February 2011

For immediate release

Winifred Mercier honoured

Leeds Metropolitan University have announced this year's guest speaker at

the Winifred Mercier annual public lecture as Emeritus Professor Miriam
David. The lecture will be held on 30 March at 5.30pm in Gandhi Hall at the
University’s Headingley Campus. It is an annual event in recognition of the
City of Leeds Training College's first female Vice Principal and feminist,
Winifred Mercier.

Professor Miriam David has throughout her life been inspired by a

commitment to transforming the world by empowering women through
education, and to feminism. Her teaching and research draws its strengths
from feminist theories and methodological perspectives, including especially
in the 21st century narrative and biological approaches. She created a
professional doctorate in gender and education management at Keele
University and has been involved in several international feminist networks,
working with colleagues in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA and
parts of Latin America.

Professor Lori Beckett, The Winifred Mercier Professor of Teacher Education

at Leeds Metropolitan, said: “The annual Winifred Mercier public lecture is a
significant event on Leeds Metropolitan’s calendar as it not only celebrates
the intellectual life of the university but it pays homage to the first Vice-
Principal of City of Leeds Training College. Winifred Mercier left a legacy of
professional activity in teacher education at the local and national levels, at a
time when it was first introduced as a campus-based study. Leeds Met
academics follow suit with their own engagement in teacher education in all
different forums, especially now given national debates on the fate of campus-
based work. The public lecture provides an opportunity to invite a prominent
academic to share her or his perspectives on teacher education, and to
engage in a public debate about the best ways to prepare our teachers.”

Instituted in 2007, the annual lecture commemorates the life and work of
Winifred Mercier who from 1913 to 1915 was Vice Principal at the Former City
of Leeds Training College. Greatly respected for her intellect and passion,
Winifred was not afraid to engage in public policy debates and ask questions
of the government of the day. A first wave feminist, she encouraged her
contemporaries to consider society as it was and as it could be, and
deliberate on the role and function of education in building the social world.  

To book a place at the lecture please contact Linda Hepworth on

l.hepworth@leedsmet.ac.uk or 0113 812 3692.

Ends

For further details please contact Helen Goodwin in the News and Media
team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 5935 or email h.g.goodwin@leedsmet.ac.uk

Notes for editors:

 Leeds Metropolitan University has 30,000 students and over 300,000

associate students through its partnerships with 24 colleges.
 The University has achieved its best ever Research Assessment
Exercise results. Sports-Related Studies is in the top 6 institutions in
the country with research rated at the highest levels of 4* and 3*.
 The University’s award-winning learning environments include the
iconic Rose Bowl building, awarded Best Commercial Property
Development in the 2009 Yorkshire Property Awards; Broadcasting
Place, winner of the 2010 Leeds Architecture Awards New Building
category and the pioneering Carnegie Village student accommodation.
 Leeds Metropolitan is one of only a handful of UK universities to have
been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard.
 The University is home to The UK Centre for Coaching Excellence for
sport and disability sport and is 2nd in the British University and
Colleges Sport (BUCS) rankings.