The tradition of inaugural lectures dates back to the early 1910s at Westfield College and continued on through QMUL’s history.
For those interested in the history of this series at QMUL, the archives holds various papers on inaugural lectures from Westfield College and QMUL dating back to 1918. This includes transcripts of lectures, correspondence with speakers, and numerous posters and notices to advertise the lectures.
During the Second World War, whilst Westfield stopped public lectures, the programme of inaugural lectures carried on throughout. This included a lecture in 1941 by Norman Baynes titled ‘After reading Hitler’s speeches’ and a lecture given by the Principle to open the 1945-1946 session titled ‘London’ to celebrate Westfield’s return to metropolitan life.
Lectures have been given across all subjects at the university, including a lecture by G.O. Jones on ‘Boundaries of Physics’ in 1954, a lecture titled ‘The Catastrophe in Shakespeare’s Tragedy’ delivered in 1967, a lecture by P.B.J. Clarricoats from Electrical Engineering on ‘Communication through Space, Flame and Fibre’ in 1970, and an address by Dr Patrick Moore titled ‘Halley’s Comet’ in 1986.
If you would like more information on the re-launch of the Inaugural Lecture Series or wish to attend any events please see the QMUL Events page. Alternatively, if you would like to see any of the archive holdings on Inaugural lectures please contact us at: archives@qmul.ac.uk.