Staff, students, alumni and friends share their memories and stories of the University, click on a photo to read the full story.
Heather and Clive Mann
If neither of us had worked for Cardiff University we wouldn’t have met and so the University has played a huge role in both of our lives…
Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno
My time at Cardiff taught me the true meaning of education - to make use of one’s learning in improving the lives of others…
Captain Kenneth Nelson
During these air-raids on Cardiff many public buildings and private residences were either severely damaged or completely destroyed. Our University was no exception. Throughout the Blitz teams of students and staff undertook fire-fighting duties at the University…
Mike Bruford
Recently we went to a village and a man said 'would you like to see an orang-utan?' What he meant was, I've got one in my back garden…
Andrew Glanfield
Our ambition means that sometimes we tend to give ourselves a hard time, and we often don’t take enough time to celebrate our many achievements…
Glenys Kinnock
The 'big city' did not, however, disappoint and I immediately dived into student politics…
Siân Lloyd
One of the best decisions of my life was to attend Cardiff University.…
Barbara Michaels
I am always thrilled to hear of Cardiff University’s successes, and still feel personally involved with the University. I initially gained entrance to university when I was 17, but decided to pursue a career in journalism instead.
Nicki Phillips
This summer I travelled to Beijing as Chief Physiotherapist to Team GB, which was a fantastic privilege to be part of such a successful Olympic team performance.
Professor Sir Martin Evans and Lady Judith Evans
The King presents each laureate with a diploma in calligraphic text mounted in red leather and an engraved gold medal made from 18 karat green gold and plated with 24 karat gold.…
Jayne Dowden
It has seen hard times but has risen to the challenges and opportunities presented.…
Adriano Graziani
As a Welsh singer, if somebody thinks you have a talent, they really try to push it.…
Martin Engel
It’s a good feeling to experience how you can make such a valuable difference, change and improvement to the lives of those children.…
Professor Patricia Price
As one of five daughters my parents had made it clear that I could only go if I was awarded a full grant!....…
Saleem Kidwai
I always dreamed of being part of the University. In 2007, I had the privilege of becoming one of the first Muslims to be awarded an honorary fellowship at Cardiff.
Simon Hall
The image of being urinated on by a cow, live on air, will never leave my mind. Nor indeed will the smell.
Sandra Elliott
As the reputation of Cardiff develops overseas through research, partnerships and the flow of international students, it makes the role more challenging but also more rewarding and ever changing.…
Louise Casella
Cardiff’s sense of community has never been lost, yet we now boast a global reach and breadth of interest that really connects us to the world…
David Jones
Upon arriving at my halls of residence, my anxiety lasted all of 2 hours- until I met the first of my flat-mates, Alex. I immediately felt I belonged…
Caroline Brown
During my time at the University I have enjoyed being involved in arranging two fundraising balls for Tenovus through the Social and Community Action Network
Edna Adan Ismail
If an old woman can build a hospital then anybody can do anything
Jonathan Shepherd
I arrived in Cardiff wanting to do something about the seemingly endless stream of facial injury victims who ended up on NHS operating tables after a night’s drinking…
Dr Judith Hall
Anything we can do is worth doing…
Professor Bryan Jones
It has been particularly gratifying to observe Cardiff’s transition from the small college of 1000 students 50 years ago to this large University of 26,000 students, which has an international reputation in so many areas.
Brian Richardson
Into the TARDIS...time to move forward
Anne Morgan
My inauguration as High Sheriff brought back very many happy memories of my time at Cardiff…
Nelson Turgo
The truth is I don’t know what book to read: it’s an embarrassment of riches…
Sir Donald Walters
By now dear reader you are probably wondering why particularly I am such a fan of the Union…
Marian Williams
However, I still hankered after a full-time university education and, inspired by a series of lunch-time History lectures I had attended, I summoned all my courage and applied for a place to read History at the School of History and Archaeology in Cardiff…
Huw Edwards
I am very proud of my association with Cardiff University…
Les Rees
The Dean of Nursing and I conducted the ceremony in Welsh for a group of somewhat bemused Dutch-speaking postgraduate nurses before going out to celebrate “Carnival”.
Victor Gekara
I remember sitting at the graduation ceremony and feeling a part of something big. This has actually always been my view of Cardiff, which I now proudly call ‘my University’.…
Sara Parkin
I have spent 40 years campaigning for a more sustainable path for human progress…
Eileen Thomas
A red carpet was laid out for the Prince to walk from the car to the entrance of the Students’ Union…
Rachel Bentham
As soon as I step off the train at Cathays and begin to walk through campus, I begin to soak up the atmosphere of calm, application and mutual respect…
Professor Geoff Wainwright
My social life was now limited to my passion for archaeology. My embryonic rugby career was in ruins but I compensated by becoming a travelling supporter of the women’s water polo team…
Dennis Sellwood
I learned many years later from reading the Collected Letters that Dylan left his manuscript of ‘Under Milk Wood’ in the Park Hotel where he had stayed overnight from his home in Laugharne. He wrote to the Society president asking him to retrieve it for him…
Julie Williams
I have benefited from being part of what is now one of the leading centres for psychiatric genetic research in the world…
Ben Bryant
There is unquestionably something enviable about being a student at Cardiff University. …
Isabelle Durance
We need to make a difference now to the world in which we live, but more so to the world that we hand on to our children…
Barbara Wilding
I’ve waited 40 years to get to a position where I could deliver an academic environment into policing…
Karl Jenkins
I was at Cardiff between 1963-1966, one year behind Neil Kinnock, and his future wife Glenys, who became president of the student's union, and some years later leader of the Labour Party. …
Jamie Roberts
The hard work has paid off and it was worth the time I’ve devoted to rugby and my studies and it shows that it can be done - you just have to dig deep…
William Wilkins
I think what has been unique to me in my relationship with the university, and I hope will continue to distinguish it, is that I have such a wide range of friends and contacts.…
The Reverend Gareth Powell
That the train broke down at Bridgend hardly seemed to matter, for the outlook, the newness was what it was all about – not to mention the chance to be on a seemingly futuristic train.…
Professor B.S. Sathyaprakash
It is going to be a daunting task but our quest is no small matter: our goal is to hear the first sounds of creation…
James Taylor
Cardiff University was what first attracted me to this great city, where I now have a great life and where I have based my business…
Nathan Cleverly
I thrive on a challenge, whether it is in sport or studies…
Professor Anthony Campbell
My medical colleagues thought I was completely mad. They thought that we had come from Cambridge to develop new clinical methods and understand disease mechanisms, and there I was on the beach, collecting animals which emit light…
Percival Hugh Powell
A different kind of recollection is when Edward Prince of Wales, came to the university for the unveiling of his statue and that of his father, King George V on the west front of the old building. I remember one student shouting “Hello, Eddie!” - to which the Prince was not amused…
Professor Júlio Pedrosa de Jesus
I remember also how stimulating it was to be part of a friendly group of postgraduate students and visiting scholars coming from a wide variety of countries.
Gwyneth Stroud
Of course we both remember the 100 years celebrations in 1983, the year of our graduation…
Tamsin Carey-Lang
I'm always amazed at how well the University is known internationally and the enthusiasm that alumni, who often help us with our visits, have…
Professor Peter McGuffin
I soon discovered that the major part of the job – running a university department – was a role for which I had received no training whatsoever. Fortunately, I received tremendous support and guidance
Shahbaz Malik
Whilst I was at Cardiff I was awarded a Cancer Research UK award for my elective in breast cancer which I undertook in China for seven weeks…
Sophie Bright
In the summer vacation of my first year at University, I volunteered for three months in an orphanage for Tibetan refugees…
Susmita Bhattacharya
But the best part of our stay here was, of course, the birth of our beautiful baby, Rohini.…
Dr Verner Bickley, MBE
The lectures were interesting, although some members of the staff were on temporary appointments, since many of the ‘regulars’ were away on war service.…
Sir Aubrey Trotman-Dickenson
Because of the manifest determination of all members to create the basis for a major University in Cardiff, the process of merger itself was smooth and rapid…
Wendy Sadler
My house is full of weird and wonderful science props and gadgets…
Roger Lewis
All of a sudden after 30 odd years of living in England, I’m reconnecting with Cardiff and the University.…
Vivian ZHOU Wei
During this one-year stay in Cardiff University, the list of “first times in my life” is very long.…
Tony Friend
Having this kind of role has meant that every day, whether it’s been good or bad, has certainly been interesting!…
Professor Nick Topley
Cardiff University is the powerhouse academic institution in Wales and must remain so. The principality needs Cardiff University to be strong to support and drive the knowledge economy in Wales and beyond…
Sheila Hunt
Thank you Cardiff University for widening access before it was fashionable and for letting in a midwife!…
Elaine Morgan
If you’d been in Aberffrwd Road, you’d have witnessed the arrival of a Mercedes Benz, no less…
Jane Boggan
The sense of achievement was incomparable to anything I had experienced to that point and I did not want to leave…
Neil Kinnock
One of the reasons for accepting the Presidency is the marvellous opportunity and responsibility to put something back into an institution to which I owe so much…
Professor Sir Brian Smith
My time in Cardiff was enriched by the strong sense of community within the University and by the warm friendships I made…
Reverend David Yeoman
I received my Doctorate on a Monday and was made a Bishop the following Friday.”…
Professor Justin Lewis
There is nowhere in the UK better to be for someone working in my field now…
Roger Mansfield
It was exciting, dramatic, stressful and some of it unpleasant…
Haley Gomez
I think about the people I work with and I know that they are the best at what they do and then remember how lucky I am to work with them…
David Vivian Thomas
I may have looked like Fred Astaire in my tails, but I certainly could not dance like him…
Professor Steve Ormerod
When I eventually came to Cardiff, it was to learn about rivers and to enter the world of professional ecology…
Abigail Carter
Cardiff University has so much to offer and I wish students understood how much the University can help, the support doesn’t end at graduation…
Carol Floris
Since then I have worked as an advocate and campaigner for children and young people in care, raising awareness of their rights and their potential…
Professor Wen G. Jiang
One position led to the next and now I find myself as a professor researching cancer in the School of Medicine.”…
Dr Peter Brabham
On Svalbard you are not allowed out in the field until you have passed the Polar Bear survival course. This involves the use of flares, guns and a fast snow scooter!…
Professor Stephen Tomlinson
Because of Wales and Cardiff, I have been able to rekindle my interests in sport, the arts and humanities and history. …
Dr Adrian Hull
This type of learning experience, which at the time was unique in the world, demonstrates the fantastic opportunities that are available to students studying at Cardiff.…
Menna Richards
We want the best, the brightest most able employees and we look to places like Cardiff University to provide them for us…
Rob Sidoli
Although quite used to supporters watching my every move on the pitch, walking through the city centre to St David’s Hall in full cap and gown for the ceremony was an experience in itself
Professor David R Williams OBE
Once the Chief Marshall has demonstrated to the graduates how to cross the stage, to hand-shake, to doff, and - for newcomers to healthcare professions - to affirm the medical oath, and then has lead in the two processions, the really challenging work commences…
Jonny Cox
Jonny Cox President of the Students’ Union writes about how life as an undergraduate inspired him to seek election as President.…
Mothers of Africa in Ethiopia
When she became sick, her family, borrowing a neighbour’s donkey cart, carried her 10 km or so to the local health centre.…
Kelly BéruBé
I broke all the cardinal rules of etiquette at once…
Professor Mike Rowe OBE
The prototype generator was first demonstrated on GMTV powering a television using waste bath water with me explaining the technology whilst sitting in the bath…
Dr John Jewell
I still remember the pride I felt, as the first person in my family to go to University, when I first passed through Main Building…
Jane Stewart
I was privileged to record many amazing finds but the best has to be a beautiful Roman bronze and enamelled patera (dish) in fantastic condition, with an inscription detailing some of the forts on Hadrian’s Wall, and one of only three known similar examples…
Professor Baroness Finlay of Llandaff
My message is to value the students, because if we value our students, we will have value in the future…
Victoria Dando
I loved the unpredictability of the working day…
Sarah Day
Volunteering allowed me to make a small difference to a vulnerable and lonely person, simply by giving up a few hours of my time…
Professor Chris McGuigan
Through the very strong support, encouragement and world-class facilities that the University offers to researchers, I’ve been able to see this drug through from initial discovery to clinical trials.
Richard White
The desert crossing involved hiring an Arab guide and an army escort of four soldiers and an army jeep.
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Patrick Hannan
And John Viriamu was perhaps the most remarkable of them all…
Robert Court
I have played the organ at Degree Congregations since 1974 - a frightening 34 years…
Oliver Smith
When my time as a student finishes I hope to maintain contact with the University and I will always follow news of Cardiff.
Vice-Chancellor, Dr David Grant
The success I see day-to-day is created by the most talented people I have ever had the privilege to work with. As Vice-Chancellor, I see excellence in our teaching and research, and in the huge contribution we make to society and the economy
Ning Li
You hear journalists and scholars around the globe saying Cardiff is the best place to study journalism
Sam Smith
Stumbling across Student Volunteering Cardiff was a dream come true…
Jenny Randerson
I am very proud to have one of the very best universities in the UK (indeed the world) in my constituency…
Dean Burnett
Dean Burnett first discovered a gift for making people laugh when acting in student comedy shows as he studied for a neuroscience degree at the School of Biosciences. Now researching a PhD on memory at the School of Psychology, Dean is also putting his understanding of the mind to use in stand-up comedy..…
Jacqui Lewis
The minute the children walk through the door they brighten your day up immediately
Dominic Hannigan
Maybe it’s the small-city confidence or the opportunities that only a capital can provide…
Stefanie Kautzmann
The bilingual signs were also totally new to me: staring at the Welsh for a few seconds before realizing you can’t read it and have to read the part on the right-hand side of the sign instead.
Maggie Furness
Dressed up as Tina Turner with black tights and miniskirts, we walked in dancing to the music. The students were absolutely gob smacked.…
Prof Len Nokes
I’ll be the team doctor with Cardiff City Football Club when they take on Portsmouth in the FA Cup Final…
Ankit Jain
Studying at Cardiff was the crux of my education and helped polish my personality…
Gwilym Roberts
Gwilym Roberts, Director of Occupational Therapy and Deputy Director of the School of Healthcare Studies, recalls student life.…
Dr David Gwynfor Samuels
The University made sure that anything that could be done to ease me into University life with my disability would be done…
Sandra Bonney
An advert appeared on the University intranet promoting a fast-track, intensive 12 week Welsh course for beginners and I thought it was too good a chance to miss…
Dr Meredith Gattis
My goal at the University is to make every family in Cardiff aware of our studies…
Wyn Roberts
One cannot be other than impressed with the achievements of the University…
Jo Davies
As you can see a theme was developing and I would be doing anything that involved water or the sea…
Sarah Woods
But to me home is home, and there will never be anywhere better in the world than Cardiff
Ben Lewis
I think I am lucky to have one of the most rewarding jobs at the University
Piyush Roy
Most of us Indian students did return with some life long friends from across the border (read Pakistan) made in ‘distant’ UK…
Mark Baker
There is so much great architecture in Wales which is undocumented and on our doorsteps that we don’t really appreciate what is out there…
Margaret McCarter Jervis
Did the journey begin with that knock on the door? …
Martyn Fowler
In Hong Kong the students have competed against some of the greatest names in world rugby. If they hadn’t attended Cardiff University how many would have been given the opportunity to play against world greats Jonah Lomu, and World Cup Winner Joe Roff
Lin Li
It was about midnight when a taxi dropped me off in front of the University accommodation building I was to live in.…
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Contribute your story to those shared by students, staff and alumni to mark Cardiff University’s 125th Anniversary