L-R: Lady Jeannie Smith, Professor Sir Steve Smith, Professor Lisa Roberts and Mike Shore-Nye

University of Exeter announce the Sir Steve Smith Building

The substantial contribution made to the University by Professor Sir Steve Smith during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor has been celebrated, with the LSI Building being renamed in his honour.

The building, on our Streatham Campus, has been renamed the Sir Steve Smith Building at a special ceremony this week.

As part of the renaming, an official portrait of Sir Steve will reside in the communal space of the building.

Professor Sir Steve Smith became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter in October 2002. Under his leadership, Exeter became one of the UK’s top universities, with a rapidly growing global reputation including making it into the global top 100 in the University’s Diamond Jubilee year in 2015.
His vision saw the creation of the University of Exeter Medical School, the joining of the Russell Group in 2012, achieving TEF Gold, the creation of Exeter Science Park, and the establishment of the GW4 Alliance.

In the UK higher education sector, Professor Sir Steve took on many key roles including Chair of the 1994 Group of universities, Chair of the UCAS Board, and President of Universities UK between 2009 and 2011.

His achievements saw him knighted in 2011.

Speaking at the event, Professor Sir Steve said: "It is a great honour that the University has paid me, and I must confess that I am delighted it has decided to name this building in my honour.

"So many of us worked so hard to get this project completed, and it typifies our commitment towards interdisciplinary research, and to developing a truly bench-to-bedside approach to link the research base with impact on patients and thus the local community. But although this building may have my name on it, it represents colleagues who transformed this university into what it is today."

The newly re-named building will still be home to the Living Systems Institute, which was launched in 2016 as a state-of-the-art environment in which cell and molecular biologists, mathematicians, physicists, biomedical scientists and engineers can work together. The LSI is designed to foster innovative, interdisciplinary research into the fundamental molecular and cellular processes underlying human, animal, and plant biology and disease.

At the ceremony, Professor Lisa Roberts, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter said: "During his 18 years as Vice-Chancellor, Steve transformed the University of Exeter and its fortunes in almost every way possible.

"His vision for the University was shaped around a number of key priorities – exponentially improving the University’s research scale and quality nationally and internationally; improving the student experience and campus infrastructure to support the delivery of the very best education possible; an unwavering commitment to widening access to ensure that anyone, regardless of their background, could study and thrive here at Exeter; and developing the University’s reputation and external recognition locally, nationally and around the world.”

Date: 14 October 2022