Anglia Ruskin University

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded in 1858 by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. The institution became a university in 1992 and was renamed after John Ruskin, the Oxford University professor and author, in 2005. Ruskin delivered the inaugural speech at the Cambridge School of Art in 1858. ARU is classified as one of the "post-1992 universities." The university's motto is in Latin: Excellentia per societatem, which translates to Excellence through partnership in English.

As of 2022^[update], Anglia Ruskin had 35,195 students. ARU has six campuses across the south-eastern portion of the United Kingdom in Cambridgeshire, Essex, and Greater London.

Anglia Ruskin University has its origins in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. The inaugural address was given by John Ruskin, who is often incorrectly described as the founder. The original location was near Sidney Sussex College, but it later moved to its current location on East Road, Cambridge.

Drawing was central to its curriculum, reflecting Ruskin's philosophy on art and education.

In the 1920s, the governing body included two remarkable pioneers in the civic history of Cambridge: Clara Rackham and Lilian Mellish Clarke, after whom buildings on the East Road campus were later named.

Danbury Place, constructed by Sir Walter Mildmay in 1589, was owned by ARU from 1974 until 2017.

In 1960, this institution became the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (CCAT). In 1989, CCAT merged with the Essex Institute of Higher Education, which was originally a vocational school named Chelmsford School of Science and Art and later known as Mid Essex Technical College and Chelmer Institute of Higher Education, to form Anglia Higher Education College.

The merged college became a polytechnic in 1991, adopting the name Anglia Polytechnic, and was awarded university status in 1992. Initially called Anglia Polytechnic University (APU), it retained the term 'polytechnic' in its title because it symbolized the type of education known for equipping students with practical skills for the workforce. However, in 2000 there was some uncertainty about including 'polytechnic' in the title since it was the only university in the country to do so. Wanting to keep the 'APU' abbreviation, a suggestion put forward by the governors was 'Anglia Prior University' (after a former Chancellor Jim Prior), but the Governors decided to keep 'polytechnic' in the title.