2025 is a landmark year for the RAU as we turn 180.
To celebrate this historic milestone, we will be hosting a number of events throughout the year alongside our usual University calendar.
These will include a series of free 180th anniversary lectures on the challenges and opportunities facing our environment, farming, food and water security, and land management, as well as a community Open Day on Saturday 13 September to coincide with the date the first students were admitted to the then Royal Agricultural College in 1845 and many other events.
We hope that you will join us to celebrate our 180th anniversary throughout 2025.
You can read more about our history as the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world.
Details of the 180 lecture series, and how to book, are below. This will be updated with further events as they are confirmed.
180th Lecture Series
| Date | Time | Lecture | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, 2 April 2025 | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
'Cerealsly' Rethinking Arable Growing Systems. Nicola Cannon, RAU Professor of Agriculture, with Andy Cato, Wildfarmed co-founder. |
Boutflour Hall, RAU campus |
| Wednesday, 11 June 2025 | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Globalisation and Empire; an archaeology Mark Horton, RAU Professor and Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise with William Dalrymple, author. |
Boutflour Hall, RAU campus |
| Wednesday, 16 July | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Dancing with Daffodils. Xianmin Chang, RAU Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (China Programmes) with Kevin Stephens, CEO of Agroceutical Products Ltd. |
Kenneth Russell Room, RAU campus |
| Wednesday, 10 September | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Our Future in the Land. Presented by Professor Tom MacMillan, Elizabeth Creak Chair at the RAU and Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC). |
Boutflour Hall, RAU campus |
| Wednesday, 22 October | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Making Farming Buzz Again. Professor Duncan Westbury, RAU Dean of Land and Property Management, and Ann Conquest, Land Use Consultants, Associate Director, Rural Land Management. |
Boutflour Hall, RAU campus |
| Wednesday, 12 November | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Water, Wastewater, everywhere… Every Drop Counts! Delivered by Professor Kiran Tota-Maharaj, Water Resources Management and Infrastructure and Andrew Blackhall, CEO Water Research Centre. Tickets will be available soon. |
Boutflour Hall, RAU campus |
