A snapshot of 2004

In this year at Warwick:

The first cohort of 64 students graduated from the Medical School.
A new Mathematics and Statistics building was opened.
The new Registrar was announced – Mr. Jon Baldwin.
Warwick merged with Horticulture Research International.
The first ever UK Robot Football Championship took place at Warwick. Warwick’s team was called ‘Team Evolution’ but was beaten by Plymouth’s squad.
The very first Warwick Student Arts Festival took place. Fifty acts performed over five days.
Warwick was the venue for an important agreement between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions on Labour policy and trade union law – the “Warwick Agreement”.
Honorary degrees were awarded to: Nick Nolan, Fleur Cowles, Jennie Bond, Andrew Davies, Trevor Phillips, Richard Lambert, Gus O’Donnell, The Rt Hon Lord Rothschild, Mario Vargas Llosa, James Feast and Venu Srinivasan.

This wall painting was commissioned for the new building of the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics in March 2004.
It is by the 38 year old artist Ian Davenport whose paintings have consistently addressed ideas about colour. His work combines carefully devised systems, such as the effect of one colour on another and elements of chance such as the route taken by poured paint.
The painting is part of the Contemporary Art Society Special Collections Scheme, funded by the Lottery of Arts Council England, that seeks to place contemporary works of art in regional museums and galleries across England.

We hope you like this painting. It helps to define the space in which it sits but it also adds interest in the way it appears to change as the light moves across it. In the morning, the work is dominated by the yellow stripes. In the afternoon, the pinks and purples start to come through more.

And in the world:

Facebook was founded.
The strongest earthquake in 40 years originated from the Indian Ocean close to Indonesia, measuring 9.3 on the Richter Scale. It created tsunami waves that sweep across much of the coastlines of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. At least 290,000 people were confirmed to have died from South Asia to as far as South Africa.
The EU underwent its largest expansion so far by accepting 10 new states into the EU Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus.
The Summer Olympics were held in Athens Greece.

Everything | Ian Davenport