Alumni Services

General Council Meeting and Lunch

The next General Council Half-Yearly Meeting will take place on 24 February 2018 in McEwan Hall, and will feature speeches from both incoming Principal Professor Peter Mathieson, and sportsman John James Chalmers.

John James Chalmers
John James Chalmers

This is an excellent opportunity to view the recently installed Pathway to Enlightenment, a bold statement on the role of philanthropy at the University, recognising the donors who contributed to the McEwan Hall's redevelopment.

The design, conceived by students, incorporates images from the University's collections that are relevant to the range of disciplines studies by the graduates who will walk these corridors in future - celebrating the range of studies undertaken here at the University.

John James Chalmers

The meeting will be followed by a reception and lunch in the new basement facilities which are part of the redevelopment, where the after-lunch speaker will be John James Chalmers, Invictus Games Medallist and TV Presenter.

Mr Chalmers served in Helmand, Afghanistan as a Royal Marine with 42 Commando. In May 2011 he sustained devastating injuries in a bomb blast in Afghanistan where he suffered facial injuries, lost two fingers and his right elbow disintegrated.

In September 2014, Mr Chalmers was a medal winner in non-amputee cycling for Britain at the Invictus Games. He received a gold medal for the Men's IRecB1 Recumbent Circuit Race, as part of a British Trio who crossed the finish line together, earlier that day Chalmers had already won a bronze in the 1 mile time trial.

He also won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100m mixed relay race, and went on to present National Paralympic Day for Channel 4 as well as an online show for the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. He was a presenter for Channel 4's award-winning coverage of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as appearing as a guest on The Last Leg broadcast nightly live from a studio in Rio de Janeiro with the special series Live from Rio. He also featured on 'The Superhumans Show' and appeared on the BBC's coverage of 'Remembrance at the Cenotaph'.

On 21 February 2017, Chalmers began presenting some of the sports segments on the BBC news channel in the afternoon.

Book your place

To make reservations for the lunch follow this link:

Book your place

Further information and details of how to register can also be found in the winter 2018 edition of Billet.

Take part online

For the benefit of all our members and friends who are unable to join us at the McEwan Hall, there are still opportunities to take part.

Online questions are invited in the usual way by email:

Email your questions

Although every effort will be made to answer all questions on the day, this may not be possible for a number of reasons, in which case answers will be provided as soon as possible afterwards.

Highlights of both the morning meeting and the after-lunch talk will be available to view on our website:

General Council website