Who is Monica Partridge? Here are the people that the buildings on campus are named after

David Ross is the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse

2 years ago | UPDATED 2 years ago

The University Park Campus is full of residential halls and teaching facilities with all kinds of different titles. From libraries like George Green, to the David Ross Sports Village and even Florence Boot Hall, there are plenty of name drops to search for.

But be honest, how many of these people do you actually know anything about?

Whilst I am sure there are probably some UoN trivia heroes out there, the common Notts student will probably graduate without learning a single famous alumni or lecturer.

Here are some of the notorious names you will have seen on buildings around campus, and the interesting people behind them.

Monica Partridge (1915-2008)

After a poll in 2020, the formerly known Teaching and Learning Building located behind Hallward Library was renamed to be the Monica Partridge Building. But who exactly was she?

As a student, Partridge studied French at the University of Nottingham and went on to study Russian in London in 1940, but what really sets her apart from the crowd is her title as the first ever woman to become a professor at UoN in 1967.

Not retiring from her position in the department of Slavic studies until 1980, she was committed to her role at the uni and actually left a sum of money after her death to allow for students at Nottingham to be assisted in gaining fellowships.

George Green (1793-1841)

Although to many the name George Green just brings back memories of exam stress and paninis, the building on University Park is actually named after an important figure in the history of Mathematical Physics.

George Green spent the most part of his life living in Sneinton, Nottingham as a baker and miller, but actually produced some ground-breaking approaches towards electricity and magnetism which went unnoticed until after his death in 1841.

In 1846, a member of the mathematical community by the name of William Thomson rediscovered Green’s work, and even Albert Einstein has been said to have commented upon it, remarking that Green was 20 years ahead of his time. An impressive review to receive.

Florence Boot (1863-1952)

Flo Bo is well known as one of UP’s halls of residence, but how many people know anything about who Florence Boot actually was?

Often overshadowed by her husband, Florence was married to Jesse Boot, and together they were the first Lord and Lady Trent. Jesse Boot was the founder of Boots chemists and a major benefactor to the university, having donated the land on which Flo Bo sits for use by the university. Florence assisted her husband in the running of the Boots company, incorporating things like cafes and libraries into the chemist shops to help keep customers coming.

Florence was a keen campaigner for women’s education in the 1920s and founded this first women’s hall of residence which opened in 1928. A major win for progress towards female education at Nottingham.

Hugh Stewart (1884-1934)

The largest catered student accommodation on University Park, Hugh Stewart Hall has actually not always been known as such.

Originally named Lenton House after its construction in 1804 the hall has seen a lot of history, and its name only changes in the time after 1930, the year in which it was purchased by University College, Nottingham.

The hall’s namesake, Hugh Stewart, was the late principal of University College, Nottingham in the years 1929-1934. Hence why, once it was purchased by the university, he was the first choice for the building’s rechristening.

Clive Granger (1934-2009)

You may know the Clive Granger building purely as University Park’s home to the schools of Economics and Geography, but Clive Granger was in fact a well-known Nobel Prize winner as well as the inspiration for this building’s name.

As a British expert in Economics and a lecturer at the university, he won the prize in 2003 alongside co-winner Robert F. Engle, for his analysis of time series data. This helped majorly in the analysis of macroeconomic and financial data. Impressive stuff.

David Ross (1965-Present)

The David Ross Sports Village is one of University Park’s newer buildings in the scheme of things, having been opened in October of 2016. It takes its name from none other than one of the co-founders of Carphone Warehouse.

David Ross is a businessman millionaire, estimated by The Sunday Times Rich List 2020 to have a net worth of 642 million pounds. In 2015 he was made a member of the University of Nottingham’s council, having been a past student there.

His philanthropic work is done via the David Ross Foundation and he supported the building of the £40 million sports centre on campus. Ross is also the only one of the people on this list who is still alive, turning 57 next year.