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At the 2019 Graduation Ceremony at Royal Festival Hall, it was an honour and privilege to present Emeritus Professor Lees with a maquette of Sefton in recognition of both his tireless dedication to the discipline of pharmacology and to developing future generations of biomedical and bioveterinary scientists at the RVC.
In 1982 a terrorist attack resulted in a bomb exploding in Hyde Park killing four soldiers and seven military horses, as well as injuring many more soldiers and horses.
The most severely wounded of the horses was Sefton, suffering 34 separate injuries. Despite the extent and severity of these injuries, Sefton’s determination and his expert veterinary care resulted in him not only recovering but also being able to serve in the army for a further two years before finally retiring. Sefton captured the nation’s hearts and he came to symbolise the resilience that is characteristic of the UK’s armed forces and the people who care for their well-being.
A bronze statue of Sefton was sponsored by RVC Honorary Fellow, the late Lord Ballyedmond, to honour the life-time achievements of one of the College’s
longest serving senior academics, Professor Peter Lees, who retired in 2010.
The statue stands on the location of the original equine hospital and adjacent to a suite of the College research laboratories. At the statue’s unveiling in October 2013, Lord Ballyedmond commented, “I am pleased to be able to offer my support to honour the work of Professor Peter Lees.” This statue of Sefton will seal Peter’s place in history as a pioneer of veterinary pharmacology and his unwavering dedication to research.
While several esteemed friends of the College have received copies of the Sefton bronze, we realised, at least partly because Peter kept reminding us, as yet the individual honoured by its creation had not and we felt it was high time this anomaly was corrected.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Professor Peter Lees presented with a maquette of Sefton at Graduation
RVC’s Jim Bee award winners
During our Graduation ceremonies in July, as well
as celebrating the successes of our recent graduates, we celebrate the work of our staff. Each year students nominate staff for their outstanding individual contributions to student education.
In July 2019 the following awards were made to our staff:
Roisin Bolger (of the Blue Cross) for outstanding Practical teacher (including rotations)
Maria Diez Leon and Dan O’Neill for outstanding Project Supervisors
Barry Ewens (from Endells) for outstanding Small Group Facilitator
Barbara Haesler for outstanding PhD Supervisor
Kelvin Ho for outstanding support staff member
Paul Pollard for outstanding contribution of feedback to students
Aleks Schaefer for outstanding Lecturer
Sarah Williams and Victoria Waring for outstanding tutors
Live Team Development Award winners
The Lifelong Independent Veterinary Education (LIVE) team also award
a prize for a Team Development Project. The 2019 award went to:
Charlotte Lawson, Sarah Channon, Troy Gibson and Darryl Slack (from Brunel) for their project
titled: Development of VR learning materials to prepare undergraduate students for practical and field- based study
Many congratulations to them all on their hard work and contributions to the RVC.
Jon Parry receives Aimhigher award
Congratulations to our Head of Widening Participation, Jon Parry, who received Aimhigher London’s award for the ‘Most Significant
and Sustained Commitment’ to the work of Aimhigher. The award ceremony took place in July 2019 at Senate House, recognising those who have encouraged pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their aspirations.
The RVC works with schools and young people to encourage them to find out more about future career options; for example
through our Junior and Teen Vet Club networks and Summer schools. Social mobility is very important to the RVC; our Veterinary Gateway course provides a route into Veterinary Medicine for those who have overcome considerable barriers in pursuing their goals.
Well done to Jon for this great achievement.
To find out more about the work of Jon’s team go to www.rvc.ac.uk/study/rvc-for-all
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