This project is really about diversifying our visual landscape
This is really important within a university and organisation of this type, is that the
pictures we see on our walls represent our student body
We wanted to celebrate women who our part of our history, and we thought it was hugely
important that this history would be celebrated by commissioning 3 portraits of women by women
artists
These three people are really important to our organisation
The are Wendy Hickling who was our first female graduate, Olive Banks our first female professor
and Eswa Goldshmith who was our first female, black students' union president
We're really pleased today to unveil these 3 portraits
It is essential to any institution to recognise the contribution not just of the men who you
see around these walls already, but to the women
This is the most amazing project to be part of
It's actually about saying we need more images so that we can inspire the future generations
of young women to come forward and to lead movements and to fulfil themselves, and that
is what it means to me
British Science Week is a national event which celebrates all things science, technology,
engineering and mathematics
and I have been organising the University of Leicester's contribution with things like
Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon'
through to events like science in the shopping centre but also looking at science from a
slightly different angle by having artists come and work with scientists and then having
an exhibition of their work in the city
Science is so important because it has the ability to change the world
Pretty much everything you do today will have been impacted by science in some way
and what is really important is to infuse the public about science, but also to encourage
students and young people to go into science because they are the scientists of the future