Imperial celebrates long serving staff

Long serving staff with almost 2000 combined years of experience at Imperial have been celebrated by the College.

President Gast congratulates those staff for shaping the College and making enduring contributions at one of two events held to recognise members of staff who reached a significant milestone in their service to the College.

Long servers from the Departments of Physics, Chemical Engineering and Medicine as well as ICT, Estates and Catering Services, came together to celebrate their time at the College.

Extraordinary and enduring contributions

President Alice Gast hosted a dinner for the 16 long servers who reached between 35 and 50 years of service last year. 

It is important that you know how much we appreciate your commitment. Professor Alice Gast President

Congratulating them Professor Gast said:

“Your dedication makes Imperial a wonderful place to work. You’ve played an important role in shaping the College we know today, going above and beyond in your roles, helping colleagues, students, community members and others, and contributing to Imperial’s continuing excellence.

“You have dedicated a good portion of your career to Imperial and made extraordinary and enduring contributions to Imperial and to the world. It is important that you know how much we appreciate your commitment.”

We caught up with some of the attendees to find out more about their time at the College.

Anne Barrett, College Archivist & Corporate Records Manager

Anne Barrett, College Archivist & Corporate Records Manager, attended the dinner to mark 35 years of service. Having taken over the Archives in 1989 and spending the first 10 years tackling it alone, the team has now grown and also handles Records Management and Freedom of Information. Anne is also the author of Women at Imperial College, a celebration of women in science, technology, medicine and business at the College.

Reflecting on her time at Imperial so far, Anne said: “I’ve had lots of support in terms of who I’ve worked with. There’s always been something new to do, particularly as now everything is becoming digital. Archives are really about the future – the message I want to get across is that in the digital age, if early career researchers don’t save their own digital history, no one else can.”

During the dinner, Anne also shared her knowledge of the College’s history and her memories of the last 35 years. She explained that 50 years ago the South Kensington Campus would have been full of building work and the Queen’s Tower would have just been completed. The word campus at this time was not commonplace, and the area west of Exhibition Road was known as the Island site.

Anne remembers there being no computers except for academic work and it was only in 1980 that women were allowed in the student union bar uninvited. Other changes during Anne’s time at Imperial include the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine, new buildings such as the Faculty Building and the Imperial College School of Medicine.

Fiona May, Senior Laboratory Technician, Department of Life Sciences

Senior Laboratory Technician in the Department of Life Sciences Fiona May attended the dinner to celebrate 40 years at Imperial.

Looking back on her time at Imperial, Fiona said: “I started working at Wye College in Kent and then moved to Imperial’s South Kensington Campus. The job has always changed and I’ve had a lot of things to do, with modern technology of course having an impact. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve always had great people to work with.”

Commitment and dedication

Imperial’s Provost, Professor James Stirling, also hosted a drinks reception for those who had reached 20, 25 and 30 years of service last year.

Speaking to attendees, he said: “You have all helped our university develop and grow both as an institution and as a community. The great discoveries and innovations that we have made in our research and the over 100,000 graduates we have educated over that period would not have been possible without the hard work, commitment and dedication of you, our much valued and much loved long-serving staff.

“You have given a very significant amount of your working life to Imperial and it’s important that you know how much we appreciate what you have done for us.”

View more photos from the events: