After meeting students, staff, and creative economy leaders, Lord Hall of Birkenhead unveiled the plaque at the USW Cardiff Campus, in the heart of Cardiff’s growing creative industries zone between Pinewood, the Roath Lock drama village, and the new BBC Wales HQ in the city centre.
Lord Hall announced the creation of new Fellowships at USW for senior BBC leaders, who will lecture at the University and host USW students at BBC headquarters across the UK.
Speaking in an evening ceremony after receiving an Honorary Doctorate of the University, Tony Hall said: “Our BBC Fellows at USW will be drawn from many different areas of specialism – in journalism, leadership, radio, TV and digital media – and they will all represent the brightest and best of the BBC. Over time, I hope they will provide students here with a real insight into a complex media world and how our biggest broadcasters are adapting at a time of unprecedented flux and change.”
The development is home to USW’s Faculty of Creative Industries, replicating industry workplaces across the creative sector to provide students with professional dance studios, broadcast film and TV studios, photography studios, drama theatre spaces, animation renderfarm, and music recording studios.
Jane McCloskey, USW’s Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries, said: “Our aim is for our USW Cardiff Campus to grow as a powerhouse for growth and creativity.
“We’re providing a pipeline of creative talent. We do this through teaching by professionals who work in their industries. We do it through placements with our partners in the creative economy, from film studios to animation start-ups, and we do it in the most innovative professional simulation facilities. We’re opening the doors to industry professionals to work with the next generation of emerging talent.”
Professor Julie Lydon, USW Vice-Chancellor, said: “The campus and these Fellowships reflect USW’s focus on the workplace. That vocational emphasis on careers is something that’s in our DNA, and we’re proud of it.
“Whether our graduates are winning Oscars for their documentaries, growing start-up businesses, publishing books, recording albums – and we’re proud that they do all of those things – they’re adding both to our economy and to the society around us.”
