Principal’s foreword

Posted on: 4 January, 2019

At UCEM, the core purpose, as signposted in our Royal Charter, is and always has been to provide truly accessible, relevant and cost-effective education, enabling students to enhance careers, increase professionalism and contribute to a better Built Environment.

Since the foundation of The College of Estate Management in 1919, this core purpose has driven the institution’s activity and I am truly honoured to be just the ninth Principal in its history.

What has struck me about the institution throughout its first 100 years is its remarkable resilience, operating in circumstances which may have curtailed CEM’s life long before this impressive milestone. Our centenary year offers an opportunity to tell the story of CEM, and latterly UCEM, through the decades – stories which interweave with the wider events of the Second World War and later, the post-internet revolution.

More than 150,000 students across the world have walked through our doors – some physically, some through correspondence courses and some online. That is a phenomenal number of people who have been trained in disciplines as diverse as rural land management, property investment and quantity surveying to name just a few of the courses run over that time.

UCEM’s core mission focuses on contributing to a better Built Environment. This is the legacy of all those involved in delivering our courses and studying on them over the past century and this is the aim which we will tirelessly continue working towards.

We invite you to join us in reflecting on the achievements of the institution to date and share in our celebrations (of which there will be plenty!), toasting 100 years well spent. Here’s to the next 100!

Ashley Wheaton
UCEM Principal