Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a

public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

located in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, and a member institution of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' Institute by its founder Joseph Clinton Robertson and its supporters George Birkbeck,

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, J. C. Hobhouse and Henry Brougham, Birkbeck is one of the few universities to specialise in evening

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

in the United Kingdom. Birkbeck's main building is in Bloomsbury, in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

in Central London. Birkbeck offers more than 200 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Birkbeck's academic activities are organised into five constituent faculties, which are subdivided into nineteen departments. The university is a member of academic organisations such as the

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 400 member institutions in over 40 countries across the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth.European University Association The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and the exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of ...

. The university is also a member of the Screen Studies Group, London. The university's Centre for Brain Function and Development was awarded The Queen's Anniversary Prize for its brain research in 2005. Birkbeck's alumni and former and current staff include five

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

, numerous political leaders, members of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

and a British prime minister.

History

Founding

In the 11 October 1823 issue of ''Mechanic's Magazine'', a new weekly serial by JC Robertson and Thomas Hodgskin, the editors with influence from Francis Place proposed a London Mechanics' Institute. Their proposal referenced the work of Dr. George Birkbeck, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and pioneer of

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

. Birkbeck soon became central to the project and, on 11 November 1823, chaired its founding meeting at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand before a crowd of two thousand people. The Institute was not universally popular, with some accusing Birkbeck of "scattering the seeds of evil", yet Birkbeck fully devoted his efforts to the college as its founder and first president. The Institute moved into the Southampton Buildings on

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the City of London#Boundary, western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City, In 1830, it became one of the earliest colleges to admit female students. Changes to the

's structure in 1858 allowed the Institute's students to sit examinations for its degrees. The Institute became the main provider for part-time university education. In 1866 the Institute changed its name to the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution. In 1885 Birkbeck moved to the Breams Building on

Fetter Lane Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London, England. It forms part of the A4 road (England), A4 road and runs between Fleet Street at its southern end and Holborn. History The street was originally called F ...

, where it remained for the next 67 years.

Birkbeck College

In 1907 Birkbeck's name was shortened to Birkbeck College. In 1913 a review of the University of London, which had been restructured in 1900, recommended that Birkbeck become a constituent college of the University, but the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

delayed this until 1920. The

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

was granted in 1926. In 1921 the college's first female professor, Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, began teaching

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Other distinguished faculty in the years between the two world wars included

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

, J. D. Bernal and Cyril Joad. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Birkbeck was the only central University of London college not to be relocated outside the capital. In 1941 the college's library suffered a direct hit during

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

, but teaching continued. During the war the college organised lunch-time extramural lectures for the public, given by, among others, Joad, Pevsner and

Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...

. In 1952 the college moved to its present location in Malet Street.

Current status

In 2002 the college was rebranded Birkbeck, University of London, although Birkbeck College, University of London remains its full legal name. In 2003, following a major redevelopment, its building in Malet Street was reopened by the Chancellor of the University of London,

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been ...

. In 2006 Birkbeck announced that it had been granted five million pounds by the

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

to expand its provision into East London, working with the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

. The partnership, which was launched on 21 November 2006, is called Birkbeck Stratford. Birkbeck is the largest college of the University of London not to award its own degrees. Although it has held its own degree-awarding powers since 2012, Birkbeck has chosen to hold these in reserve, preferring to award University of London degrees. It also offers many

continuing education Continuing education is the education undertaken after initial education for either personal or professional reasons. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada. Recognized forms of post-secondary learning activities within the d ...

courses leading to certificates and

diplomas A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

foundation degree A foundation degree is a combined academic and vocational qualification in higher education in the United Kingdom, equivalent to two-thirds of an honours bachelor's degree. Foundation degrees were introduced by the Department for Education and ...

s, and short courses. In late October 2022 the

University and College Union The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff. UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...

published a press release in which it stated that Birkbeck was planning to significantly reduce its staff because of a multi-million-pound deficit, in a restructuring that could lead to compulsory redundancies. In the same release it was stated that the local UCU branch had passed a motion of no confidence in the senior leadership team. Protests against possible job cuts took place at Birkbeck in November 2022. In 2022 ''Birkbeck'', a history of the college, was published by Oxford University Press to mark the 200th anniversary of its foundation. Birkbeck College phototram

The School of Continuing Education

In 1876 the London Society for the Extension of University Education was founded with the aim of encouraging working people to undertake higher education. In 1903 it became the Department of Extra-Mural Studies of the

, and in 1988 was integrated into Birkbeck, first as the Centre for Extramural Studies and then as the School of Continuing Education. In 2009 the Faculty of Lifelong Learning was incorporated into the main college structure.

Campus and location

Birkbeck is principally located between Malet Street and Woburn Square in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

. The School of Arts, including the Department of English & Humanities, is housed in

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

's former residence in

Gordon Square Gordon Square is a public park square in Bloomsbury, London, England. It is part of the Bedford Estate and was designed as one of a pair with the nearby Tavistock Square. It is owned by the University of London. History and buildings The sq ...

, Bloomsbury. (Other notable former residents of the house include

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

and Lydia Lopokova.) The building includes the Birkbeck Cinema. and the Peltz Gallery. Many Birkbeck classes are taught at other locations around Bloomsbury, not only because Birkbeck is committed to

widening participation Widening participation (WP) in higher education can be a component of government education policy. It consists of an attempt to increase the number of young people entering higher education, and improve equality of opportunity for students from al ...

in higher education, but also because nearly all classes on any one day are taught at the same time, resulting in heavy competition for limited space. Birkbeck expanded into East London in November 2013. The Stratford campus transferred to the adjacent

in July 2021. A building on Euston Road was refurbished by Penoyre & Prasad to be used by Birkbeck in 2021. In 2021 it was announced that Birkbeck would be leasing

Student Central The University of London Union (ULU), known as Student Central after 2014, was the students' union of the federal University of London. Since the closure of its student governance, each student is instead primarily affiliated to a students' unio ...

. After refurbishment, the building reopened during the 2022-23 academic year.

Organisation

Faculties and schools

The college was previously organised into five schools comprising 19 departments, but was reorganised into three faculties comprising nine schools in 2023: * Faculty of Business and Law ** Birkbeck Business School ** Birkbeck Law School * Faculty of Humanities and Social Science ** School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication ** School of Historical Studies ** School of Social Sciences ** Birkbeck Centre for Counselling * Faculty of Science ** School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences ** School of Natural Sciences ** School of Psychological Sciences

Academic profile

Research and teaching

The Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities (BIR) was established in 2004, with the renowned but controversial Slovenian philosopher

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

appointed as International Director. According to its website, the Institute aims to "engage with important public issues of our time through a series of open debates, lectures, seminars and conferences" and to "foster and promote a climate of interdisciplinary research and collaboration among academics and researchers". The launch of the Institute was not without controversy, provoking an article in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' titled "What have intellectuals ever done for the world?" which criticised the ostensible irrelevance and elitism of contemporary public intellectuals. The current director of the institute is Costas Douzinas. 2004 also saw Birkbeck enter into a research and teaching collaboration with the

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

, jointly founding the London Knowledge Lab. This interdisciplinary research institute brings together social scientists and computer scientists to address research questions about technology and learning.'ALT Lab Group: London Knowledge Lab' page. Association for Learning Technology Lab Group website. Available online at: Meanwhile, the

London Consortium From 1993 to 2012, The London Consortium was a graduate school in the UK offering multidisciplinary Masters and Doctoral programs in the humanities and cultural studies at the University of London. It was administered by Birkbeck, University of L ...

, a graduate school that represents a collaboration between Birkbeck, the Tate Galleries, the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

, the Architectural Association, and, until 1999, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, has been running since the mid-1990s, offering master's and doctoral degrees in interdisciplinary humanities and cultural studies. Its permanent and adjunct faculty has included Tom McCarthy, Colin MacCabe, Laura Mulvey, Steven Connor,

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...

Juliet Mitchell Juliet Mitchell, Lady Goody (born 4 October 1940) is a British psychoanalyst, socialist feminist, research professor and author. Early life and education Mitchell was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1940, and then moved to England in ...

, Stuart Hall, the late

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

, Tilda Swinton as well as

. Its current chair is

Anthony Julius Anthony Robert Julius (born 16 July 1956) is a British solicitor advocate known for being Diana, Princess of Wales' divorce lawyer and for representing Deborah Lipstadt. He is the deputy chairman at the law firm Mishcon de Reya and honorary ...

. David Latchman, who became Master of the Birkbeck in 2003, forged closer relations between Birkbeck and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL). Joint research centres include the UCL/Birkbeck Institute for Earth and Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck/IoE Centre for Educational Neuroscience, the UCL/Birkbeck Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, and the Birkbeck-UCL Centre for Neuroimaging. Science research at Birkbeck has a notable tradition.

David Bohm David Joseph Bohm (; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American scientist who has been described as one of the most significant Theoretical physics, theoretical physicists of the 20th centuryDavid Peat Who's Afraid of Schrödinger' ...

, who made notable contributions to the theory of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

, was Professor of

Theoretical Physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

from 1961 to 1987, and other distinguished Birkbeck scientists include

Aaron Klug Sir Aaron Klug (11 August 1926 – 20 November 2018) was a British biophysicist and chemist. He was a winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biol ...

in the Department of

crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...

, Derek Barton in the Department of Chemistry, and

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

and

in the Department of Physics. Kathleen Booth wrote the first computer assembly language. Birkbeck is part of the Institute of Structural Molecular Biology, which includes the Bloomsbury Centre for

Structural biology Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

, established in 1998. This is a collaborative venture between Birkbeck and UCL, and is a leading academic centre for translating gene sequences and determining

protein structure Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers specifically polypeptides formed from sequences of amino acids, which are the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid ...

and function. It also includes the Bloomsbury Centre for Bioinformatics, a collaborative venture also between Birkbeck College and University College London for research into

Bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field of science that develops methods and Bioinformatics software, software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Bioinformatics uses biology, ...

Genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of molecular biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, ...

Systems Biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological system ...

Grid computing Grid computing is the use of widely distributed computer resources to reach a common goal. A computing grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve many files. Grid computing is distinguished fro ...

and

Text mining Text mining, text data mining (TDM) or text analytics is the process of deriving high-quality information from text. It involves "the discovery by computer of new, previously unknown information, by automatically extracting information from differe ...

. Birkbeck was ranked 13th in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

's'' 2001

Research Assessment Exercise The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils ( HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British ...

and 26th in the ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

's'' equivalent table. In the 2008 RAE results, Birkbeck ranked in the top 25% of UK multi-faculty Higher Education Institutions. The RAE rated the quality of research in a range of subjects at 159 Higher Education Institutions in the UK. Birkbeck submissions from Earth Sciences, Psychology, History, Classics and Archaeology and History of Art, Film and Visual Media were rated in the top five nationally. In REF2014, half of Birkbeck's submissions were rated in the top 20 nationally, and eight submissions received 100% ranking for Research Environment. 73% of Birkbeck's research was rated "world-leading" (4*) or "internationally excellent" (3*). In the 2021 REF exercise, Birkbeck performed very well throughout, with notable success in English Language & Literature, where Birkbeck was second nationally, and Art and Design, where Birkbeck was fourth nationally.

Rankings

Birkbeck's Centre for Brain Function and Development was awarded The Queen's Anniversary Prize for its brain research in 2005. In 2010, Birkbeck was shortlisted for the ''Times Higher Education'' University of the Year Award. In 2021 the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' ranked Birkbeck 95th in the world for Psychology. The university is consistently ranked in the top 100 in the world by ''QS World University Rankings'' for English Language & Literature and Philosophy. Internationally, Birkbeck was ranked within the top 400 universities in the world by the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020'' and ''QS World University Rankings 2020.'' In 2018 Birkbeck announced that it would withdraw from UK university rankings because their methodologies unfairly penalise it, since "despite having highly rated teaching and research, other factors caused by its unique teaching model and unrelated to its performance push it significantly down the ratings".

Students' Union

The Birkbeck Students' Union (BBKSU) was founded in 1904 and was one of the founding members of the National Union of Students. Initially governed by a Council, elected from and responsible to the students, today it is governed jointly by a Student Council, Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. Students initially paid an annual membership fee to join, but students are now automatically registered as members when they enrol onto a course at the college. Birkbeck Students' Union offers a number of student groups for students, as well as a various sports clubs that compete in the LUSL. It also provides student representation, support and advice services, as well as volunteer and employment opportunities.

Notable people

File:Official portrait of Kemi Badenoch MP crop 2, 2024.jpg , Kemi Badenoch, Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Essex and Leader of the Conservative Party File:Derek-Harold-Richard-Barton.jpg, Derek Barton, Organic Chemist and Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry, 1969 File:Antony Beevor 01.JPG,

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War. ...

, military historian File:Annie Besant - portrait.jpg,

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

, British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and philanthropist. File:Blackett-large.jpg, Patrick Blackett, professor of physics and Nobel prize winner in Physics 1948 File:David Bohm.jpg,

, physicist and author File:Alex Corbisiero Northampton (cropped).png, Alex Corbisiero, Rugby union player File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP crop 2.jpg,

Ed Davey Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, leader of the Liberal Democrat party since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State ...

, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change File:Dido 2019 (cropped 2).jpg, Dido (singer), Multi award-winning Singer/Songwriter and recording artist File:Thomas Stearns Eliot by Lady Ottoline Morrell (1934).jpg, T. S. Eliot, lecturer in English and Nobel prize winner in Literature 1948 File:Tracey Emin 1-cropped.jpg, Tracy Emin, British artist File:Martin Paul Eve on the sea front.png, Martin Paul Eve, Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing File:Orlando Figes Barcelona 2023.jpg, Orlando Figes, historian File:David fleming blackheath.jpg, David Fleming, inventor of the Tradable Energy Quotas File:Marcus Garvey 1924-08-05.jpg,

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

, political leader and founder of UNIA-ACL and Black Star Line File:Julia Goldsworthy, MP.JPG, Julia Goldsworthy, British Liberal Democrat politician and former Member of Parliament File:AC Grayling.jpg, A. C. Grayling, British philosopher and author File:Coventry Scouts groups have a visit from Bear Grylls.jpg, Bear Grylls, adventurer and television presenter File:Eric Hobsbawm.jpg,

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. His best-known works include his tetralogy about what he called the "long 19th century" (''Th ...

, historian File:The Capture of William Joyce, Germany, 1945 BU6910.jpg,

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born Fascism, fascist and Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the World War II, Second World War. After moving from ...

, politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster File:Eric Kaufmann speaking at event (cropped).jpg,

Eric Kaufmann Eric Peter Kaufmann (born 11 May 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian professor of politics at the University of Buckingham. He was appointed in October 2023, following his resignation from his post at Birkbeck, University of London, after two decades ...

, Canadian professor of politics. File:Aaron Klug 1979.jpg,

, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry File:J. Ramsay MacDonald LCCN2014715885 (cropped).jpg,

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

, first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom File:John McDonnell 2011.jpeg,

John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington ...

, MP and former

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer The shadow chancellor of the exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer, chancellor of ...

File:DenisMacShane.jpg, Denis MacShane, British former Labour Member of Parliament File:Official portrait of Lisa Nandy MP crop 2.jpg,

Lisa Nandy Lisa Eva Nandy (born 9 August 1979) is a British Labour Party politician serving as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since 2024. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Wigan constituency since 2010. Nandy previ ...

, British Labour Member of Parliament. File:Official portrait of Gloria De Piero crop 2.jpg, Gloria De Piero, journalist and former Labour Member of Parliament. File:Roger Penrose at Festival della Scienza Oct 29 2011.jpg,

, physicist and winner of 2020

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

File:Arthur Wing Pinero Mw05020.jpg, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, dramatist and stage director File:Romesh Ranganathan in 2013 (cropped) 3.jpg, Romesh Ranganathan, British-Sri Lankan actor, radio host and stand-up comedian File:Daisy Ridley Our Movie Guide 2024.png, Daisy Ridley, English actress and star of the Star Wars sequel trilogy File:Delcy Rodriguez June 2016 (27571633682) (cropped).jpg,

Delcy Rodríguez Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez (born 18 May 1969) is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and ...

, Venezuelan politician serving as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018 File:Official portrait of Nick Smith crop 2.jpg, Nick Smith, Welsh Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blaenau Gwent since 2010 File:Roger Scruton by Pete Helme.jpg,

, philosopher and activist File:Dr. Helen Sharman (cropped).jpg , Helen Sharman, British Astronaut and first British person in space File:Henri Tajfel.jpg, Henri Tajfel, social psychologist File:kitty ussher at election count in burnley 2009.JPG, Kitty Ussher, British economist and former politician who is the chief economist at the Institute of Directors File:Sidney Webb.jpg,

Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Geo ...

, economist and co-founder of the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

File:Slavoj Zizek in Liverpool cropped.jpg, Slavoj Zizek, philosopher and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities

References

External links

*
Birkbeck, University of London student lists

Birkbeck, University of London military personnel,1914–1918
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkbeck, University Of London University of London Educational institutions established in 1823 1823 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Bloomsbury Universities UK