University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is a red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had been in existence since 1876.

Bristol is organised into six academic faculties composed of multiple schools and departments running over 200 undergraduate courses, largely in the Tyndalls Park area of the city. The university had a total income of £833.1 million in 2021–22, of which £186.4 million was from research grants and contracts. It is the largest independent employer in Bristol. Current academics include 21 fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 13 fellows of the British Academy, 13 fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 44 fellows of the Royal Society. The University of Bristol's alumni and faulty include 9 Nobel laureates.

Bristol is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities, the European-wide Coimbra Group and the Worldwide Universities Network, of which the university's previous vice-chancellor, Eric Thomas, was chairman from 2005 to 2007. In addition, the university holds an Erasmus Charter, sending more than 500 students per year to partner institutions in Europe. It has an average of 6.4 (Sciences faculty) to 13.1 (Medicine & Dentistry Faculty) applicants for each undergraduate place.

## History

### Foundation

The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College (founded as a school as early as 1595) which became the engineering faculty of Bristol University. The university was also preceded by Bristol Medical School (1833) and University College, Bristol, founded in 1876, where its first lecture was attended by only 99 students. The university was able to apply for a royal charter due to the financial support of the Wills, Fry and Colston families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations, chocolate, and (via Edward Colston) the transatlantic slave trade, respectively. A 2018 study commissioned by the university estimated 85% of the philanthropic funds used for the institution's foundation was directly connected with the transatlantic slave trade.

The royal charter was gained in May 1909, with 288 undergraduates and 400 other students entering the university in October 1909. Henry Overton Wills III became its first chancellor. The University College was the first such institution in the country to admit women on the same basis as men. However, women were forbidden to take examinations in medicine until 1906.

### Historical development

Since the founding of the university itself in 1909, it has grown considerably and is now one of the largest employers in the local area, although it is smaller by student numbers than the nearby University of the West of England. It is a member of the Russell Group of research-led UK universities, the Coimbra Group of leading European universities and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).

#### Early years

After the founding of the university college in 1876, government support began in 1889. Funding from mergers with the Bristol Medical School in 1893 and the Merchant Venturers' Technical College in 1909, allowed the opening of a new medical school and an engineering school — two subjects that remain among the university's greatest strengths. In 1908, gifts from the Fry and Wills families, particularly £100,000 from Henry Overton Wills III (£6m in today's money), were provided to endow a University for Bristol and the West of England, provided that a royal charter could be obtained within two years. In December 1909, the king granted such a charter and erected the University of Bristol. Henry Wills became its first chancellor and Conwy Lloyd Morgan the first vice-chancellor. Wills died in 1911 and in tribute his sons George and Harry built the Wills Memorial Building, starting in 1913 and finally finishing in 1925. Today, it houses parts of the academic provision for earth sciences and law, and graduation ceremonies are held in its Great Hall. The Wills Memorial Building is a Grade II\* listed building.

In 1920, George Wills bought the Victoria Rooms and endowed them to the university as a students' union. The building now houses the Department of Music and is a Grade II\* listed building.

At the point of foundation, the university was required to provide for the local community. This mission was behind the creation of the Department of Extra-Mural Adult Education in 1924 to provide courses to the local community. This mission continues today; a new admissions policy specifically caters to the 'BS' postcode area of Bristol.

Among the famous names associated with Bristol in this early period is Paul Dirac, who graduated in 1921 with a degree in engineering, before obtaining a second degree in mathematics in 1923 from Cambridge. For his subsequent pioneering work on quantum mechanics, he was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize for Physics. Later in the 1920s, the H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory was opened by Ernest Rutherford. It has since housed several Nobel Prize winners: Cecil Frank Powell (1950); Hans Albrecht Bethe (1967); and Sir Nevill Francis Mott (1977). The laboratory stands on the same site today, close to the Bristol Grammar School and the city museum.

Sir Winston Churchill became the university's third chancellor in 1929, serving the university in that capacity until 1965. He succeeded Richard Haldane who had held the office from 1912 following the death of Henry Wills.

During World War II, the Wills Memorial was bombed, destroying the Great Hall and the organ it housed, along with 7,000 books removed from King's College London for safe keeping. It has since been restored, complete with oak panelled walls and a new organ.

#### Post-war development

In 1946, the university established the first drama department in the country. In the same year, Bristol began offering special entrance exams and grants to aid the resettlement of servicemen returning home. Student numbers continued to increase, and the Faculty of Engineering eventually needed the new premises that were to become Queen's Building in 1955. This substantial building housed all of the university's engineers until 1996, when the electrical engineering and computer science departments moved over the road into the new Merchant Venturers' Building to make space for these rapidly expanding fields. Today, Queen's Building caters for most of the teaching needs of the faculty and provides academic space for the "heavy" engineering subjects (civil, mechanical, and aerospace).

With unprecedented growth in the 1960s, particularly in undergraduate numbers, the Students' Union eventually acquired larger premises in a new building in the Clifton area of the city, in 1965. This building was more spacious than the Victoria Rooms, which were now given over to the Department of Music. The University of Bristol Union provides many practice and performance rooms, some specialist rooms, as well as three bars: Bar 100, the Mandela (also known as AR2) and the Avon Gorge. Whilst spacious, the Union building is thought by many to be ugly and out of character compared to the architecture of the rest of the Clifton area, having been mentioned in a BBC poll to find the worst architectural eyesores in Britain. The university has proposed relocating the Union to a more central location as part of its development 'masterplan'. More recently, plans for redevelopment of the current building have been proposed.

The 1960s were a time of considerable student activism in the United Kingdom, and Bristol was no exception. In 1968, many students marched in support of the Anderson Report, which called for higher student grants. This discontent culminated in an 11-day sit-in at the Senate House (the administrative headquarters of the university). A series of chancellors and vice-chancellors led the university through these decades, with Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort taking over from Churchill as chancellor in 1965 before being succeeded by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1970 who spent the next 18 years in the office.

As the age of mass higher education dawned, Bristol continued to build its student numbers. The various undergraduate residences were repeatedly expanded and, more recently, some postgraduate residences have been constructed. These more recent ventures have been funded (and are run) by external companies in agreement with the university.

One of the few centres for deaf studies in the United Kingdom was established in Bristol in 1981, followed in 1988 by the Norah Fry Centre for research into learning difficulties. Also in 1988, and again in 2004, the Students' Union AGM voted to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students (NUS). On both occasions, however, the subsequent referendum of all students reversed that decision and Bristol remains affiliated to the NUS.

In 1988, Sir Jeremy Morse, then chairman of Lloyds Bank, became chancellor.

### 21st century

As the number of postgraduate students has grown (particularly the numbers pursuing taught master's degrees), there eventually became a need for separate representation on university bodies and the Postgraduate Union (PGU) was established in 2000. Universities are increasingly expected to exploit the intellectual property generated by their research activities and, in 2000, Bristol established the Research and Enterprise Division (RED) to further this cause (particularly for technology-based businesses). In 2001, the university signed a 25-year research funding deal with IP2IPO, an intellectual property commercialisation company. In 2007, research activities were expanded further with the opening of the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS) and The Bristol Institute for Public Affairs (BIPA).

In 2002, the university was involved in an argument over press intrusion after details of then-prime minister Tony Blair's son's application to university were published in national newspapers. In the same year, the university opened the new Centre for Sports, Exercise and Health in the heart of the university precinct. At a cost, local residents are also able to use the facilities.

Brenda Hale, the first female Law Lord, became chancellor of the university in 2003. Sir Paul Nurse succeeded Lady Hale as chancellor on 1 January 2017.

Expansion of teaching and research activities continues. In 2004, the Faculty of Engineering completed work on the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering (BLADE). This £18.5m project is intended to further the study of dynamics and is the most advanced such facility in Europe. It was built as an extension to the Queen's Building and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in March 2005.

In January 2005, the School of Chemistry was awarded £4.5m by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to create Bristol ChemLabS: a Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL), with an additional £350k announced for the capital part of the project in February 2006. Bristol ChemLabS stands for Bristol Chemical Laboratory Sciences; it is the only chemistry CETL in the UK.

September 2009 saw the opening of the university's Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information. This £11 million building is known as the quietest building in the world and has other technologically sophisticated features such as self-cleaning glass. Advanced research into quantum computing, nanotechnology, materials and other disciplines are being undertaken in the building.

There is also a plan to significantly redevelop the centre of the University Precinct in the coming years. The first step began in September 2011, with the start of construction of a state-of-the-art Life Sciences building.

In 2018 while building work was underway in the Fry Building, the building caught fire.

In 2018 the University of Bristol Students' Union (Bristol SU) adopted a motion that banned trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) from appearing as speakers at Bristol SU events and that called upon the university to adopt the same policy. The motion said the TERF ban was necessary because TERF activity on the university campus "put[s] trans students' safety at risk ... in direct violation of the aims outlined in the Code of Conduct".

In February 2021, University of Bristol professor David Miller called for the "end of Zionism", said that Israel is "trying to exert its will all over the world" and called members of the University of Bristol Jewish Society "political pawns by a violent, racist foreign regime", comments that the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism deemed to "incit[e] hatred against Jewish students". On 17 March, the university announced that it had begun an investigation of Miller, and observed that it did not endorse his remarks. The Avon and Somerset Police announced about a week later that they had opened a hate crime investigation. Miller's employment at the university was terminated "with immediate effect" at the beginning of October 2021.

In 2021, Raquel Rosario-Sánchez, a Dominican graduate student at Bristol who had attended meetings of feminist groups that opposed allowing trans women into female-only spaces, filed a civil action against Bristol University; Rosario-Sánchez alleges that she was the victim of a campaign of bullying and abuse against her by other members of the university, and that the university failed to protect her because it was afraid of upsetting trans-rights activists. The case went to trial in February 2022. The judgment was delivered in April 2022. The judge acknowledged that she had been subject to threats of violence, but dismissed all her claims, saying that there had been no actionable breach of duty by the university. He said that his ruling focused on how the university managed her complaints rather than any judgment about gender rights. In February 2023, following its previous disciplinary action against Rosario-Sánchez and the Women Talk Back group, it emerged that the Bristol Students Union has agreed out-of-court that "affiliated clubs and societies may lawfully offer single-sex services and be constituted as single-sex associations".

## Campus

### Buildings and sites

The university does not have a main campus but is spread over a considerable geographic area. Most of its activities, however, are concentrated in the area of the city centre, referred to as the "University Precinct".

Some of the University of Bristol's buildings date to its pre-charter days when it was University College Bristol. These buildings were designed by Charles Hansom, and suffered being built in stages due to financial pressure. The first large scale building project the University of Bristol undertook on gaining a charter was the Wills Memorial Building. The armorials on the Founder's Window represent all of the interests present at the founding of the University of Bristol including the Wills and Fry families. Other notable buildings and sites include Royal Fort House, the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, many large Victorian houses which were converted for teaching in the Faculty of Arts, and the Victoria Rooms which house the Music Department and were designed by Charles Dyer. The tympanum of the building depicts a scene from The Advent of Morning designed by Jabez Tyley.

Goldney gardens entered the property of the University of Bristol through George Wills who had hoped to build an all-male hall of residence there. This was prevented due to the moral objection of the then warden of Clifton Hill House who objected to the idea of male and female residences being in such close proximity. University records show that Miss Starvey was prepared to resign over the issue and that she had the support of the then Chancellor Conwy Lloyd Morgan. Eventually land was purchased in Stoke Bishop, allowing the building of what has been described as a "quasi-Oxbridge" hall, Wills Hall, to which was added the Dame Monica Wills Chapel by George Wills' widow after his death. When Goldney did become student accommodation in 1956, the flats were designed by Michael Grice who received an award from the Civic Trust for their design.

Burwalls, a mansion house on the other side of the Avon Gorge, was used as a halls of residence in the past and was a home of Sir George Oatley. The building is now used to house the Centre for Continuing Education.

Many of the more modern buildings, including Senate House and the newer parts of the HH Wills Physics Laboratory, were designed by Ralph Brentnall using funds from the University Grants Committee. He is also responsible for the extension to the Wills Memorial Building library which was completed to such standard that few now realise that is an extension to the original building.

In May 2022, the university announced the opening of the Gambling Harms and Research Centre (GHRC). The centre worth £4 million aims to increase awareness and understanding of the dangers of gambling. The project was funded by the GambleAware charity, which chose the university for its history in researching gambling issues, and will integrate research from six facilities.

### Planned expansion

In November 2016, the university announced that it plans to build a £300 million Temple Quarter Campus for c. 5,000 students, next to Bristol Temple Meads railway station within Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone. The new campus, which will include a business school, digital research facilities and a student village, is expected to open in 2021. For the existing campus, there are plans to remodel Tyndall Avenue, pedestrianise the surrounding area and build a new library and resource hub.

## Organisation and governance

In common with most UK universities, Bristol is headed formally by the chancellor, currently Sir Paul Nurse and led on a day-to-day basis by the vice-chancellor, currently Professor Evelyn Welch, who is the academic leader and chief executive. There are four pro vice-chancellors and three ceremonial pro-chancellors. The chancellor may hold office for up to ten years and the pro-chancellors for up to three, unless the University Court determines otherwise, but the vice-chancellor and pro-vice-chancellors have no term limits. The vice-chancellor is supported by a deputy vice-chancellor.

Responsibility for running the university is held at an executive level by the vice-chancellor, but the council is the only body that can recommend changes to the university's statutes and charter, with the exception of academic ordinances. These can only be made with the consent of the senate, the chief academic body in the university which also holds responsibility for teaching and learning, examinations and research and enterprise. The chancellor and pro chancellors are nominated by council and appointed formally by court, whose additional powers are now limited to these appointments and a few others, including some lay members of council. Finally, Convocation, the body of all staff, ceremonial officers and graduates of the university, returns 100 members to court and one member to council, but is otherwise principally a forum for discussion and to ensure graduates stay in touch with the university.

The university is made up of a number of schools and departments organised into six faculties:

### Faculty of Arts

- School of Arts
  - Anthropology and Archaeology
  - Film and Television
  - Music
  - Philosophy
  - Theatre (see also the University of Bristol Theatre Collection)
- School of Humanities
  - Classics and Ancient History
  - English
  - History
  - History of Art
  - Religion and Theology
- School of Modern Languages
  - French
  - German
  - Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
  - Italian
  - Russian
- Centre for English Language and Foundation Studies
- Centre for Innovation

### Faculty of Engineering

- School of Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Engineering Mathematics
  - Computer Science
  - Electrical & Electronic Engineering
  - Engineering Mathematics
- School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
  - Aerospace Engineering
  - Civil Engineering
  - Mechanical Engineering
  - Engineering Design
  - Engineering with Management

### Faculty of Life Sciences

- School of Biological Sciences
- School of Biochemistry
- School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience
- School of Psychological Science

### Faculty of Science

- School of Chemistry
- School of Earth Sciences
- School of Geographical Sciences
- School of Mathematics
- School of Physics
  - Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability
  - Centre for Nanoscience & Quantum Information
  - Interface Analysis Centre

### Faculty of Health Sciences

- Bristol Dental School
- Bristol Medical School
  - Population Health Sciences
  - Translational Health Sciences
- Bristol Veterinary School
- Centre for Health Sciences Education
  - Centre for Applied Anatomy
  - Master's in Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals

### Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

- School of Education
- School for Policy Studies
- School of Economics
- Centre for Market and Public Organisation
- School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
- University of Bristol Business School
- University of Bristol Law School

### Academic dress

The university specifies a mix of Cambridge and Oxford academic dress. For the most part, it uses Oxford-style gowns and Cambridge-style hoods, which are required to be 'university red' (see the logo at the top of the page).

### Logo and arms

In 2004, the university unveiled its new logo. The icons in the logo are the sun for the Wills family, the dolphin for Colston, the horse for Fry and the ship-and-castle from the medieval seal of the City of Bristol, as also used in the coat of arms. The shape of the whole logo represents the open book of learning. This logo has replaced the university arms shown, but the arms continue to be used where there is a specific historical or ceremonial requirement. The arms comprise:

The inscription on the book is the Latin opening of the 124th Psalm, "If the Lord Himself had not (been on our side...)". The latin motto granted with the Arms below the shields is Vim promovet insitam, from the fourth Ode of Horace's fourth book meaning '[Learning] promotes one's innate power'.

## Academics

### Admissions

Bristol had the 8th highest average entry qualification for undergraduates of any UK university in 2015, with new students averaging 485 UCAS points, equivalent to just above AAAaa in A-level grades. Competition for places is high with an average 7.7 applications per place according to the 2014 Sunday Times League Tables, making it the joint 11th most competitive university in the UK. The university gives offers of admission to 67.3% of its applicants, the 8th lowest amongst the Russell Group.

According to the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, approximately 40% of Bristol's undergraduates come from independent schools. In the 2016–17 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 78:5:17 of UK:EU:non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of 55:45.

### Rankings and reputation

The University of Bristol ranks number 5 in the UK for research quality according to the most recent Research Excellence Framework assessment. Chemistry (1st), Physics (5th), Engineering (6th), Mathematical sciences (4th), Computer science and informatics (7th), Earth systems and environmental sciences (2nd), Biological sciences (8th), Geography and environmental studies (1st), Law (3rd), Economics and econometrics (7th), and Modern languages and linguistics (4th) are among the highly rated subjects. The Complete University Guide 2024 ranks Bristol 4th for the quality of its research. Bristol also ranks 5th for number of spin outs created and has the best business incubator in the world according to UBI Global.

The University of Bristol was the fourth most targeted university by the UK's top 100 employers, according to the Graduate Market in 2023 report produced by High Fliers. It was ranked joint 7th in the U.K. for graduate employability.

Internationally, the 2024 QS World University Rankings placed Bristol at 55th overall in the world and 9th in the UK.The Times Higher Education World University Ranking placed Bristol at 76th globally and 9th in the U.K. in 2023. Another international ranking, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities, placed Bristol 88th globally and 8th in the UK in 2023.

### Degrees

Bristol awards a range of academic degrees spanning bachelor's and master's degrees as well as junior doctorates and higher doctorates. The postnominals awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among British universities. The university is part of the Engineering Doctorate scheme, and awards the Eng. D. in systems engineering, engineering management, aerospace engineering and non-destructive evaluation.

Bristol notably does not award by title any bachelor's degrees in music, which is available for study but awarded BA (although it does award MMus and DMus), nor any degree in divinity, since divinity is not available for study (students of theology are awarded a BA). Similarly, the university does not award BLitt (Bachelor of Letters), although it does award both MLitt and DLitt. In regulations, the university does not name MD or DDS as higher doctorates, although they are in many universities as these degrees are normally accredited professional doctorates.

The degrees of DLitt, DSc, DEng, LLD and DMus, whilst having regulations specifying the grounds for award, are most often conferred as honorary degrees (in honoris causa). Those used most commonly are the DLitt, DSc and LLD, with the MA (and occasionally the MLitt) also sometimes conferred honorarily for distinction in the local area or within the university.

## Publishing and commercial activities

University of Bristol has various activities including publication, joint ventures, and catering and accommodation services.

### Bristol University Press

Bristol University Press is scholarly press based at University of Bristol. In 1996, the University of Bristol established Policy Press, an academic publisher based in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol and specialising in the social sciences. In October 2016, Policy Press became an imprint of newly founded Bristol University Press.

It is not-for-profit university press which publishes 15 journals and 200 books a year in subjects including: Ageing and Gerontology, Business and Management, Criminology, Economics and Society, Environment and Sustainability, International Development, Law, Politics and International Relations, Science, Technology and Society, and Sociology. It achieved journal citation metrics with gains in Journal Impact Factors and improved results in Journal Citation Indicator, Scopus CiteScore and SJR.

### Bristol is Open

Bristol is Open, abbreviated as BiO, is a joint venture project between Bristol City Council and University of Bristol. It is for delivering research contributing to the development of a Smart City and deploying a city-scale open and programmable testbed for experimentation and digital innovation. The collaboration of two organisations started in April 2015 and ended in December 2019 with Bristol City Council taking full control of BiO's operations. It has completed many technical trials and experiments including open access to Wi-Fi as a reduction of the digital divide and development for Smart City technology.

## Student life

### Students' Union

The University of Bristol Students' Union (Bristol SU) located on Queen's Road in the Richmond Building is a founding member of the National Union of Students and is amongst the oldest students' unions in England. The union oversees three media outlets: UBTV, the Bristol University Radio Station (BURST) and the student newspaper Epigram. There is also a local branch of The Tab. The Union is responsible for representing students' academic interests through elections of student representatives and democratic events. The Union is also responsible for the organisation of the annual Welcome Fair, the co-ordination of Bristol Student Community Action, which organises volunteering projects in the local community, and the organisation of entertainment events and over 400 student groups, societies and clubs. Previous presidents have included Sue Lawley and former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik. There is a separate union for postgraduate students, as well as an athletic union, which is a member of the British Universities & Colleges Sport. In distinction to the "blues" awarded for sporting excellence at Oxford and Cambridge, Bristol's most successful athletes are awarded "reds".

### Halls of residence

Accommodation for students is primarily in the central precinct of the university and two areas of Bristol: Clifton and Stoke Bishop, known respectively as the West and North Villages.

In Stoke Bishop, Wills Hall on the edge of the Clifton Downs was the first to be opened, in 1929, by the then chancellor, Winston Churchill. Its original quadrangle layout has been expanded twice, in 1962 and 1990. Churchill Hall, named for the chancellor, followed in 1956, then Badock Hall in 1964. At the time of Badock Hall's establishment, some of the buildings were called Hiatt Baker Hall, but two years later, Hiatt Baker moved to its own site and is now the largest hall in the university. The first self-catering hall in Stoke Bishop was University Hall, established in 1971 with expansion in 1992.

In Clifton, Goldney Hall was built first in the early 18th century by the wealthy merchant Goldney family and eventually became part of the university in 1956. It is a popular location for filming, with The Chronicles of Narnia, The House of Eliott and Truly, Madly, Deeply, as well as episodes of Only Fools and Horses and Casualty, being filmed there. The Grotto in the grounds is a Grade I listed building. Clifton Hill House is another Grade I listed building now used as student accommodation in Clifton. The original building was constructed between 1745 and 1750 by Isaac Ware, and has been used by the university since its earliest days in 1909. Manor Hall comprises five separate buildings, the principal of which was erected from 1927 to 1932 to the design of George Oatley following a donation from Henry Herbert Wills. Manor Hall houses the largest and most dated rooms, some dating back to the early 20th century. One of its annexes, Manor House, has recently been refurbished and officially 'reopened' in 1999.

On the central precinct sits The Hawthorns, a student house accommodating 115 undergraduate students. The house started life as a collection of villas built somewhere between 1888 and 1924 that were later converted, bit by bit, into a hotel by John Dingle. The Hawthorns also houses conferencing facilities, the staff refectory and bar, the Accommodation Office and the Student Houses Office. 33 Colston Street was opened in the city centre in October 2011 after the university acquired the property in 2009. Several of the residences in the central precinct are more recent and have been built and are managed by third-party organisations under exclusivity arrangements with the university. These include New Bridewell House, opened in 2016, which is in the former police HQ, it includes en-suite bedrooms and studios and is operated by Fresh Student Housing, Unite House and Chantry Court, opened in 2000 and 2003 respectively by the UNITE Group, as well as Dean's Court (2001, postgraduates only) and Woodland Court (2005), both run by the Dominion Housing Group.

All of the main halls elect groups of students to the Junior Common Room to organise the halls social calendar for the next year. Residents of student houses, private accommodation and students living at home become members of Orbital – a society organising social events for students throughout the year.

### Sport

The University of Bristol has a rich heritage and reputation for sports. Sports membership at Bristol University totals up to 4,000 students across a wide range of unique teams and individual pursuits. Its network of over 70 sports clubs and four sites are run by the university's Student Union and its Sport,Exercise and Health Department. Competing with other universities in the British Universities and Colleges Sport league (BUCS), Bristol university is placed 8th in the country.

The university caters to its students with sporting facilities split across four primary complexes:

Bristol University Indoor Sports Centre- The Indoor Sports Centre is located at the heart of the university campus and is home to a fully equipped two-storey gym, fitness studios, sports hall and Sports Medicine Clinic.

Coombe Dingle Sports Complex- This 38-acre site in the heart of Stoke Bishop, features the only indoor tennis centre in Bristol and is where the university's more traditional outdoor sports reside. Coombe Dingle is typically used for training and competition. Throughout the year Coombe Dingle hosts a variety of competitive fixtures, including inter-university BUCS matches, plus local and national league matches.:

Facilities available at Coombe Dingle Sports Complex: • 3G pitch • Artificial pitches (sand dressed and floodlit) • Grass pitches (football and rugby) • Cricket squares and nets (including grass) • Tennis courts, indoor and outdoor (floodlit) • Lacrosse pitch • Netball courts (outdoor) • Olympic weight lifting gym • Softball and rounders facilities • Pavilion, lounge bar and meeting rooms • Sports Medicine Clinic

Richmond Building- The university swimming pool is located inside the student union (Richmond Building). This six-lane swimming pool has a moveable bulkhead, creating a competition-length main pool, alongside a comfortable teaching pool for lessons. The pool is available to students, staff and the community for lane and casual swimming, or lessons, on a membership or pay-as-you-go basis.

Saltford Boathouse- The University Boathouse is based at Saltford, halfway to Bath on the River Avon. Used for term-time training/competition and out-of-term recreational water sport, the Boathouse moors up the universities rowing and sailing boats.

## Controversy

### 2003 admissions controversy

The university has been regarded as being elitist by some commentators, taking 41% of its undergraduate students from non-state schools, according to the most recent 2009/2010 figures, despite the fact that such pupils make up just 7% of the population and 18% of 16+ year old pupils across the UK. The intake of state school pupils at Bristol is lower than many Oxbridge colleges. The high ratio of undergraduates from non-state school has led to some tension at the university. In late February and early March 2003, Bristol became embroiled in a row about admissions policies, with some private schools threatening a boycott based on their claims that, in an effort to improve equality of access, the university was discriminating against their students. These claims were hotly denied by the university. In August 2005, following a large-scale survey, the Independent Schools Council publicly acknowledged that there was no evidence of bias against applicants from the schools it represented. In 2016, the 93% Club was established at Bristol University after students from a working-class state-school were criticised for their background and upbringing.

The university has a new admissions policy, which lays out in considerable detail the basis on which any greater or lesser weight may be given to particular parts of an applicant's backgrounds – in particular, what account may be taken of which school the applicant hails from. This new policy also encourages greater participation from locally resident applicants.

### Simon Hall and Bristol Innocence Project

In the late 2000s, Bristol law students in the University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP) wrongly campaigned for a convicted murderer, who later went on to formally confess to the murder he was convicted of and prove he was rightly convicted. The students helped produce a Rough Justice programme promoting his false claims of innocence, and continued to assert he had been wrongly convicted even after his appeal was rejected in 2011. In 2013, Hall confessed to the crime to police and dropped his appeals, and one year later was found dead in an act of suicide. His case was described as an embarrassment for such 'miscarriage of justice' activists and greatly undermined the claims of many prisoners who claim their innocence.

### Student Mental Health Crisis

In November 2016, three first-year students died within a few weeks of joining the university. All three deaths were suspected suicides. The Guardian attributed the deaths to a mental health crisis caused by academic and social pressure. Between October 2016 and January 2018, seven students died by suicide. In May 2018, three students died suddenly during exam season. The university has received increasing criticism for its handling of these deaths and confirmed suicides. In March 2017, it was reported that five students committed suicide in the 2016/2017 academic year. Between August 2017 to 2019, a reported 11 university students committed suicide. A further student suicide was reported in August 2019.

In September 2017, the university spent £1 million on well-being advisers following a string of students suicides.

In April 2018, a suicidal student, Natasha Abrahart, also died by suicide after not having her anti-depressants for a month. The student in question was found dead on the day she was due to take a "terrifying" oral exam. The coroner criticised the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust whilst her parents blamed the university for lack of measures for her during the six-month period she was struggling. In 2019, her parents were due to sue the university after the suicide. The case was heard at Bristol County Court in March 2022. Judgment was given in May 2022. The judge found that the university had breached its duties under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments for disability in the way it had assessed Natasha Abrahart, and had treated her unfavourably. He awarded her parents £50,000 in damages.

Another death by suicide, James Murray, occurred in May 2018. He had been dismissed from his course in February 2018 due to lack of attendance.

Around late 2018, the university launched a new opt-in emergency contact system for students' parents, friends and guardians. The system, which was pressurised by the parents of Murray, alerts those concerned if the student if there were severe concerns about their wellbeing. The system, in which 94% of students opted in, was used 36 times in its first year. The former vice-chancellor Hugh Brady, in February 2018, blamed the social media and "the cult of perfectionism" for the mental health crisis among young people following a string of student suicides.

In 2019, students who attended a course based around the "science of happiness" by the university was found to have "significantly higher mental wellbeing than a control group". The course has both academic and practical elements and give academic credits with no exams. However, those who took the course online during the COVID-19 pandemic did not feel happier but were more resilient than a control group. In addition there were certain caveats as most participants were white women.

### The Forced Swim Test

The University of Bristol has been subject to criticism for its use of the controversial 'forced swim test', an experiment popularised in the 1970s which has involved scientists at the University placing rodents in inescapable containers of cold water for 15 minutes to observe their responses to what the scientists call a "life-threatening situation". Once they are removed from the water they are killed via decapitation. The research can be dated as far back as 1998 by scientists from the University of Bristol and they have released at least 11 research papers using the test have been released in this time.

The University of Bristol was one of only two universities known to have used the forced swim test in 2022, the other being University College London. In October 2022 the University of Bristol renewed its license to carry out this experiment until 2027. More than half of the UK's Russell Group universities have shunned the test with Newcastle University's animal welfare ethics review body describing the test as "outdated and ethically unacceptable" adding that it "cannot foresee any research where this test would be proposed or could be scientifically or ethically justified".

The University faced particular opposition from animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The campaign of opposition has seen several University events disrupted by activists, including the Vice Chancellor, Evelyn Welch being confronted on two occasions, once on 16 May 2023 at an alumni event in New York and again on 13th July at a panel event which included Labour MP Matt Western, and University of Birmingham Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell.

## Notable people

### Academics

Current academics at the University of Bristol include 21 fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 13 fellows of the British Academy, 13 fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 44 fellows of the Royal Society. These include, Sir Michael Berry, one of the discoverers of quantum mechanics' "geometric phase", John Rarity international expert on quantum optics, quantum cryptography and quantum communication, David May, computer scientist and lead architect for the transputer, Mark Horton, a British maritime and historical archaeologist and Bruce Hood, a world-leading experimental psychologist.

Academics in computer science include, David Cliff, inventor of the seminal "ZIP" trading algorithm, Peter Flach, Mike Fraser, professor of human-computer interaction, Julian Gough and Nigel Smart. Academics in engineering include the materials scientist Stephen Eichhorn.

Past academics of the university include, Patricia Broadfoot, vice-chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, Nigel Thrift, vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick, and Wendy Larner, provost of Victoria University of Wellington. Anthony Epstein, co-discoverer of the Epstein-Barr virus, was Professor of Pathology at the university from 1968 to 1982, Sir John Lennard-Jones, discoverer of the Lennard-Jones potential in physics and Alfred Marshall, one of the University College's principals and influential economist in the latter part of the 19th century. Mathematicians and philosophers Rohit Parikh and Brian Rotman lectured in the mathematics department, and philosophers of science Paul Feyerabend and Alexander Bird taught in the department of philosophy. Another notable current academic in the department of philosophy includes Havi Carel. Notable mathematicians who have worked in the department of mathematics include Hannes Leitgeb, Philip Welch, Ben Green, Andrew Booker, Julia Wolf, Jens Marklof, John McNamara, Howell Peregrine, Christopher Budd John Hogan, Jeremy Rickard, Richard Jozsa, Corinna Ulcigrai, David Evans and the statistician Harvey Goldstein.

The University of Bristol is associated with three Ig Nobel Prizes, an award for unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Sir Michael Berry shared the award (with Andre Geim, a Nobel Laureate) for using magnets to levitate a frog. Gareth Jones also shared an Ig Nobel prize for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit bats. Dr. Len Fisher was awarded the 1999 prize for physics for calculating the optimal way to dunk a biscuit.

### Alumni

Bristol alumnus Paul Dirac went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 for his contribution to the formulation of quantum mechanics and is considered one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. Other notable scientists include Dani Rabaiotti, an environmental scientist and science communicator, and Eliahu Nissim, a professor of aeronautical engineering, and the president of the Open University of Israel.

Writers to have studied at Bristol include Dick King-Smith; Sarah Kane; Angela Carter; Dorothy Simpson; David Gibbins; Julia Donaldson; Olivier award-winning playwright Laura Wade; Maddie Mortimer; and David Nicholls, author of the novel Starter for Ten, turned into a screenplay set in the University of Bristol.

In government and politics, notable alumni include Albert II, Prince of Monaco; Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia; former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik, who was president of Bristol University Students' Union; Sir Jonathan Evans, former head of MI5; Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission from October 2012 to January 2017; and Paul Boateng, the UK's first Black Cabinet Minister.

In current affairs, former students include journalist and McMafia author Misha Glenny; BBC News Chief Political Correspondent James Landale (who founded the university independent newspaper Epigram); author and journalist Julie Myerson; editor-in-chief of the Telegraph Media Group William Lewis; editor-in-chief of The Observer Will Hutton; Radio 4 presenter Sue Lawley; newsreader Alastair Stewart; and Sky News US Correspondent Dominic Waghorn. BBC Breakfast and Good Morning Britain anchor Susanna Reid was an editor of Epigram.

In entertainment, former students include rapper Shygirl; singer James Blunt; illusionist Derren Brown; comedians Jon Richardson, Marcus Brigstocke (who did not graduate), Matt Lucas and David Walliams; actors Simon Pegg, Chris Langham and Pearl Mackie; anime YouTuber Gigguk; Brass Eye creator Chris Morris; and Stath Lets Flats creator Jamie Demetriou.

Notable alumni from the Film and Television Production department include film directors Mick Jackson; Michael Winterbottom; Marc Evans; Christopher Smith; Alex Cox; Peter Webber; and Maddie Moate.

Other alumni include Anne McClain, member of the 2013 NASA Astronaut Class; mathematician Iain Gordon; long jumper Jazmin Sawyers; Luke Bond, an organist at Windsor Castle; and baker Kim-Joy Hewlett.

## Gallery

## See also

- Armorial of UK universities
- CHOMBEC
- Education in Bristol
- List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
- List of universities in the United Kingdom
- University of Bristol Theatre Collection

Research university located in Bristol, England

Universities and colleges established in 1909


Hoyt Wilhelm

James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.

Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.

## Early life

Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.

Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.

After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.

Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win–loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.

## Major league career

### Early years

Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.

Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.

Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished fourth in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished seventh in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.

In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2+1⁄3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.

Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89+1⁄3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."

### Middle career

On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.

In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.

Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."

Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.

In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.

In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.

In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.

Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings―400+1⁄3―than any other relief pitcher.

After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.

### Later career

Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over  innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.

On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.

Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.

Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.

At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.

Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.

## Later life

After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.

Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.

He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.

In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.

## Legacy

Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.

Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."

Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.

## See also

- List of knuckleball pitchers
- List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career saves leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
- List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
- List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat

American baseball player (1922-2002)

National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

People from Huntersville, North Carolina

Sportspeople from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

United States Army personnel of World War II


Fancy rat

The fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus domestica) is the domesticated form of Rattus norvegicus, the brown rat, and the most common species of rat kept as a pet. The name fancy rat derives from the use of the adjective fancy for a hobby, also seen in "animal fancy", a hobby involving the appreciation, promotion, or breeding of pet or domestic animals. The offspring of wild-caught specimens, having become docile after having been bred for many generations, fall under the fancy type.

Fancy rats were originally targets for blood sport in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Later bred as pets, they now come in a wide variety of coat colors and patterns, and are bred and raised by several rat enthusiast groups around the world. They are sold in pet stores and by breeders. Fancy rats are generally easy to care for, and are quite affordable, even compared to other small pets; this is one of their biggest draws. Additionally, they are quite independent, affectionate, loyal and easily trained. They are considered more intelligent than other domesticated rodents. Healthy fancy rats typically live 2 to 3 years, but are capable of living a year or so longer.

Fancy rats are used widely in medical research, as their physiology is very similar to that of humans. When used in this field, they are referred to as laboratory rats (lab rats).

Domesticated rats are physiologically and psychologically different from their wild relatives, and typically pose no more of a health risk than other common pets. For example, domesticated brown rats are not considered a disease threat, although exposure to wild rat populations could introduce pathogens like the bacteria Streptobacillus moniliformis into the home. Fancy rats have different health risks from their wild counterparts, and thus are unlikely to succumb to the same illnesses as wild rats.

## History

The origin of the modern fancy rat begins with the rat-catchers of the 18th and 19th centuries who trapped rats throughout Europe. These rat-catchers would then either kill the rats, or, more likely, sell the rats to be used in blood sport. Rat-baiting was a popular sport until the beginning of the 20th century. It involved filling a pit with several rats and then placing bets on how long it would take a terrier to kill them all. It is believed that both rat-catchers and sportsmen began to keep certain, odd-colored rats during the height of the sport, eventually breeding them and then selling them as pets. The two men thought to have formed the basis of rat fancy are Jack Black, self-proclaimed rat-catcher to Queen Victoria, and Jimmy Shaw, manager of one of the largest sporting public houses in London. These two men are responsible for beginning many of the color varieties present today. Black, specifically, was known for taming the "prettier" rats of unusual color, decorating them with ribbons, and selling them as pets.

Rat fancy as a formal, organized hobby began when a woman named Mary Douglas asked for permission to bring her pet rats to an exhibition of the National Mouse Club at the Aylesbury Town Show in England on October 24, 1901. Her black-and-white hooded rat won "Best in Show" and ignited interest in the area. After Douglas' death in 1921, rat fancy soon began to fall back out of fashion. The original hobby formally lasted from 1912 to 1929 or 1931, as part of the National Mouse and Rat Club, at which point Rat was dropped from the name, returning it to the original National Mouse Club. The hobby was revived in 1976 with the formation of the English National Fancy Rat Society (NFRS). Pet rats are now commonly available in stores and from breeders, and there exist several rat fancier groups worldwide.

## Differences from wild rats

While domesticated rats are not removed enough from their wild counterparts to justify a distinct subspecies (like the dog versus grey wolf), there are significant differences that set them apart; the most apparent is coloring. Random color mutations may occur in the wild, but these are rare. Most wild R. norvegicus are a dark brown color, while fancy rats may be anything from white to cinnamon to blue.

Behaviorally, domesticated pet rats are tamer than those in the wild. They are more comfortable around humans and known to seek out their owners while roaming freely. They have decreased reactions to light and sound, are less cautious of new food, and have better tolerance to overcrowding. Domesticated rats are shown to mate earlier, more readily, and for a longer period of time over their lifespan. Also, domesticated rats exhibit different behaviors when fighting with each other; while wild rats almost always flee a lost battle, caged rats spend protracted amounts of time in a belly-up or boxing position. These behavioral traits are thought to be products of environment as opposed to genetics. However, it is also theorized that there are certain underlying biological reasons for why some members of a wild species are more receptive to domestication than others, and that these differences are then passed down to offspring (compare domesticated silver fox).

The body structure of domesticated rats differs from that of a wild rat as well. The body of a fancy rat is smaller, with larger ears and a longer tail. Domesticated rats have generally smaller and sharper facial features as well.

Domesticated rats have a longer lifespan than that of wild rats. Because domesticated rats are protected from predators and have ready access to food, water, shelter, and medical care, their average lifespan is around two to three years, in contrast to wild R. norvegicus, which average a lifespan of less than one year. However, wild rats generally have larger brains, hearts, livers, kidneys, and adrenal glands than laboratory rats. The fancy rat and wild rat also each face a multitude of differing health concerns; the former is at risk of developing a pneumococcal infection from exposure to humans, while the latter may harbor tapeworms after coming in contact with carriers such as cockroaches and fleas.

## Varieties

As in other pet species, a variety of colors, coat types, and other features that do not appear in the wild have either been developed, or have appeared spontaneously. Fancy rats in themselves are a subspecies and as such do not have distinctive breeds. Any individual rat may be defined one or more ways by its color, coat, marking, and non-standard body type. This allows for very specific classifications such as a ruby-eyed cinnamon Berkshire rex Dumbo.

### Coloring

While some pet rats retain the agouti coloring of the wild brown rat (three tones on the same hair), others have solid colors (a single color on each hair), a trait derived from rats with black coats. Agouti-based colors include agouti, cinnamon, and fawn. Black-based colors include black, beige, blue, and chocolate.

Eye color is considered a subset of coloring, and coat color definitions often include standards for the eyes, as many genes which control eye color will also affect the coat color or vice versa. The American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFRMA) lists black, pink, ruby, and odd-eyed (two differently colored eyes) as possible eye colors, depending on the variety of rat shown. Ruby refers to eyes which at a glance appear black, but on closer observation are a deep, dark red.

Color names can vary for more vaguely defined varieties, like lilac and fawn, while the interpretations of standards can fluctuate between (and even within) different countries or clubs.

### Markings

Further dividing the varieties of fancy rats are the many different markings. Fancy rats can appear in any combination of colors and markings. The markings are typically in reference to the patterns and ratios of colored hair versus white hair. Two extremes would be a self (completely solid, non-white color) and a Himalayan (completely white except blending into colored areas at the nose and feet, called points, as in a Himalayan cat's markings).

Markings have a strict standard, with detailed terminology, for showing in fancy rat pet shows. However, many domestic rats are not closely bred to any color standard; many of those found in pet shops will have mismarkings from a formal breeding perspective, which are defined as variations in markings that are not recognized as conforming to a breed standard published by a rat fancier organisation.

Commonly recognized standards include:

- Berkshire – colored top, white belly
- hooded – color runs in a saddle, a single, unbroken line from the full head down to the spine and possibly partly down the tail
- capped – color on the full head only
- blazed – colored head (capped) or body (Irish, Berkshire or self) with a triangular wedge of white fur over the face.
- variegated – any form of mismatched oddities in the fur. Can be anything from a broken or spotted hood to a misshaped blaze.
- Irish or English Irish – In England, the Irish is standardized by the NFRS as an equilateral triangle of white with a side that begins at the chest, or between the front legs, and where the point ends mid-length. In the United States and elsewhere, clubs like the AFRMA distinguish this marking as the English Irish and allow for another standardized Irish in which the rat may have white of an even or symmetrical nature anywhere along its underside.

Other marking varieties include spotted or Dalmatian (named for the spotted Dalmatian dog), Essex, masked, Himalayan (typically a gradient of color along the body, darkest at the base of the tail and nose as in Siamese cats), and Down Under or Downunder (an Australian variety that has a solid color stripe on the belly or a color marking there that corresponds to the markings on the top).

### Body type

Two of the most prominent and standardized physical changes applied to rats through selective breeding are the development of the Manx rat and Dumbo rat. The Dumbo rat, whose origins are in the United States, is characterized by having large, low, round ears on the sides of its head caused by a recessive mutation, and was named for its resemblance to the fictional character Dumbo the Flying Elephant. The Manx rat is tailless due to a genetic mutation, and was named for the Manx cat which shares this feature, though not necessarily due to the same mutation. Breeding Manx rats does raise some ethical and health concerns however, as rats use their tails for both balance and thermoregulation.

### Coat types

There is a relatively small variety of coats compared to the number of colors and markings, and not all are internationally standardized. The most common type is the normal or standard, which is allowed variance in coarseness between the sexes; males have a coarse, thick, rough coat, while females' coats are softer and finer. Other standardized coats include: rex, in which all the hairs are curly, even the whiskers; velveteen, a softer variation of the rex; satin or silky coat, which is extra-soft and fine, with a sheen; and Harley, characterized by wispy long straight hairs. Remaining coat types are not defined by the hair itself, but rather by the lack of it, such as hairless rats.

#### Hairless rats

Hairless rats are a coat variety characterized by varying levels of hair loss. One type of hairless rat is bred from curly-coated rexes. These range from having areas of very short fur to being completely bald. Since rex is a dominant trait, there only needs to be one rex parent to produce curly rex-coated offspring. However, when two rex parents are bred, two copies of the trait may be present in the offspring. This causes varying levels of hairlessness, and has earned the colloquial name "double rex". The other type of hairless rat is sometimes referred to as a "true hairless". This is caused by a different gene, and is distinguishable from a hairless double rex by the absence of whiskers. Unlike a double rex, this type of hairless rat is incapable of growing hairs on any part of the body. One additional subset of semi-hairless rats, patchwork rex, constantly lose their hair and regrow it in different "patches" several times throughout their life. Hairless rats may be prone to more health problems than their standard- or rex-coated counterparts, including a reduced tolerance for cold, kidney and liver failure, more prone to skin injury, skin conditions, and shortened life span.

### Ethics of selective breeding

There is controversy among rat fanciers in regard to selective breeding. On one hand, breeding rats to "conform" to a specific standard or to develop a new one is a large part of what the fancy was founded on. On the other hand, the process results in many rats who do not "conform", and are then either given away, sold as food, or killed—the latter referred to as culling.

There are concerns as to whether breeding hairless and tailless rats is ethical. The tail is vital for rats' balance and for adjusting body temperature. Tailless rats have greater risk of heat exhaustion, poor bowel and bladder control, falling from heights, and can be at risk for life-threatening deformities in the pelvic region, like hind leg paralysis and megacolon. Similarly, hairless rats are less protected from scratches and the cold without their coat. Groups such as the NFRS prohibit the showing of these varieties at their events and forbid advertisement through affiliated services.

### Availability

Because R. norvegicus and related species are seen as pests, their intentional import into foreign countries is often regulated. For example, the importation of foreign rodents is prohibited in Australia, and so various coat types, colors, and varieties have been bred separately from foreign lines, or are just not obtainable within that country (for example, hairless and Dumbo rats do not exist in Australia). In other areas, like the Canadian province of Alberta, which is considered rat-free, the ownership of domestic fancy rats outside of schools, laboratories, and zoos is illegal.

## Health

Human-raised R. norvegicus are more prone to specific health risks and diseases than their wild counterparts, but they are also far less likely to succumb to certain illnesses that are prevalent in the wild. The major considerations for susceptibility include exposure, living conditions, and diet.

Rats that live their entire lives indoors usually are able to avoid disease-causing bacteria such as Salmonella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; the latter is absent in treated water. They may also more easily avoid vectors like cockroaches, beetles, and fleas which are essential for the spread of endemic typhus and intestinal parasites like the rat tapeworm. Additionally, pet or laboratory rats enjoy the intrinsic benefits of having a consistent and well-balanced diet, along with access to medical care.

Porphyrin is a browny-red substance that fancy rats can develop around the eyes and nose. It may appear like dried blood, but is a mucus-like substance that is released at times of stress or if the rat has a respiratory infection. It can also be caused by temporary irritation in the eye, such as the rat accidentally scratching its eye while grooming.

Mites also pose a health risk. Mites are microscopic bloodsucking parasites that can irritate the skin of fancy rats, and if they have a preexisting health condition, it can cause them to die from their bodies' inability to handle two problems at once.

While living indoors decreases the risk of contracting certain diseases, living in close quarters with other rats, lack of proper protection from environmental factors (e.g. temperature, humidity), an unhealthy diet, and the stresses inherently associated with living in an unnatural habitat can all adversely affect a rat's health to make them more prone to specific conditions. Specifically, Tyzzer's disease, protozoic infections (e.g. Giardia muris), and pseudotuberculosis are usually seen in stressed or young rats. Additionally, pet rats are exposed to Streptococcus pneumoniae, a zoonotic disease caught from humans, not the same bacteria associated with pneumonia. A human-associated fungus, Pneumocystis carinii (also found in almost all domesticated animals), is usually asymptomatic in the rat, unless the rat's immune system is compromised by illness. If this occurs, the infection can develop into pneumonia.

Several diseases, like Rat Coronavirus Infection (RCI), Sendai virus, and Murine Respiratory Mycoplasmosis (MRM, Mycoplasma pulmonis), are prevalent simply because their highly contagious natures work in tandem with the way rats are kept in laboratories, pet stores, and by breeders. MRM is far less likely to occur in laboratory rats than in those kept as pets.

Pet rats can also develop pituitary tumors if fed high-calorie diets, and ringtail if placed in areas with low humidity or high temperatures. Staphylococcus spp. are a mostly benign group of bacteria that commonly reside on the top of the skin, but cuts and scratches from social and hierarchical fighting can open up the pathways for them to cause ulcerative dermatitis.

There is some evidence that spayed female rats ("does") are less likely to develop mammary and pituitary tumors than intact females. Research into prevention of common diseases and health issues in rats is ongoing. Dietary changes are among the main suggestions for improved health and longevity in fancy rats, including feeding rat-friendly superfoods in moderation to reduce the risk of cancers, heart disease, and stroke.

### Risks to owners

Keeping rats as pets can come with the stigma that rats supposedly transmit dangerous diseases to their owners. Usually, rats bred as pets are tested and treated for diseases and parasites. One fear is that all rats carry plague, when in fact R. norvegicus is not among the list of species considered a threat. In 2004, an outbreak of salmonella in the United States was connected to people who owned pet rats. However, it has been determined that a pet rat's initial exposure to salmonella, along with many other zoonotic rat diseases, typically indicates exposure to wild rodent populations, either from an infestation in the owner's home, or from the pet's contaminated food, water, or bedding.

Another risk to rat owners is rat-bite fever. This is a rare disease among domesticated rats and is most often found in rats from large chain pet stores that breed their stock of rats in masses (usually with the intention of being snake food rather than pets) or from breeders with neglectful rat husbandry. This disease is fairly unnoticeable in the rat, but is characterized by swelling of the bite or scratch site, fever, vomiting, and body aches. It is contracted by the bite or scratch of an infected rat. As an early breeder of fancy rats, Jack Black recounted that he nearly died several times after bites.

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control reported an outbreak of Seoul virus spread by pet rats.

## Fiction

In fiction, pet brown rats are often depicted as tamed rather than domesticated, akin to when a character befriends a wolf. As tamed pets, they have been portrayed in roles that vary from evil to ambiguous to lovable.

Samantha Martin, a professional animal trainer for films, commercials, and music videos, has claimed that rats are one of the easiest animals to train due to their adaptability, intelligence, and focus.

In the direct-to-video sequels to the 1987 film The Brave Little Toaster, The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, Ratso is the pet rat of Rob McGroarty.

The novella Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert was the basis for the films Willard (1971) and Ben (1972), and a 2003 remake of the first film. Here, the protagonist befriends the rats found in his home and builds up a close relationship, only to have it end tragically. While these movies generally emphasize the popular perception of malevolence—they kill people and cats and ransack grocery stores—other wild rats who become pets are portrayed in more neutral to positive ways; the television show, House, briefly featured "Steve McQueen", the pet rat of the titular character.

In certain versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, the master and adoptive father of the turtles is Splinter, who was once the pet rat of ninja Hamato Yoshi and learned his martial arts skills by imitating his owner.

In the 1996 point-and-click adventure game Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh, the protagonist Curtis Craig owns a pet rat named Blob, which is seen various times in the game and is even involved in one of the many puzzles that the player must decipher.

Pet rats are unofficially allowed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series, but are not generally seen as desirable pets. Ronald Weasley has a pet rat, Scabbers, who was later revealed to be an illegal animagus named Peter Pettigrew in reality.

Christopher Boone, the autistic protagonist of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has a pet rat named Toby.

## See also

- Fancy mouse
- Experimental evolution
- List of fictional rodents
- Rat agility
- Rat Genome Database
- Working rat

Domesticated brown rat subspecies