittee. Chloe Woodhead, hisdaughter, is also a member of Council.

Among those who attended were thePalamountain family, the University’s

Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, pastVice-Chancellors, donors, PalamountainAward winners, honorary graduates,Ambassadors, High Commissioners,academics, and alumni.

The former Governor of the Bank ofEngland, Lord George, spoke onindependence. The Vice-Chancellorpraised the successes of the University.Rufus Palamountain, EdgarPalamountain’s son, gave the vote ofthanks, Ruprecht von Heusinger (BScEconomics ’93) toasted the Universityand thanked the Palamountain Trust onbehalf of the medal winners.

I wish to thank the Palamountain familyand Sarah Rush for their help in arrangingthe dinner. I also wish to thank theLeathersellers’ Livery Company forallowing the use of its splendid Hall.

Lord HarrisProfessor Norman Barry, Professor MartinRicketts and I attended the late LordHarris’s thanksgiving service. LadyThatcher, Chancellor of the Universityfrom 1993-1998, and a good friend ofRalph Harris, was present. Many ofRalph’s fellow Buckingham supportersattended the service.

Contacts with Embassies and HighCommissionsThe Vice-Chancellor and I met the IndianDeputy High Commissioner. YusufSiddiqui (LLB Law with Politics ‘99), oneof our alumni, introduced him to us. Hewould like to arrange visits from the HighCommission to the University. We alsomet the Chinese Education Minister,Counsellor Wang Yongda, at the ChineseEmbassy in London. He too hopes to visitthe University. Sarajevo School of Science andTechnology (SSST)Our collaboration with SSST flourishes;Buckingham academics make regular

visits to Sarajevo to help the University’sdevelopment. New degree programmeswill begin in October 2007.

On a recent visit to Sarajevo, fog forcedme to take an exciting overnight trainjourney through Croatia; shades of Johnle Carre crossed my mind as the trainzigzagged across borders. Working forBuckingham is never dull.

Portrait of Lord BeloffIrene Simpson, the late Max Beloff’ssecretary, and an artist, kindly donated adrawing of Max to Max’s son, Jeremy whocommented:‘It is a very good likeness with anexpression somewhat more benign than Isometimes remember. Maybe thatreflects the good times he had atBuckingham’.

Forward Together - 30th AnniversaryCampaign 2006-2012The Campaign is entering its second year.Copies of the brochure are still available.You may also download a copy fromwww.buckingham.ac.uk/ubfoundation andjoin the campaign. Funding a sports hallremains our major concern. If you knowany potential donor who might like to helpplease let me know.

Dr Mary WelsteadDirector of the University ofBuckingham FoundationDirect Line: +44 (0) 1280 820263Email: mary.welstead@buckingham.ac.uk

University News

14

Buckingham LawSchool’s LLM s

In January, the Law School welcomedalmost forty new postgraduate students toits longstanding LLM in International andCommercial Law and Diplomaprogrammes. Our LLM programmeattracted students from an incredibletwenty-five countries across fourcontinents making the student body a trulyinternational one!

Over the years, Buckingham has attainedan admirable reputation for itsconcentrated nine-month LLM programmewhich is three months less than a typicalUK LLM and a whole year less than astandard US LLM. The Buckingham LLMbrings together the scholarly interests ofstaff and postgraduate students in anacademically challenging, but friendly,environment. Faculty strengths includeInternational Law, European Law,Banking, Commercial, Intellectual Propertyand Comparative Law. The selection ofcourses, our typically English campus andcentral location with easy access toLondon, Oxford and Cambridge are keyattractions for our students. Anotherfeature of Buckingham’s LLM is theunique ‘World Trade Specialist’designation which can be obtained bysuccessfully completing certain nominatedcourses. In addition, Buckingham offers itsLLM and Diploma on a part-time basis.

Several of our current postgraduatesavailed themselves of the University’sEnglish for Academic Purposes (EAP)courses run by the English Department tohelp them meet the Law School’s Englishlanguage requirements. There is a sixmonth EAP beginning in July or a threemonth EAP course beginning inSeptember each year.

This year the breadth and depth of theLLM programme have been increased bytwo new postgraduate law courses. First,Professor Jonathan Black-Branch, aneminent academic and practitioner, nowteaches International Humanitarian Law.This course covers the regulation of therules and customs of war on land, sea andair, including the relevant instrumentspertaining to the status and protection ofprisoners of war, the protection of civilianpopulations, the use of certain weapson,the status of combatants and belligerents,the laws relating to neutrality and theinvestigation of the infractions of the lawsof armed conflict. Second, another newoffering, International Intellectual PropertyLaw, is taught by Janice Denoncourt,former IP counsel for a publicly listedAustralian technology company. Thiscourse syllabus includes the key IP

conventions and treaties, the role of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization,comparative copyright, patent, trademarkand trade secret law, art & culturalproperty and geographical indications.Our newest member of staff, JaeSundaram (formerly of the University ofPlymouth) has taken over the ever popularInternational Trade & Maritime Lawcourse.

The LLM is not just about taught lawcourses. There are a variety ofopportunities to enhance the postgraduateexperience. For example, a group ofpostgraduate law students is now involvedwith the prestigious Denning Law Journal under the supervision of theEditor, Professor Susan Edwards.Another student, Mr Numaan Zeb,represented the Law School in theregional round of the National NegotiationCompetition recently held at the College ofLaw in York. We are very proud thatProfessor Nigel Foster has recently been awarded the Jean Monnet Chair inEuropean Law and has developed linkswith German law schools through astudent and staff exchange programme. From a career perspective, a taughtmaster's degree will improve legal careerprospects and helps to distinguishcandidates from undergraduates. Theintensive nature of study on a taughtmaster’s degree course, possibly includingthe completion of a research dissertation,can help persuade employers that you areself motivated, work well under pressureand have developed more advancedanalytical and problem solving skills.

We are pleased to advise thatBuckingham law graduates are entitled toa 25% loyalty discount on full-time taughtLLM progarmme tuition fees, if they haveachieved a Second Class Honours, UpperDivision (2:1) degree, or a 33% discount ifthey have achieved a first class honoursdegree. It is easy to apply online athttp://www.buckingham.ac.uk/study/apply/index.html. Applications for the academicyear 2008 are being accepted now. Wehope you will be able to join us.

Janice DenoncourtSenior LecturerDeputy Director LLM

CAREERS CORNERLaw Alumni speak about a Day in aSolicitor’s Life

Damian Stuart (LLB Law ‘95), PaulinePurcell (LLB Law ‘99) & Paul Millan (LLM’93) (front) with current Law students

On Wednesday 7th February, three lawalumni, Pauline Purcell, Damian Stuartand Paul Millan returned to Buckingham tospeak to students about their work assolicitors in a Meet the Practitioners event.

All three of the alumni had taken ratherdifferent routes to get where they aretoday. The students learnt some of theharsh realities of today’s legal world, butalso that, if they could change their jobtomorrow, our speakers wouldn’t want todo anything else.

The alumni had various gems of advicefor our law students. They stressed theimportance of networking and using yourpersonal contacts to get placements.Make your CV different to give you theedge over other applicants. You need todo your research on the firms you apply toensure you stay “ahead of the game”.Even though a law trainee’s salary may below, the future rewards certainly seem tomake up for it.

The event concluded with refreshments inthe Careers Service office, which gave thestudents an opportunity to talk to thealumni informally and to gain more usefuladvice on their future careers.

Tracy DunkleyCareers AdvisorEmail: tracy.dunkley@buckingham.ac.uk

Blundell's Blast:Buckingham is number one, isan article written by one of our strongestsupporters, John Blundell (DirectorGeneral of the Institute of EconomicAffairs) on 11 November 2006 in hiscolumn in the Scotsman. This pieceshows that the University of Buckinghamis flourishing and reports the fact we arethe top university for students, as reportedin the THES on 25 August 2006.http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?type=pressArticle&ID=324

University News

15

Dr John W. Paulley

It is with great sadness that the Universityhas learnt of the death of Dr John W.Paulley on Saturday, 10 February.

Dr Paulley wrote a letter to The Times on27 May, 1967 calling for an independentuniversity in the UK based on the Stanfordmodel in the USA. This was thebeginning of the foundation ofBuckingham and Dr Paulley was verymuch involved in the early stages.

His son and daughter-in-law are bothalumni of Buckingham and his interest inhow Buckingham is progressing neverwaned.

Dr Paulley's funeral took place at 11am onFriday, 2 March at Stoke by Nayland inSuffolk. Professor John Clarke was askedto speak at the funeral about Dr Paulley’sinvolvement with Buckingham.

Derek Mahon on (1926 - 2007)

The University was saddened to learn ofthe death of Derek Mahon on 1 February.

Derek worked in the Student Postroomfrom the late 1980's until 1994 and,together with Tom Treacy and Di Davies,was very much a part of the students' lifeduring that time - as the Postroom 'boys'always are.

Mike Booth who worked with Derek in thepost room for 18 months before he retiredin 1994,says “he was always a very kindman, who loved to have a laugh with thestudents, even writing letters to studentswho didn’t have any post!The system in the post room was set upby Derek and is still operating verysuccessfully today, which gives anindication of how well organised a man hewas”.

Our sympathy goes to his family, andmany friends. He will be greatly missed.

Doreen Anne Gregory (1946 -2007)

It is with great sadness that the Universityhas learnt of the death of Doreen AnneGregory (BA English Literature withHistory ’00) on 23 January.

"Many students who graduated in 1999will have their own heartfelt memories of aspecial friend who graduated alongsidethem that year.

Doreen (or "Dee", a she was known) wasso proud to have completed her degree inLiterature at the University and to havestarted a new life in the surroundings ofGawcott and Buckingham.

She brought much love and joy into thelives of those who spent time with her.She had such a sharp sense of humourand a joy of laughter and dance. She wasso full of life and embraced new friends,always opening her home to those aroundher and welcoming new people into herlife. She was never at a loss for words, acompliment or a witty twist of phrase. Herability to spin a difficult situation into oneof comic relief by the use of her Sheffieldhumour was an enormous bright light forall.

Dee will be greatly missed, both at theUniversity and in the town of Buckingham.May her light continue to shine in thememories of thosewho were lucky to have known such awonderful person. Always remembered.

Jennifer Fleming

Nuhu Ahmed (1973 – 2007)

It is with great sadness that the Universityannounces the death of Nuhu Ahmedwho was killed in a car crash in Nigeria. Gregory Ioannidis, Nuhu's personal tutorsays,"I was shocked and extremely sad to beinformed about Nuhu's tragic death. As hispersonal tutor, I had the opportunity to getto know Nuhu not only as a student, butalso as a person. Despite his personalproblems he fought hard for a causewhich he believed to be sacred andbenign: a better future through hiseducation. Nuhu was a kind man, always courteousand with an unbelievable andunconditional respect for his tutors andfellow students. His smile was a source ofinspiration and joy and his perseveranceto complete his studies showed hisqualities as a student and human being.He will be greatly missed and it is withmuch sadness that I send my sincerestcondolences to his family, his wife and hischildren. I pray that God will give them thestrength and courage to support them intheir tragic bereavement."

Mr Micheal Kapeleta (1962 – 2002)

The university regrets to announce thedeath of a Malawi alumnus, MichealKapeleta (Biological Science '94) whodied whilst on an assignment in Namibia.

University News

Obituaries

To All AlumniThis publication is for you and if youwould like input into the next issue,please send comments and ideas to

Anne Matsuoka.The next publication we produce will

contain more information, updating youon where alumni are these days and

what they are up to.Please Note:

Copy for the next issue required by4th June 2007

www.buckingham.ac.uk

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Best things in life cost fees.The Sunday Telegraph, 18 February Written by the Vice Chancellor, Dr Terence Kealey,this article looks at the introduction of top up fees andnews that a 7.2 per cent increase in applicationfigures has quashed predictions that Universityadmissions would suffer as a result of the fees nowbeing charged for higher education.

The road ahead.Business Standard (India), 2 JanuaryIn this article, Service Management ProgrammeDirector, Mr V S Mahesh, offers professional advice toIndian service providers. He said,"Organisations...need to learn to manage theiremployees better, empower them and support them."

Tara Xavier Hepburn Foundation is launched.The Nassau Guardian, 22 DecemberNews that friends and family of Tara Hepburn (Law2006) have launched the Tara Xavier HepburnFoundation in her memory. "Through its work thefoundation is determined that Tara's spirit will live on."