Harper Adams University, founded in 1901 as Harper Adams College, is a public university located close to the village of Edgmond, near Newport, in Shropshire, England. Established in 1901, the college is a specialist provider of higher education for the agricultural and rural sector. It gained university college status in 1998, and university status in 2012 when the requirements were relaxed. The university provides more than 50 foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes to students from over 30 countries. The university is set within a 550 hectare (1360 acre) working farm. Harper Adams College, which would become the University, was founded in 1901. Its first Principal was Headworth Foulkes (1901–1922). Thomas Harper Adams, a wealthy Shropshire gentleman farmer, died in 1892, bequeathing the estate with was the original foundation. The College had just six students to begin with. In 1909 a specialist poultry husbandry was created.During the First World War, Harper Adams remained open, and in 1915 the first women were admitted into the College on wartime farm courses. Harper Adams was the first institute to do so, and in 1916 women were admitted as full-time students onto a wide variety of courses. Approximately, 200 staff and former students served during the war and 40 are known to have died as a result. In 2015, 10 additional names were added to the university's memorial board, after previously unrecorded alumni were also discovered to been killed in action. A board in the Old Library listing the names of those killed was dedicated in March 2015, crafted by Peter Nunn of the university's estate department, whilst a new memorial garden was also created outside the library. The agricultural depression of the 1920s onward led to a drop in student numbers. In 1922, Charles Crowther (1922–1944) became Principal and efforts were taken to ensure the College stayed open. The National Institute of Poultry Husbandry opened in 1926, bringing with it to Harper a high profile in areas of teaching and research. The College managed to stay open during the Second World War, and in 1939 the first girls arrived at the College. Bill Price (1946–1962) become Principal in 1946 and student numbers steadily rose to 222. The Jubilee Hostel was opened in 1951. Reginald Kenny became Principal in 1962 until 1977. In 1964, the funding of the College was passed from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Department of Education and Science. The first Higher National Diploma students were enrolled in 1969. Tony Harris was later appointed Principal in 1977 until 1994. Degree courses were first introduced at Harper Adams in 1981. The university was one of the first institutions to introduce a BSc. sandwich course. The CNAA granted Harper Adams the authority to validate its own courses. In 1985, the science building was opened by The Princess Margaret.Student numbers passed 1000 for the first time in 1991. In 1994, three new student residences were opened. Wynn Jones became Principal in 1996, and later that year the Privy Council granted the university degree awarding powers. In 1998, Harper Adams gained the title of University College. In 2004, Harper Adams was awarded £2.1 million in funding to develop its work with rural businesses. Harper Adams gained the power to award research degrees in 2006 and shortly after, a new Biomass Hall was opened. Dr David Llewellyn was appointed Principal in 2009. In the September, a new £2.3 million dairy unit was opened and in December, a £3million award-winning Regional Food Academy (RFA) was officially opened by The Princess Royal. In 2010, Nick Herbert opened a Postgraduate and Professional Development Centre, and in the same year the Faccenda student centre and a new student hall of residence were opened. An anaerobic digester opened in 2011, expects to offset the carbon emissions of the university three times over annually. It won a Renewable Energy Infrastructure Award and hosts an award-winning anaerobic digestion facility. Harper Adams is a lead academic sponsor of the JCB Academy which opened in 2010. JCB Academy was the first university technical college to be established in England. In 2012, Harper Adams had the title 'university' conferred upon it. This ended the institution's long history of being a college and consequently, Harper Adams became Shropshire's first university. The university runs a joint veterinary school with Keele University. The development comprises a veterinary hospital, a clinical skills centre, and the Keele campus-based Veterinary School hub facilities. Developed by CVS on the Keele University Science and Innovation Park, the facilities will be ready for the first student intake in autumn 2020.Since it was founded in 1901, Harper has been designed to meet this challenge. Set on a 494 hectare farm, we are the leading specialist university tackling the future development of our planet's food production, processing, animal sciences, engineering, land management and sustainable business. With everything from molecular diagnostics laboratories to food processing facilities at your disposal, you'll be well equipped to experiment. There are 494 hectares of farm land to work with here, so testing your theory in the field is more than a possibility. It's a reality. From crop-spraying drones to life-saving technology, we don't just dream up new ideas and innovations here. We build them. Our research brings together staff and students to tackle the biggest problems that our planet faces today. With a placement as part of every course, and a £4M Innovation Centre built by Saputo Dairy UK on campus, you won't just learn about industry. You'll be a part of it. We've been established since 1901, but that doesn't mean we're stuck in the past. We been the Times and Sunday Times University Guide’s highest rated modern university since 2017. On campus, you'll find cutting-edge facilities like a £2.93 million Agricultural Engineering Innovation Centre and a £4 million food innovation centre. It's not just our facilities that are cutting-edge, our research is too. In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF2014), 100 per cent of our research was declared of international quality, with more than 50 per cent either world leading or internationally excellent. We're set on a 494-hectare farm in the heart of England, but our outlook and ideas are global. There are students from more than 30 countries on campus, working with lecturers and businesses from all over the world. We know that there's a lot more to think about when you're an international studying in the UK, so we have a lot of ways to help. We'll give you priority for on-campus accommodation if needed, help you settle in, and provide free language and study skills support. Our student support team is on hand to answer any questions you have.
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