New building names on the Whiteknights campus

Friday, 04 November 2011

The Russell building

In recent months a number of buildings on the Whiteknights campus have been renamed. One of the reasons for these changes is that the old subject specific building names no longer reflected all of the work that is carried out in these buildings.

Another reason is to reflect the names of just some of the eminent individuals who have a strong connection with the University.

Miller building - formerly Geography

Austin Miller served the University for 40 years from 1926, first as Lecturer in charge of Physical Geography. He spent 22 years as Head of Department and four years as Dean of the Faculty. Nationally, Miller was a founder member of the Institute of British Geographers (1933) of which he became president in 1946. The Royal Geographical Society recognised his achievements with its 'Murchison Award' in 1963, and when he died in 1968 his obituary was published in the 'Geographical Journal'.

Wager building - formerly Geoscience

Dr Lawrence Rickard Wager was employed by the University in 1929 as Junior Lecturer in Geology. Wager published a seminal piece of work on petrology (the study of rocks) in 1939 that is still widely cited today, and he undertook some truly extraordinary scientific and personal feats during his time at Reading, including an expedition to the summit of Everest in 1933. The expedition reached the highest point achieved on Everest (28,100 ft) without oxygen at the time, and was not bettered until 1978.

Russell building - formerly Soil Science

Walter Russell effectively established the Department of Soil Science and served as its first head from 1964-70. Russell is best known as the author of the eighth, ninth and tenth editions of the book 'Soil conditions and Plant growth' - the first seven editions being authored by his father Sir E John Russell. The several editions of this book, which provides an up-to-date account of our knowledge of the soil as a medium for plant growth, have played no small part in shaping the evolution of soil science in Britain and many other countries of the world. Russell also played an important role in the founding of the British Society of Soil Science.