During my London sabbatical I have visiting positions at both Imperial College and University College London. As it happens, UCL is celebrating its bicentenary this month, so I stopped by their main building and student center to view the exhibits. It is open to the public and is worth a visit.
When UCL was founded, 200 years ago this month, it was the first new university in England for many hundreds of years – before UCL, there were only Oxford and Cambridge. London, one of the biggest cities in the world at the time, had no university. The founders were keen to launch a new university that was open to all, but it took them several years to obtain a formal royal charter so they could grant official degrees. The charter itself was on display:
UCL was the first UK university to admit students regardless of religion or social background, and the first to welcome women into higher education alongside men. UCL now has over 51,000 students from over 150 countries. It has produced 33 Nobel Laureates and is a world-leader in many research fields. For sustainability, UCL ranks 1st in the UK, 2nd in Europe, and 3rd globally according to the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026.
Alongside the informational signs and historical artifacts – including the founder Jeremy Bentham himself (yes, really), I found a most intriguing interactive display in the student center.
Inside a classic red London phone booth was a telephone handset – photo below. You step inside the booth, pick up the handset, and then dial a five-digit number corresponding to one of the alums pictured in the little phonebook. You then listen to a short audio clip in which that alum, in their own voice, tells a brief story about their experience at the college. Very cool!
I must say, though, the most amusing part are the instructions about how to dial the phone. After all, it’s located in the student center, and most students today won’t know how to dial a phone.
gosh, I’m getting old!
David Kotz 