S2 Ep14: Episode 14: A lifetime in academia and music

University Registrars Talking About Stuff

In this episode of University Registrars (and Others) Talking About Stuff I talk to someone who is very much not a registrar but a notable figure nevertheless. Dr Vince Wilson recently retired as Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham and among the stuff we learn about is Vince's distinctive academic journey from a degree in pharmacy to a research degree, a Royal Society fellowship - as part of which he spent a period in Germany - and then a post-doc in Glasgow.

Vince joined Nottingham in 1989 where he was based in the Queen's Medical Centre and being in the same building as a hospital was a big attraction, particularly for translational research. We discuss some of the differences in scale and technology in HE since the 80s but also the increased pressure on academics.

Other significant developments which Vince highlights are the outreach and widening participation agenda which he was involved in and a specific transnational medical education partnership with Thailand which had delivered strong results over many years, as well as enabling him to enjoy a period of work in the sun during the cold winter months.

Vince's passion for music has been ever-present - as well as providing a vehicle for engaging with the public when he was a locum pharmacist and students in the classroom, he highlights the hitherto largely under-reported contribution of one of his heroes, the late, great Gil Scott-Heron, to academia. However, it is to Miles Davis and John Coltrane he turns for his priority Desert Island disc selection.

It's a really different and entertaining conversation and I am sure you will enjoy it.