Following an excellent lunch, Miss J.D.Browne, the first Principal of the City of Coventry Training College / College of Education opened the afternoon session, giving an up-date on her current situation. Professor Gordon Lawrence, Principal/Director 1975-84, then introduced Jim Rushton, the guest speaker, who until recently was Deputy Registrar of the University and is now Operations Director of the Warwick-based National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. Jim gave a fascinating talk entitled 'Arable to Academic-A History of the University'. Slides of the University site over the years illustrated the tremendous growth of the campus, with some of the early shots featuring the College in the top right hand corner - long before the merger was even contemplated.

The College films are now available on video and DVD. They feature the Men's Emergency Training College, circa 1947 and the City of Coventry Training College for Women filmed around 1949, with the opening of Arden added in 1951. Copies can be ordered from the Development and Alumni Relations Office on 024 7657 4417 at a cost of £9 (video) and £10 (DVD) inclusive of postage. Don't miss this chance to own some real vintage footage. The films really are a wonderful primary source of social history.

After drinks on the Terrace, alumni were welcomed to the House of Lords by Warwick graduate, Baroness Amos, Leader of the House of Lords. Baroness Amos studied Sociology at Warwick in the early 1970s. Further information about her can be found in the latest edition of 'Warwick, the magazine' (visit www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/warwickmagazine04/).

Some lucky guests also received a personal tour of the House by Lord Harrison himself. They were even able to have a peek into the Chamber where, aptly, the Higher Education bill was being debated.

Professor David Rand, Chair of Mathematics, and the Vice Chancellor, Professor David VandeLinde, welcomed everyone to campus and invited emeritus staff to perform the opening ceremony. Many pairs of scissors were used by Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman and Professors Carter, Epstein, Harrison, Marcus, Parry, Robinson, Sanderson and Stoneheuer to cut the red ribbon. We were delighted that, in the line up, Margaret Green and Denise Fowler were able to represent Sandy Green who was unwell and David Fowler who sadly died earlier this year.

Mathematics and Statistics at Warwick enjoy internationally acclaimed reputations but these in themselves present challenges. Getting to the top is one thing, yet staying there can be quite another challenge. As a result, five academics gave one and half minute presentations to make their case for financial support of Mathematics and Statistics– for the Research Centre, for enabling access, for the Schools Teaching projects, for encouraging teachers and for facilitating academic visitors to the Statistics department. We are very pleased to say that this plea has already resulted in generous contributions from several alumni for which we are very grateful. If any other alumni would like to support Mathematics and Statistics at Warwick, please email mary.mcgrath@warwick.ac.uk for further details.

In the wake of a handful of high profile corporate collapses, the issue of governance and effective Board processes has become a key debate. Since the Cadbury report, there have been a large number of codes of conduct published, the latest being the Combined Code. Laudable though these codes are, they have one key inherent weakness. None of them describe the processes and features of an effective Board nor highlight the differences between those that are more and less successful. Professor Wilson gave a very interesting and insightful talk on these crucial issues, highlighting key findings of recent Warwick Business School research, both in terms of the challenges facing today's Boards and the characteristics of more effective Boards.

The next Senior Directors' Forum will take place in November. The Forum is by invitation only. If we do not hold business details for you but you think that you might be eligible to join the group and be put on the invitation list, please apply by email to tess.robinson@warwick.ac.uk giving details of your position and company.