Early life, his first months at the University and Strategy 2035: Vice Chancellor sits down with WLV News

In a sit down interview with WLV News, we sat down with the University of Wolverhampton's Vice Chancellor Professor Ebrahim Adia to talk about all things WLV and what holds in the future for the University.

Since being appointed in the role of Vice Chancellor in September, Ebrahim has been enjoying every minute in the post since then and he told us that the time since taking on the job has been flying by. "I am actually now in my seventh month, so time does go by very, very quickly. I have to say, I'm enjoying every minute of being vice chancellor here. It's such a wonderful university."

Professor Ebrahim Adia is in the unique position of being the first vice chancellor who was the first in his family to have gone to University. He spoke to us about his family history and some of the challenges that his family faced in his early years in his childhood town of Bolton. He even recalled how his father was only able to propose to Ebrahim's mother via a telephone call. "My family took its position really at the bottom of the economic and social pecking order. You know, my father did the jobs that nobody else really wanted to do. He worked in the textile mills in Bolton in Lancashire while we lived in the poorest parts of Bolton for the majority of my youth and that very much shaped my life opportunities at that time."

"When I Iooked at the data, 71% of our students were the first in their family to go to university, and that was really appealing to me because it very much aligns with my own life experience."

On Monday 29th April, the University of Wolverhampton outlined their plans for "Strategy 2035", where the Vice Chancellor outlined his vision for the future of the University. Within the announcement for the plans that was in store, the University spoke about their plans to strengthen their connections to local and global communities. Speaking about Strategy 2035, the Vice Chancellor said "we are really committed to the city, the black country and that we see ourselves very much as a place based university and as an anchor institution, as a civic institution that is passionate about not only our own success, but the economic and social success of the region."

In our conversation with the Vice Chancellor, you can already sense the pride that he has in his role at the University even when he's been at the University of Wolverhampton for less than 12 months. With Strategy 2035 in the pipeline, the future not only looks bright for the University of Wolverhampton but also for the future of the Black Country as well.