John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010. He was seen as the political link to the working class in a Labour Party increasingly led by modernising, middle-class professionals such as Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson and developed a reputation as a key conciliator in the often stormy relationship between Blair and Gordon Brown.

Born in Prestatyn, Wales, in his youth Prescott failed the eleven-plus entrance exam for grammar school and worked as a ship's steward and trade union activist. He went on to graduate from Ruskin College and the University of Hull. In the 1994 Labour Party leadership election, he stood for both the leadership and deputy leadership, winning election to the latter office. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister after Labour's victory in the 1997 election, with an expanded brief as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions until 2001 then subsequently First Secretary of State until 2007. In June 2007, he resigned as Deputy Prime Minister, coinciding with Blair's resignation as Prime Minister. Following an election within the Labour Party, he was replaced as deputy leader by Harriet Harman.

After retiring as a Member of Parliament at the 2010 general election, Prescott entered the House of Lords as a life peer with the title Baron Prescott, of Kingston upon Hull in the County of East Yorkshire. He stood as the Labour candidate in the 2012 election to be the first Police and crime commissioner for Humberside Police but lost to Conservative Party candidate Matthew Grove. Prescott resigned from the Privy Council in 2013 to protest delays to the introduction of press regulation of which he had become a proponent. In February 2015, he returned to politics as an adviser to Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Early life
The son of John Herbert Prescott, a railway signalman and Labour councillor, and Phyllis, and the grandson of a miner, Prescott was born in Prestatyn, Wales, on 31 May 1938. In 2009, he said: "I've always felt very proud of Wales and being Welsh...I was born in Wales, went to school in Wales and my mother was Welsh. I'm Welsh. It's my place of birth, my country." He left Wales in 1942 at the age of four and was brought up initially in Brinsworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He attended Brinsworth Manor School, where in 1949 he sat but failed the 11-Plus examination to attend Rotherham Grammar School. Shortly afterwards, his family moved to Upton-by-Chester, and he attended Grange Secondary Modern School in nearby Ellesmere Port.

Prescott became a steward and waiter in the Merchant Navy, thus avoiding National service, working for Cunard, and was a popular left-wing union activist. Prescott's time in the Merchant Navy included a cruise from England to New Zealand in 1957. Among the passengers was former British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden, recuperating after his resignation over the Suez Crisis. Prescott reportedly described Eden as a "real gentleman". Apart from serving Eden, who stayed in his cabin much of the time, Prescott also won several boxing contests, at which Eden presented the prizes. He married Pauline "Tilly" Tilston at Upton Church in Chester on 11 November 1961. He then went to Ruskin College, which specialises in courses for union officials, where he gained a diploma in economics and politics in 1965. In 1968, he obtained a BSc degree in economics and economic history from the University of Hull.

Member of Parliament
Prescott returned to the National Union of Seamen as a full-time official before being elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East in 1970, succeeding Commander Harry Pursey, the retiring Labour MP. The defeated Conservative challenger was Norman Lamont. Previously, he had attempted to become MP for Southport in 1966, but came in second place, approximately 9,500 votes behind the Conservative candidate. From July 1975 to 1979, he concurrently served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Leader of the Labour Group, when its members were nominated by the national Parliaments. In 1988 Prescott and Eric Heffer challenged Roy Hattersley for the deputy leadership of the party, but Roy Hattersley was reelected as deputy leader. Prescott stood again in the 1992 deputy leadership election, following Hattersley's retirement, but lost to Margaret Beckett.

Prescott held various posts in Labour's Shadow Cabinet, but his career was secured by an impassioned closing speech in the debate at the Labour Party Conference in 1993 on the introduction of "one member, one vote" for the selection and reselection of Labour Parliamentary candidates that helped swing the vote in favour of this reform. In 1994 Prescott was a candidate in the party leadership election that followed the death of John Smith, standing for the positions of both leader and deputy leader. Tony Blair  won the leadership contest, with Prescott being elected deputy leader.

Deputy Prime Minister

With the formation of a Labour government in 1997, Prescott was made Deputy Prime Minister and given a very large portfolio as the head of the newly created Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions. In the United Kingdom, the title of Deputy Prime Minister is used only occasionally, and confers no constitutional powers (in which it is similar to the pre-20th century usage of Prime Minister). The Deputy Prime Minister stands in when the Prime Minister is unavailable, most visibly at Prime minister's questions, and Prescott had attended various Heads of Government meetings on behalf of then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Since the position of Deputy Prime Minister draws no salary, Prescott's remuneration was based on his position as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions until 2001. This "super department" was then broken up, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport established as separate entities. Prescott, still Deputy Prime Minister, was also given the largely honorific title of First Secretary of State. In July 2001 an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was created to administer the areas remaining under his responsibility. This was originally part of the Cabinet Office, but became a department in its own right in May 2002, when it absorbed some of the responsibilities of the former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The ODPM had responsibility for local and regional government, housing, communities and the fire service.

Environment, Transport and the Regions

Environment
The UK played a major role in the successful negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and Prescott led the UK delegation at the discussions. In May 2006, in recognition of his work in delivering the Kyoto Treaty, Tony Blair asked him to work with the Foreign Secretary and the Environment Secretary on developing the Government's post-Kyoto agenda.

As minister on 24 August 1999 Prescott signed into law a ban on the use of Chrysotile Asbestos which resulted in a complete ban on the usage of any Asbestos containing products in the United Kingdom from 24 November 1999.

Integrated transport policy
On coming to office, Prescott pursued an integrated public transport policy. On 6 June 1997, he said: "I will have failed if in five years time there are not...far fewer journeys by car. It's a tall order but I urge you to hold me to it." However, by June 2002, car traffic was up by 7%. This prompted Friends of the Earth's Tony Bosworth to say "By its own test, Government transport policy has failed".

Prescott had success in focusing attention on the role of car usage in the bigger environmental picture and the need for effective public transport alternatives if car volume is to be reduced. The subsequent debate on road pricing evolved from his policy. A contrast was highlighted between Prescott's transport brief and an incident, in 1999, when an official chauffeur-driven car was used to transport Prescott and his wife  from their hotel to the venue of the Labour Party Conference, where Prescott gave a speech on how to encourage the use of public transport. Prescott explained, "Because of the security reasons for one thing and second, my wife doesn't like to have her hair blown about. Have you got another silly question?" Prescott has been fined for speeding on four occasions.

Rail regulation
Prescott had a stormy relationship with the privatisation of the railway industry. He had vigorously opposed the privatisation of the industry while the Labour Party was in opposition, and disliked the party's policy, established in 1996 just before the flotation of Railtrack on the London Stock Exchange, of committing to renationalise the industry only when resources allowed, which he saw as meaning that it would never be done. Reluctantly, he supported the alternative policy, produced by then shadow transport secretary Clare Short, that the industry should be subjected to closer regulation by the to-be-created Strategic Rail Authority (in the case of the passenger train operators) and the Rail Regulator (in the case of the monopoly and dominant elements in the industry, principally Railtrack). The policy was spelled out in some detail in the Labour Party's statement in the June 1996 prospectus for the sale of Railtrack shares, and was widely regarded as having depressed the price of the shares.

In 1998, Prescott was criticised by Transport Minister John Reid for his statement – at the Labour Party conference that year – that the privatised railway was a "national disgrace", despite receiving a standing ovation from the Labour Party audience. The companies felt that they had had some considerable successes in cutting costs and generating new revenues in the short time since their transfer to private sector hands, and that the criticisms were premature and unfair.

In that speech, Prescott also announced that he would be taking a far tougher line with the companies, and to that end he would be having a "spring clean" of the industry. This meant that the incumbent Director of Passenger Rail Franchising – John O'Brien – and the Rail Regulator John Swift QC – both appointed by the previous Conservative government, would have to make way for new Labour appointees.

In July 1998, Prescott, published a transport White Paper stating that the rail industry needed an element of stability and certainty if it was to plan its activities effectively.

In February 1999, the regulation of the passenger rail operators fell to Sir Alastair Morton, who Prescott announced would be appointed as chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, which would take over from the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising whose office would be wound up. In July 1999, the new Rail Regulator appointed by Prescott was Tom Winsor. They shared Prescott's view that the railway industry needed a considerable shake-up in its institutional, operational, engineering and economic matrix to attract and retain private investment and enable the companies within it to become strong, competent and successful.

Local and regional government
Responsible for local government, Prescott introduced a new system guiding members' conduct after 2001. The new system included a nationally agreed Code of Conduct laid down by Statutory instrument which all local authorities were required to adopt; the Code of Conduct gives guidance on when councillors have an interest in a matter under discussion and when that interest is prejudicial so that the councillor may not speak or vote on the matter. Although on many areas councillors had previously been expected to withdraw where they had declared an interest, the new system made the system more formal and introduced specific sanctions for breaches; it was criticised for preventing councillors from representing the views of their local communities.

Prescott supported regional government in England. Early in his term, he introduced regional assemblies (consisting of delegates from local authorities and other regional stakeholders) to oversee the work of new Regional Development Agencies in the regions of England. Following Labour's second election victory, he pressed for the introduction of elected regional assemblies, which would have seen about 25 to 35 members elected under a similar electoral system to that used for the London Assembly. However, because of opposition, the government was forced to hold regional referendums on the change. The first three were intended to be in the North-East, North-West and Yorkshire and the Humber. The North-East referendum in November 2004 was first (where support was felt to be strongest) but resulted in an overwhelming vote of 78% against. As a consequence, the plan for elected regional assemblies was shelved.

Housing
A rising number of households (especially in the south-east) were putting added pressure on housing during Prescott's tenure as the minister responsible. An increase in the housebuilding was proposed, primarily on brownfield sites, but also on some undeveloped greenfield areas and as a result he was accused of undermining the Green Belt. During a radio interview in January 1998, Prescott was asked about housing development on the green belt; intending to convey that the government would enlarge green belt protection, Prescott replied: "It's a Labour achievement, and we mean to build on it". He had not intended to make a joke and was distressed when it prompted laughter.

In the north of England, Prescott approved the demolition of some 200,000 homes that were judged to be in "failing areas" as part of his Pathfinder regeneration scheme. It has been argued that renovating properties, rather than demolishing them, would have made better financial and community sense.

Prescott led the campaign to abolish council housing, which ran out of steam when tenants in Birmingham voted to stay with the council in 2002. A previous attempt to privatise all the council housing in the London Borough of Camden failed in 1997.

Opposition to education reforms
On 17 December 2005, Prescott made public his disapproval of Tony Blair's plans to give state schools the right to govern their finances and admission policies and to increase the number of city academies. It was the first policy stance that Prescott had made against Blair since his election as leader in 1994. Prescott said that the move would create a two-tier educational system that would discriminate against the working class. He added that Labour were "always better fighting class".

Links with the grass roots
Prescott, sometimes described as "an old-school unionist", kept in touch with the views of the traditional Labour voters throughout his career. He became an important figure in Tony Blair's "New Labour" movement, as the representative of 'old Labour' interests in the Shadow cabinet and subsequently around the Cabinet table as Deputy Prime Minister.

However, now a member of the establishment, relationships with the grass roots were not always smooth. Whilst attending the Brit Awards in 1998, Chumbawamba vocalist Danbert Nobacon poured a jug of iced water over Prescott, saying, "This is for the Liverpool Dockers". (Dock workers in Liverpool had been involved in a two-year industrial dispute: a strike that had turned into a lock-out, until a few weeks earlier.) A reporter from the Daily Mirror threw water over Nobacon the following day.

Abolition of department
In a Cabinet reshuffle on 5 May 2006, Prescott's departmental responsibilities were transferred to Ruth Kelly, as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, following revelations about his private life and a poor performance by Labour in that year's local elections. He remained as Deputy Prime Minister, with a seat in the Cabinet, and was given a role as a special envoy to the Far East as well as additional responsibilities chairing cabinet committees. Despite having lost his departmental responsibilities it was announced that he would retain his full salary (£134,000pa) and pension entitlements, along with both his grace-and-favour homes, an announcement which received considerable criticism.

The press speculated in July 2006 that, as a consequence of the continuing problems centred on Prescott, Blair was preparing to replace him as Deputy Prime Minister with David Miliband, whilst possibly retaining Prescott as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, but nothing came of this.

Announcement of retirement
In a speech to the 2006 Labour Party Conference in Manchester, Prescott apologised for the bad press he had caused the party during the previous year. He said: "I know in the last year I let myself down, I let you down. So Conference, I just want to say sorry", and confirmed that he would stand down as deputy leader when Blair resigned the premiership. Prescott subsequently announced in the House of Commons that he was "... in a rather happy demob stage", in January 2007.

Within 30 minutes of Blair announcing the date of his resignation on 10 May 2007, Prescott announced his resignation as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. During the subsequent special Labour Party Conference, at which Gordon Brown was elected Leader and Harriet Harman succeeded Prescott as Deputy Leader, Prescott received a prolonged standing ovation from the members present, in recognition of his many years of service to the party.

Life after government

Following his resignation, it was announced that he would take over from Tony Lloyd as the lead UK Representative in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In a jocular response to the appointment, Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois wished the translators good luck. The post is unpaid but has an expenses allowance and allows him to sit on the Assembly of the Western European Union. He has used his role on the council to make his campaign against slave labour a key issue.

On 27 August 2007, Prescott stated that he would stand down as an MP at the next general election. His autobiography, Prezza, My Story: Pulling no Punches was published on 29 May 2008 and ghostwritten by Hunter Davies. During the 2010 general election campaign, Prescott toured the UK in a customised white transit van dubbed his "Battlebus" canvassing support for the Labour Party. Prescott was publicly very supportive of Gordon Brown, and has called him a "global giant".

It was announced on 28 May 2010 that Prescott was to be awarded a life peerage, The peerage was gazetted on 15 June in the 2010 Dissolution Honours. Prescott has stated in interviews that he is not religious. He chose to make a non-religious solemn affirmation rather than swearing an oath during his introduction in the House of Lords. He was introduced into the House on 8 July as Baron Prescott, of Kingston upon Hull in the County of East Yorkshire, and the Letters patent were gazetted on 12 July, dated 7 July.

Prescott is a director of Super League rugby league club Hull Kingston Rovers, who are based in his former constituency of Kingston upon Hull East. Prescott ran for Labour Party Treasurer in September 2010 but was defeated by Diana Holland, who took 68.96% of the total vote.

On 30 July 2010, Prescott appeared before the panel at the Chilcot Inquiry concerning the Iraq War. Prescott stated that he was doubtful about the legality, intelligence and information about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction. The inquiry was launched by Gordon Brown in the summer of 2009 shortly after operations in the war ended. In 2016, after publication of the resultant Chilcot Report, which was critical of the war but remained neutral on its legality, Prescott declared that the invasion by UK and US forces had been "illegal" and that members of Tony Blair's Cabinet "were given too little paper documentation to make decisions".

In February 2012 Prescott announced he would stand for Labour's nomination in the election to be the first Police and crime commissioner for Humberside Police. In June he was selected as the Labour candidate for the election in November 2012. In the November election Prescott won the most first preference votes but ended up losing to Conservative Matthew Grove in the second count.

In March 2013, Prescott suggested that the Queen, Elizabeth II, should abdicate due to her health. Prescott was criticised for his position by several MPs.

On 6 July 2013, Prescott revealed in a newspaper column that he had resigned from the Privy Council in protest against the delays to the introduction of press regulation. The resignation only became effective on 6 November the same year. The Coalition Government had insisted that the Privy Council must consider a cross-party Royal Charter to underpin a new system of regulation, but that this meant that a final decision would not be taken before 2015.

On 21 February 2015, it was announced Prescott would return to politics as an adviser to Labour leader Ed Miliband.

In October 2015, Prescott was presented with the Shechtman International Leadership Award at the Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit 2015 in Antalya, Turkey, for his contributions to sustainable development in politics.

Television appearances
In June 2008, Prescott made a cameo appearance, playing a policeman, in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Robert Tressell's The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists. In 2009, he made a brief cameo appearance as himself in the final episode of the BBC Three comedy series Gavin & Stacey (this referred to a running joke in the show regarding a relationship the character Nessa had had with him many years previously). Beginning on 7 January 2011, Prescott appeared in a TV advert for price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, along with comedian Omid Djalili, which gently mocks events in his political career. On 27 February 2011, he appeared on the BBC's Top Gear as the "Star in the Reasonably Priced Car", where he set a lap time of 1.56.7, the second slowest in a Kia Ceed. He also engaged in a discussion with host Jeremy Clarkson regarding his time in Government. He appeared as himself in the 2014 Comic Relief film David Walliams' Exes.

In October and November 2008, Prescott was the subject of a two-part documentary, Prescott: the Class System and Me, on BBC Two, looking at the class system in Britain, and asking whether it still exists. In 2009, he featured in the BBC Wales TV series Coming Home about his Welsh family history, with roots in Prestatyn and Chirk. In October 2009, he was featured in another BBC Two documentary, Prescott: The North/South Divide, in which he and his wife Pauline explored the current state of the North-South Divide from their perspective as Northern Englanders long used to living in the south of the country.

In 2019, Prescott hosted the television series Made in Britain, which explored the manufacturing of some of Britain's favourite foods.

Controversies

Council tax
In 2003, Prescott gave up a home that he had rented from the RMT Union in Clapham; he had left the union in June 2002. Prescott paid £220 a month for the property – a fifth of its market value. Though he had not declared the flat in the register of members' interests, he was subsequently exonerated by MPs who overruled Elizabeth Filkin, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. On 12 January 2006, Prescott apologised after it was revealed that the council tax for the government flat he occupied at Admiralty House was paid from public money, rather than his private income. He repaid the amount, which came to £3,830.52 over nearly nine years.

Sexual infidelities
Prescott has come under fire for additional controversies over sexual infidelities. On 26 April 2006, he admitted to having had an affair with his diary secretary, Tracey Temple, between 2002 and 2004. This two-year affair is said to have commenced after an office party and, in part, took place during meetings at Prescott's grace-and-favour flat in Whitehall. Conservative MP Andrew Robathan tabled questions in the House of Commons over Prescott's reported entertainment of Temple at Dorneywood, his official residence, which raised questions over the possible misuse of public finances.

He was criticised for maintaining the benefits of Deputy Prime Minister despite losing his department in 2006. He was criticised for visiting the American billionaire Phil Anschutz who was bidding for the government licence to build a super casino in the UK, and questioned over his involvement in the business of his son Johnathan Prescott. He was photographed playing croquet at Dorneywood, his then "grace and favour" home, when Tony Blair was out of the country on a visit to Washington. Prescott was mocked in the media – in part because the game was so divorced from his working-class roots – and he gave up the use of the house. He later said that it had been his staff's idea to play croquet and that contrary to press reports, he had not been Acting Prime Minister when he had played the game.

Sexual assault allegation
On 7 May 2006, The Sunday Times quoted Linda McDougall, wife of Austin Mitchell, as saying that in 1978 Prescott had pushed her "quite forcefully" against a wall and put his hand up her skirt as she opened the door for him to a meeting in her own house just after her husband became an MP; Prescott had not previously met her.

Expenses claims
On 8 May 2009, The Daily Telegraph began publishing leaked details of MPs' expenses. The Telegraph reported that Prescott had claimed £312 for fitting mock Tudor beams to his constituency home, and for two new toilet seats in as many years. Prescott responded by saying, "Every expense was within the rules of the House of Commons on claiming expenses at the time".

2001 Rhyl incident

On 16 May 2001, when arriving for a rally in Rhyl, Prescott was assaulted by a pro-hunting advocate throwing an egg at him. Prescott retaliated by punching the protester. A momentary ensuing scuffle was broken up by police and bystanders. This earned Prescott the nickname "Two Jabs".

Public profile
Prescott gained a reputation in the British press for confused speech, mangled syntax and poor grammar. The Guardian columnist Simon Hoggart once commented: "Every time Prescott opens his mouth, it's like someone has flipped open his head and stuck in an egg whisk." An oft-quoted but unverified story in Jeremy Paxman's The Political Animal is that, before being accepted as transcribers to the Parliamentary record Hansard, applicants must listen to one of Prescott's speeches and write down what they think he was trying to say. However, Liz Davies wrote that on the Labour National Executive Committee, Prescott "spoke in clear, concise sentences and his point was always understandable. Contrary to his television and parliamentary image, he appears to choose his words with care."

The media have attached various sobriquets to Prescott during his political career. Originally, Prescott's nickname was "Prezza", but as various misfortunes befell him the sobriquets became more colourful, leading to "Two Jags", which set the template for later nicknames. Prescott owns one Jaguar, and had the use of another as his official ministerial car. A later version of this term was "Two Jabs", following his retaliation against a protester farmer in 2001, and "Two Shacks", referring to his former country house. When he lost his department in a cabinet reshuffle following exposure of his affair, newspapers dubbed him "Two Shags" and "No Jobs". Banned from driving after being convicted of speeding in 1991, Prescott was banned again after a similar conviction in June 2015. This led to him being nicknamed "Two bans".

Prescott has been involved in a number of incidents that have caused widespread media interest. During the 2001 election campaign, Prescott was campaigning in Rhyl, Denbighshire, when one Craig Evans threw an egg at him. Prescott, a former amateur boxer, responded immediately with a straight left to the jaw. The incident, overshadowing the launch of the Labour Party manifesto on that day, was captured by television cameras. Tony Blair responded by stating: "John is John". A National Opinion Polls (NOP) survey found that the incident did no public harm to Prescott, and may even have benefited his standing amongst male voters. Speaking on Top Gear, Prescott stated: "I was against fox-hunting, and he thought I was one of the guys he hated because I wanted to keep fox-hunting". He elaborated

Personal life

Family
Prescott and Pauline Tilston married in 1961. They have two sons. The elder, Johnathan Prescott, is a businessman. Their younger son, David Prescott, is active in Labour Party politics and works in the office of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn; he failed to be selected for his father's parliamentary seat in Hull but was the Labour candidate for Gainsborough in 2015. Pauline had a son by an American airman in the 1950s, whom she gave up for adoption.

Health concerns
Prescott was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990, although this was not publicly disclosed until 2002. On 2 June 2007 he was admitted to hospital after being taken ill on a train from his constituency in Hull to London King's Cross. He was later diagnosed with pneumonia and was treated at University College Hospital, London. He was moved to a high-dependency ward on 5 June 2007 so he could be monitored more closely because of his age and the fact he suffers from diabetes. On 6 June 2007 it was reported in the media that his condition was stable and that he was sitting up and "joking" with hospital staff. He was subsequently released from hospital on 10 June 2007 to continue his recovery at home.

In April 2008, Prescott recounted having suffered from the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, which he believed was brought on by stress, from the 1980s until 2007.

Prescott was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary on 21 June 2019 after suffering a stroke. He subsequently returned to his duties.

Bibliography

See also
Cabinet of the United Kingdom

Notes

References

External links

Parliamentary profile

BBC Profile, 5 May 2006
John Prescott's gift of the gaffe, BBC News, 6 June 2003

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Henry Hart (1566-1637) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and landowner of the Elizabethan and early Stuart eras. He served in the Nine Years' War (1584-1603) and was later involved in the opening incident of O'Doherty's Rebellion in 1608. As a servitor he acquired an estate in County Donegal.

Tyrone's Rebellion
Hart served in Ireland under Sir Henry Docwra during the Nine Years' War rising to the rank of Captain. Docwra's forces operated out of Derry in alliance with local Gaelic forces opposed to the rebel Earl of Tyrone. Following the Treaty of Mellifont he was appointed to command Culmore Fort an important strategic post close to Derry.

Later career

In 1608 Sir Cahir O'Doherty launched a rebellion from Burt Castle. O'Doherty had served on the Crown's side during the recent war, and was a natural loyalist, but had been angered at his treatment by Docwra's replacement as Governor of Derry, George Paulet. O'Doherty and Hart were friends, and the night before the rising he invited him and his wife to dinner. O'Doherty then took Hart prisoner and captured Culmore. He used the fort's arsenal to arm his followers. O'Doherty then followed up his seizure of Culmore with the Burning of Derry. O'Doherty was subsequently defeated and killed at the Battle of Kilmacrennan and the rebellion collapsed.

Despite his loss of Culmore, Hart was rewarded as a servitor like other veteran officers. In the Plantation of Ulster he was granted land close to Kilmacrennan in Donegal. This was in the heart of old O'Donnell territory, which had been confiscated following the Flight of the Earls. Several of Hart's former comrades also received land nearby which had been mapped out by the recent Bodley Survey.

References

Bibliography
 Bardon, Jonathan. The Plantation of Ulster. Gill & MacMillan, 2012.
 McCavitt, John. The Flight of the Earls. Gill & MacMillan, 2002.
 McGurk, John. Sir Henry Docwra, 1564-1631: Derry's Second Founder. Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2006.

People of Elizabethan Ireland
English soldiers
People of the Nine Years' War (Ireland)
People of O'Doherty's rebellion
1566 births
1637 deaths

Henry Hart (soldier)


Arajet S.A. is an ultra low-cost airline and the flag carrier of the Dominican Republic. Operations began on the 15th of September, 2022 with a flight to Barranquilla, Colombia.

History

Early operations

In late 2014, Dominican Wings received its air operator's certificate from the Dominican Republic's civil aviation authority and planned to offer charter flights between the Dominican Republic to Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Argentina for and on behalf of tour operators. Its first aircraft, an Airbus A320-200, was delivered on May 3, 2015.

On June 28, 2017, Avion Express announced that it has sold its 65% stake in Dominican Wings to the President of the company, Mr. Victor Pacheco, who took complete control of the airline.

Rebrand
In early 2018, it was announced that the airline had transitioned from charter operations to scheduled ultra low-cost flights. The airline stated it had invested $60 million into its relaunch as an ultra-low-cost carrier.

In September 2021, founder Victor Pacheco Mendez, along with the co-founder Mike Powell, announced it would rebrand the airline to Arajet and would operate as a low-cost carrier offering flights throughout the Caribbean and the Americas.

The Junta de Aviación Civil (JAC) approved the request to amend the Certificate of Economic Authorization (CAE) number 25, issued to Arajet, to include 30 new routes and also authorizes the exploitation of regular and non-scheduled air transport services of passengers and cargo, in international operations, from the Dominican Republic to the United States, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kingdom of the Netherlands, United Mexican States, Panama, Aruba, French Republic, Guatemala, Republic of Peru, Haiti, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago in November 2021 during its plenary session.

The Instituto Dominicano de Aviacion Civil (IDAC), in collaboration with Dominican carrier Arajet, achieved the certification of two Dominican inspectors at Boeing's facilities to be able to inspect the operations of Boeing-type aircraft in December 2021. Pico Duarte was the company's first aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, named after the Caribbean's highest mountainous elevation and a nature reserves in the Dominican Republic, completed its painting process In February 2022. Registered HI-1026, arrived at Las Américas International Airport on March 3, 2022.

On March 14, 2022, Arajet was officially launched, along with the President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader, who announced that the country was in the process of having a Dominican representative airline with a majority of Dominican capital. In the same event, Boeing announced an order of 20 Boeing 737 MAX 200 (with options for 15 more aircraft in the future) by the airline, becoming the first Caribbean operator of the type.

During the ceremony it was announced that Arajet S.A. is funded by one of the world's largest private multi-asset alternative investment firms, Bain Capital, as well as Griffin Global Asset Management ("Griffin"), a commercial aircraft leasing and alternative asset management company.

Destinations

 the airline serves the following destinations:

In addition to the stated destinations Arajet has plans to fly to:
 : Nassau
 : Bridgetown
 : Belize City
 : Santa Cruz de la Sierra
 : Manaus, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador

 : Georgetown
 : Port-au-Prince
 : San Pedro Sula
 : Fort-de-France
 : Panama City
 : San Juan
 : Port of Spain
 : Montevideo
 : New York, Miami, Boston, Orlando, Providence, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, Newburgh, Tampa, Washington

In regards to flights to the United States and to Puerto Rico, in March 2023, the airline requested authorization to the US Department of Transportation to start operating scheduled passenger services to San Juan, Miami and New York by fall 2023.

Fleet

Current fleet
, the Arajet fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet
As Dominican Wings, the company consisted of the following aircraft:

See also
List of airlines of the Dominican Republic

References

Airlines of the Dominican Republic
Airlines established in 2014
2014 establishments in the Dominican Republic
Low-cost carriers

Arajet


Seaside Heights is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey. According to a 2000 Census, the borough population was 3,155.  Summer population explodes upwards to thirty thousand persons because the city is a resort community with beaches, bars, and clubs. The Seaside Heights Boardwalk received exposure through shows on MTV, such as Jersey Shore.

Boroughs in New Jersey
Ocean County, New Jersey

Seaside Heights, New Jersey


The monotonicity criterion is a voting system criterion used to evaluate both single and multiple winner ranked voting systems. A ranked voting system is monotonic if it is neither possible to prevent the election of a candidate by ranking them higher on some of the ballots, nor possible to elect an otherwise unelected candidate by ranking them lower on some of the ballots (while nothing else is altered on any ballot). That is to say, in single winner elections no winner is harmed by up-ranking and no loser is helped by down-ranking. Douglas Woodall called the criterion mono-raise.

Raising a candidate  on some ballots while changing the orders of other candidates does not constitute a failure of monotonicity. E.g., harming candidate  by changing some ballots from  to  would violate the monotonicity criterion, while harming candidate  by changing some ballots from  to  would not.

The monotonicity criterion renders the intuition that there should be neither need to worry about harming a candidate by (nothing else than) up-ranking nor it should be possible to support a candidate by (nothing else than) counter-intuitively down-ranking. There are several variations of that criterion; e.g., what Douglas R. Woodall called mono-add-plump: A candidate  should not be harmed if further ballots are added that have  top with no second choice.

Of the single-winner ranked voting systems, Borda, Schulze, ranked pairs, maximize affirmed majorities, descending solid coalitions, and descending acquiescing coalitions are monotonic, while Coombs' method, runoff voting, and instant-runoff voting (IRV) are not. The multi-winner single transferable vote (STV) system is also non-monotonic.

While Woodall articulated monotonicity in the context of ordinal voting systems, the property can be generalized to cardinal voting and plurality voting systems by evaluating whether reducing or removing support for a candidate can help that candidate win an election. In this context, first past the post, approval voting, range voting, STAR Voting, majority judgment, as well as the multiple-winner systems single non-transferable vote, plurality-at-large voting (multiple non-transferable vote, bloc voting), Proportional approval voting, Sequential proportional approval voting, Reweighted range voting and cumulative voting are monotonic. Party-list proportional representation using D'Hondt, Sainte-Laguë or the largest remainder method is monotonic in the same sense.

Instant-runoff voting and the two-round system are not monotonic

Using an example that applies to instant-runoff voting (IRV) and to the two-round system, it is shown that these voting systems violate the mono-raise criterion.
Suppose a president were being elected among three candidates, a left, a right, and a center candidate, and 100 votes cast. The number of votes for an absolute majority is therefore 51.

Suppose the votes are cast as follows in two scenarios:

According to the 1st preferences in Scenario 1, Left finishes first with 35 votes, Right gets 33 votes, and Center 32 votes, thus all candidates lack an absolute majority of first preferences.
In an actual runoff between the top two candidates, Left would win against Right with 30+5+16=51 votes. The same happens (in this example) under IRV, Center gets eliminated, and Left wins against Right with 51 to 49 votes.

Scenario 2 differs from Scenario 1 only by two voters- instead of ranking Right first, Left second, they rank Left first, Right second. Now Left gets 37 first preferences, Right receives 31 first preferences, and Center still receives 32 first preferences, and there is again no candidate with an absolute majority of first preferences.
But now Right is eliminated, and Center remains in round 2 of IRV (or the actual runoff in the Two-round system). And Center beats its opponent Left with a remarkable majority of 60 to 40 votes.

Estimated likelihood of IRV lacking monotonicity

Crispin Allard argued, based on a mathematical model of London voters that the probability of monotonicity failure actually changing the result of an STV multi-winner election for any given constituency would be 1 in 4000, however Warren D. Smith claims that this paper contains 2 computation errors and omits a type of nonmonotonicity, making Allard's result "1000 times smaller than the truth".

Lepelley et al. found a probability of  for 3-candidate single-winner elections (vs 11.65% for Coombs' method).

Another result, using the (unrealistic) "impartial culture" probability model, yields about 15% probability in elections with 3 candidates.  As the number of candidates increases, these probabilities tend to increase eventually toward 100% (in some models this limit has been proven, in others it is only conjectured). Other Monte Carlo experiments found probabilities of 5.7% for an IAC model, and 6.9% for a uniformly-distributed 1D political spectrum model.

Nicholas Miller also disputed Allard's conclusion and provided a different mathematical model for the three-candidate case.

A 2013 study using a 2D spatial model with various voter distributions found that IRV was non-monotonic in at least 15% of competitive elections, increasing with number of candidates.  The authors conclude that "three-way competitive races will exhibit unacceptably frequent monotonicity failures" and "In light of these results, those seeking to implement a fairer multi-candidate election system should be wary of adopting IRV."

Real-life monotonicity violations

If the ballots of a real election are released, it is fairly easy to prove if
 election of a candidate could have been circumvented by raising them on some of the ballots, or
 election of an otherwise unelected candidate by lowering them on some of the ballots

would have been possible (nothing else is altered on any ballot). Both events can be considered as real-life monotonicity violations.

However, the ballots (or information allowing them to be reconstructed) are rarely released for ranked voting elections, which means there are few recorded monotonicity violations for real elections.

2009 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election

A monotonicity (mono-raise) violation of instant-runoff voting (IRV) can be exemplified based on the 2009 Burlington, Vermont mayor election, where the necessary information is available.
In this election, the incumbent Bob Kiss got re-elected, but could hypothetically have been defeated solely by getting promoted to first place on some ballots.
If for example those voters whose first choice was Republican Kurt Wright and who didn't cast a ballot-preference for Democrat Andy Montroll over Progressive Bob Kiss, would have placed Bob Kiss first on their ballots, then this vote-swing in favor of Kiss would have defeated him (without any changes in the respective order of Wright and Montroll and without demoting Kiss on any ballot).
The winner in this scenario would have been Andy Montroll, who would also have won under any Condorcet method with the actually cast ballots, i.e. for both competing candidates, a majority of voters ranked Montroll above the competitor.

Australian elections and by-elections

Since every or almost every IRV election in Australia has been conducted in the black (i.e. not releasing enough information to reconstruct the ballots), non-monotonicity is difficult to detect in Australia.

However, the theoretical disadvantage of non-monotonicity can be seen in the 2009 Frome state by-election. The by-election was a contest between the Liberal Party of Australia, Australian Labor Party, independent candidate Geoff Brock, and the National Party of Australia. The eventual winner was Brock, who placed only third on first preferences with about 24% of the vote. However, he was favoured by National Party voters, whose preferences placed him ahead of the Labor candidate by 31 votes. Labor was pushed to third place and eliminated in the next count, with most of their preferences flowing to Brock, allowing him to defeat the Liberal candidate. However, if a number of voters who preferred Liberal had given their first preference to Labor, Brock would have been eliminated in the penultimate count. The final count would have been between the Liberal and Labor candidates, allowing the former to win. For this to happen, between 31 and 321 Liberal voters would have needed to instead vote Labor. This is classic monotonicity violation: a number of Liberal voters unintentionally hurt their most preferred candidate.

See also
Voting system
Voting system criterion
Monotone preferences in consumer theory.
Monotonicity (mechanism design)
Maskin monotonicity

References

Electoral system criteria

Monotonicity criterion


France Rode (November 20, 1934 – June 7, 2017) was a Slovenian engineer and inventor. He was best known for his work on the HP-35 pocket calculator. He was one of the four lead engineers at Hewlett-Packard assigned to this project. Rode also invented and created the first workable RFID products: workplace entry cards, for which he holds several patents. He was born in Nožice, Slovenia.

Rode died on June 7, 2017 at the age of 82.

References

1934 births
2017 deaths
Slovenian scientists
Inventors
Yugoslavian engineers

France Rode


The Mausoleum of Hadrian, now known as Castel Sant'Angelo  is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome.

It was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle. It is now a museum. The structure was once the tallest building in Rome.

Buildings and structures in Rome

Hadrian's Mausoleum


John Gilmore (February 18, 1780 – May 11, 1845) was a Jacksonian member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Biography
John Gilmore (father of Alfred Gilmore) born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  He moved with his parents to Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1780.  He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1801 and commenced practice in Washington.  He moved to Butler, Pennsylvania, in 1803.  He was appointed deputy district attorney for Butler County, Pennsylvania, in 1803.  He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1816 to 1821 and served as speaker in 1821.

Gilmore was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses.  He was elected State treasurer by the legislature of Pennsylvania in 1841.  He died in Butler in 1845.  Interment in North Cemetery.

See also
 Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Sources

The Political Graveyard

Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania lawyers
Politicians from Pittsburgh
1780 births
1845 deaths
Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
19th-century American politicians

John Gilmore (representative)


Casa Rosita Serrallés (Spanish for Rosita Serrallés Residence) is a historic building in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, located between the former Escuela Libre de Música Juan Morel Campos and the Museo de la Historia de Ponce, and immediately behind Teatro La Perla, on Calle Salud street. It was built for one of the heirs of Juan Eugenio Serrallés Perez, son of businessman Juan Serrallés Colón, founder of Destilería Serrallés, and himself the CEO of the company that founded Ron Don Q. The building was purchased by the government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce in 2008 for its architectural, historic, and cultural value. As of February 2012, the building was being restored to convert it into an annex of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce to depict the 1985 Mameyes tragedy of barrio Portugues Urbano in Ponce. In 2014 it opened as "Museo de la Recordacion Barrio Mameyes" (Barrio Mameyes Memorial Museum) under Ponce mayor María Meléndez at Calle Salud 67. It is also known as "Sala Memorial del Barrio Mameyes" as it operates as a part of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce.

History
In 1979 the house became the home of Rosita Serrallés Sánchez and her husband Guillermo Torruella Fornaris. Rosita and Guillermo had been living at the more spacious hilltop Castillo Serrallés mansion until Guillermo fell ill in 1979. Rosita Serrallés Sánchez was the daughter of Juan Eugenio Serrallés and Rosa María Sánchez, the couple that ordered the building of the spacious Castillo Serralles on the El Vigia Hill in Ponce. Upon Juan Eugenio and Rosa Maria's death, Rosita and Guillermo came to occupy the big hilltop mansion.

In 2008, the municipality of Ponce purchased the house from Rosa María ("Rosita") Torruella Serrallés, and her two brothers, Alberto J. Torruella Serrallés and Guillermo J. Torruella Serrallés.  It was purchased for $364,807, under the administration of mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo. In 2014 it opened as "Museo de la Recordacion Barrio Mameyes" under Ponce mayor María Meléndez at Calle Salud 67. It is also known as "Sala Memorial del Barrio Mameyes" as it operates as a part of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce.

Location
The house is located on the west side of Salud Street between Cristina and Isabel Streets, next to the Juan Morel Campos Music Institute, in the Ponce Historic Zone. The location of the house, together with its historic significance, courtyard, and architectural details, make it unique among other Puerto Rican homes. The structure is located on the same  block as the historic Teatro La Perla and the Ponce History Museum. With the acquisition of this property by the city, the municipal government has termed the block within the Mayor, Cristina, Salud, and Isabel streets, the Plaza de la Cultura de Ponce (Plaza of Ponce Culture).

Significance
Casa Rosita Serrallés was built as the exclusive residence of the heirs of Don Eugenio Serrallés, a leader in the sugar cane industry during the early part of the 20th century. The building is significant from the architectural, historical, and cultural perspectives.

Architecturally, the building represents an example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, a style first introduced in Puerto Rico by the architect Pedro Adolfo de Castro.

Historically, the building is a reminder of the cultural and economic changes that southern Puerto Rico experienced in the 1920s. "Ponce's dependence on the sugar cane industry at the close of the nineteenth century, created an atmosphere of development from which evolved a series of intrinsic cultural characteristics and afforded great wealth to many families involved in the industry. The wealthy families generally chose Europe as the model for the direction that cultural endeavors would take."

Culturally, the building is important because it was the downtown residence of one of the wealthiest families in 19th-century Puerto Rico, and one that so much influenced its economy. The original hill-top residence of the family was Castillo Serralles, today a historic structure listed in the NRHP. The Casa Rosita Serralles structure was acquired by the city of Ponce "to increase its cultural holdings." The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture is expected to aid in the restoration of the residence.

Physical characteristics
The house is a single floor building. Access to the main entrance of the house is from the front Calle Salud street. The building has a short front facade but its east-to-west axis is articulated as a relatively long structure. It was built in 1926 by local architect Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti. It includes a large back courtyard.

The building was constructed entirely of concrete.  The residence was designed in a style popular in the 1910s for representing Spanish Mediterranean influence. Prominent throughout the building is the use of red roof tiles.  This accent is also present on all other rooftops. The exterior of the buildings is finished in stucco.

Intended Use
As of February 2012, the building was being restored to convert it into an annex of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce which is to depict the 1985 Mameyes tragedy of barrio Portugues Urbano in Ponce.

See also

 Juan Serrallés
 Destilería Serrallés
 Castillo Serrallés

References

External links

Historic house museums in Puerto Rico
Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Puerto Rico
Houses completed in 1926
History of sugar
Museums in Ponce, Puerto Rico
2014 establishments in Puerto Rico
1926 establishments in Puerto Rico
Museums established in 2014

Casa Rosita Serrallés


Ian Blackwood (born August 12, 1982) is a Canadian photographer, musician/producer, and actor known for being the vocalist/guitarist of the now defunct Toronto-based punk rock band The Artist Life, and for playing Kyle Bateman on the CTV teen hit Instant Star. Past musical projects also include the bands The Posts, The Artist Life and This is the Noise. Blackwood was also a technician for the band, Walk Off The Earth.

Blackwood has been a member of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Arts ACTRA for over a decade and has been seen on many television and film productions such as Odd Squad (TVO), Heroes Reborn (NBC), Warehouse 13 (Syfy), Degrassi (CTV/EPITOME) and V Morgan Is Dead (Shaftesbury Films). He has also been featured in many Canadian and American commercial advertisements. He was the face of RBC Royal Bank of Canada for their "Someday" and "Not Business As Usual" campaigns, RBC Brewery Ad and had a podcast called Ian Blackwood Talks Smack.

He owns a private recording studio called LimeGreen Studio in Mississauga, Ontario and has written music for CBC and its affiliate kids channel, CBC Kids. He also recorded and mixed Sarah Blackwood's first solo album Way Back Home among other projects.

Blackwood started playing guitar at the age of 11, originally taught by his father Michael Blackwood. He started his first band at age 14. Blackwood grew up in the Greater Toronto Area (905) underground music scene playing in many bands, most notably as a drummer for Jersey, a guitarist for The Fullblast, vocalist and guitarist for The Artist Life, and guitar and backup vocals for Always Outnumbered. Blackwood graduated from Lord Elgin High School (which has since changed its name to Robert Bateman) in June 2000, and attended Capilano University in North Vancouver B.C. but left after one semester of studying film productions/screen writing and acting.

Blackwood is the brother of former The Creepshow lead singer and current Walk Off The Earth member Sarah Blackwood, as well as Jen Blackwood who is also a former vocalist for The Creepshow.

References

External links

1982 births
Living people
People from Burlington, Ontario
Canadian male television actors
Canadian rock musicians
Male actors from Ontario
Musicians from Mississauga

Ian Blackwood


Morbius, the Living Vampire and better known as Dr. Michael Morbius, is a fictional character and villain turned anti-hero in the Marvel Comics universe, and a (former) member of the rogues gallery of Spider-Man, Blade, Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange.

He was a famous biochemist who was suffering from a debilitating blood disease, and injected himself with vampire bat DNA in hopes of curing himself, but became a living vampire. Despite being introduced as an antagonist of a few heroes, in some versions of the universe, he is an anti-hero who has worked with Spider-Man and Blade, and was a member of the Legion of Monsters and the Midnight Sons.

He was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, and first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #101 in October of 1971.

In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, he was voiced by Nick Jameson. In the Sony's Spider-Man Universe, he is portrayed by Jared Leto in the 2022 titular film of the same name.

Source
  Some text was copied from Morbius the Living Vampire at Heroes Wiki, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license.

Marvel Comics characters

Morbius, the Living Vampire


Seminis is a developer, grower, and marketer of fruit and vegetable seeds. Seminis' hybrids claim to improve nutrition, boost crop yields, limit spoilage and reduce the need for chemicals. Their retail line includes over 3,500 seed varieties.

History
Seminis was established in 1994 by Alfonso Romo under his Savia Group, a part of the Empresas La Moderna S.A. conglomerate, to consolidate leading companies in the fragmented fruit and vegetable seed industry.  The process was realized by takeovers of such companies (mainly US origin) as: Asgrow, Petoseed, Royal Sluis, Bruinsma Seeds, and Genecorp.

In 1996, Romo sold the field crop business of Seminis to Monsanto for $240 million.

In 1999, Savia took Seminis public, in which Savia retained control of the company.

In September 2003, Savia took Seminis off the public markets for approximately $650 million via an investment of approximately $222 million from Fox Paine & Company and additional cash and stock from Savia and related entities.

On March 23, 2005, Monsanto Company announced that it had completed its acquisition of Seminis. According to the press release announcing the deal, Monsanto paid $1.4 billion in cash and assumed debt, plus a performance-based payment of up to $125 million payable by 2007.

In 2018, Bayer acquired Monsanto and all of its seed brands, including Seminis.

References

External links
 Corporate website
 Corporate Profile of Seminis

Agriculture companies of the United States
Companies based in St. Louis
American companies established in 1994
Monsanto

Seminis


The collapse of the World Trade Center occurred during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after each of the Twin Towers was hit by a commercial airliner. One World Trade Center (WTC 1, or the North Tower) was hit at 8:46 a.m. EST. It collapsed at 10:28 a.m. Two World Trade Center (WTC 2, or the South Tower) was hit at 9:03 a.m. It collapsed at 9:59 a.m.

The debris from the collapsed buildings severely damaged or completely destroyed more than a dozen other nearby structures. That led to the collapse of 7 World Trade Center at 5:21 p.m. In the crashes, fires, and subsequent collapses, 2,763 people were killed. They included 2,192 civilians, 343 firefighters, and 71 law enforcement officers. They also included all of the passengers and crew on the airplanes, which included 147 civilians and the 10 hijackers.

September 11 attacks

Collapse of the World Trade Center


Rao Ramesh  (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and television. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in Seema Simham (2002), Okkadunnadu (2007), before getting a breakthrough role in Krish's Gamyam (2008), portraying a reformed Naxalite, he received critical acclaim for his portrayal and the film went on to become one of the highest grossing Telugu films of the year.

His subsequent films, Kotha Bangaru Lokam (2008), Avakai Biryani (2008) and S. S. Rajamouli's Magadheera (2009) were box office hits, while his role in the latter as a hunchbacked old Tantric won him further acclaim. Throughout the early 2010s, Rao Ramesh became a popular supporting actor and described that by 2015, he was in the "best phase of his career".

Early life
Rao Ramesh was born on 25 May 1968 in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, to actor Rao Gopal Rao. He was brought up in Chennai. His initial schooling was from Sri Ramakrishna Mission School in T. Nagar and later completed a degree in Communications before getting into Still-photography. He later joined K. S. Prakasa Rao, a cinematographer and father of K. Raghavendra Rao, as an assistant before going to Bangalore to learn industrial photography.

Early career

Rao began acting in a Television series directed by Ghantasala Ratna Kumar, but the production was shelved amidst schedules. He subsequently moved back to Chennai and started acting in soap operas such as Pavithra Bandham and Kalavari Kodalu, and shot for over 1000 episodes in the space of four and half years.

Filmography

Telugu

Tamil

Kannada

Television

References

External links

Living people
Indian male film actors
21st-century Indian male actors
Male actors from Andhra Pradesh
Telugu male actors
People from Srikakulam
Male actors in Telugu cinema
Indian male stage actors
Telugu comedians
Nandi Award winners
Male actors in Telugu theatre
Indian male comedians
1968 births
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors in Kannada cinema

Rao Ramesh


High-resolution manometry (HRM) is a gastrointestinal motility diagnostic system that measures intraluminal pressure activity in the gastrointestinal tract using a series of closely spaced pressure sensors. For a manometry system to be classified as "high-resolution" as opposed to "conventional", the pressure sensors need to be spaced at most 1 cm apart. Two dominant pressure transduction technologies are used: solid state pressure sensors and water perfused pressure sensors. Each pressure transduction technology has its own inherent advantages and disadvantages. HRM systems also require advanced computer hardware and software to store and analyze the manometry data.

See also
 Functional Lumen Imaging Probe
Anorectal manometry

References

External links
 HRM systems (from EBNeuro S.p.A.)
 HRM systems (from Sierra)

Medical tests
Medical physics

High-resolution manometry


The Assignment is a 1997 spy action thriller film directed by Christian Duguay and starring Aidan Quinn (in two roles), with Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley. The film, written by Dan Gordon and Sabi H. Shabtai, is set mostly in the late 1980s and deals with a CIA plan to use Quinn's character to masquerade as the Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal.

Plot
Carlos the Jackal has sex and kills a spider in its web with his cigarette then evicts the woman from his room. He dons a disguise and walks to a cafe where CIA agent Henry Fields (Donald Sutherland) is sitting at a table. He recognizes Fields and asks for a light but Fields does not recognize Carlos, because of his disguise. He watches as Carlos detonates a grenade, killing dozens of people.

The next year, the Jackal attacks an OPEC meeting to earn a ransom. The CIA sends Fields to identify Carlos, where he secretly plans to assassinate him with a concealed pistol. The plan is foiled when his CIA superior stops him from reaching out to shake Carlos' hand because he might be photographed doing so by nearby journalists.

In 1986 Carlos is apparently apprehended in an open-air market in Jerusalem and brutally interrogated by a Mossad commander named Amos (Ben Kingsley). The man claims to actually be a US naval officer named Annibal Ramirez (Aidan Quinn) whose identification was lost in the chaos of his arrest. Amos confirms his identity and lets him go, stunned that Ramirez looks exactly like Carlos. Back at home, Ramirez is visited by Fields (now using the name Jack Shaw) who tries to recruit him to impersonate the terrorist leader. Ramirez refuses.

Shaw persists, turning up at a Navy ball and trying various manipulations to goad Ramirez into taking the assignment. He finally succeeds by confronting Ramirez with the human cost of Carlos' terrorism by taking him to Bethesda Naval Hospital to see a boy who has been crippled by one of Carlos' bombs.

Amos and Shaw train Ramirez at a former prison in Canada. Much of his training is devoted to situational awareness and internalizing details of Carlos' life. His training concludes with Carla, one of Carlos' ex-mistresses, training Ramirez in how to make love like Carlos. The plan revolves around convincing the KGB, which is financing his terrorism, that Carlos has begun selling information to the CIA. Shaw lures one of Carlos' ex-lovers, Agnieska, to Libya, where Ramirez convinces her of his legitimacy. However, he notices she has become an informant for French intelligence. Several French agents arrive at their apartment, and Ramirez is forced to kill them.

Carlos sends an assassin to kill Agnieska in France, ordering him to leave Europe through London. The assassin happens to be in Heathrow airport at the same time as Ramirez, and realizes Ramirez is an impostor after he fails to recognize a code phrase. During a struggle, Amos and the assassin kill each other. After Amos' death, the CIA suspends the operation and Ramirez returns home.

Ramirez makes love to his wife as Carlos would, and she is disturbed by his change. The next day, at his son's little league game, he gets into a confrontation with another father and nearly kills him. Shaw bails him out of jail, and both men are clearly suffering from the failure of their mission. Ramirez accuses Shaw of fabricating the scene at the hospital to trick him into accepting the assignment and Shaw threatens to use the Ramirez family as bait to lure out Carlos if he tries to back out. That night Ramirez painfully reveals the mission to his wife but leaves to continue it, knowing that his family will never be safe as long as Carlos is alive.

Ramirez and Shaw meet up in East Berlin and the KGB photographs them, assuming Carlos has been turned. Enraged, the KGB raids Carlos' safe house, but he escapes. Shaw and Ramirez are waiting outside for him, and Ramirez fights Carlos on the bank of the Spree River. It is impossible to tell which of the two is the real Carlos during the struggle. As one of the men is being held under water by the other, Shaw comes upon them and shoots the man above the water several times. He realizes too late that he has shot Ramirez, and Carlos swims away. Ramirez presses Shaw to leave him and kill Carlos, but Shaw insists that their plan has worked and that Carlos is a target of the KGB.

Back home, a car bomb appears to kill Ramirez and his family and Shaw attends the funeral.  In St. Martin, Ramirez receives a news clipping of the bombing with a congratulatory note from Shaw, implying that he staged the killing to liberate the Ramirez family. Ramirez nearly kills a spider in its web like Carlos, but does not. Text reveals Carlos' true fate - arrested in 1994.

Cast

Reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives The Assignment a rating of 62% from 21 reviews.

References

External links

1997 films
1990s spy thriller films
1997 action thriller films
American action thriller films
American spy thriller films
Canadian action thriller films
1990s English-language films
Films set in Montreal
Cold War films
Films about terrorism in Africa
Political thriller films
Triumph Films films
Films directed by Christian Duguay (director)
Films scored by Normand Corbeil
Films set in the 1980s
Films set in Libya
Films set in Austria
Films set in France
Films set in Israel
Cultural depictions of Carlos the Jackal
1990s American films
1990s Canadian films

The Assignment (1997 film)


The hooded robin (Melanodryas cucullata) is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic; the male bears a distinctive black-and-white plumage, while the female is a nondescript grey-brown.

Taxonomy

Like all Australian robins, it is not closely related to either the European robin or the American robin, but belongs rather to the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines, including pardalotes, fairy-wrens, and honeyeaters, as well as crows. Initially thought to be related to Old World flycatchers, it was described as Muscicapa cucullata by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. Later described as Grallina bicolor by  Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield, it was later placed in the genus Petroica for many years before being transferred to Melanodryas.

The generic name melanodryas derives from the Greek melas 'black' and dryas 'wood-nymph'. The specific name cucullata derives from Late Latin cucullatus meaning 'hooded'.

Subspecies
Four subspecies are recognised

 Melanodryas cucullata cucullata (Lathan, 1801)
 Melanodryas cucullata melvillensis (Zietz, 1914)
 Melanodryas cucullata westralensis (Matthews, 1912)
 Melanodryas cucullata picata (Gould, 1895)

Differences primarily relate to size and plumage, with males displaying subtle differences in plumage of ventrum, upperparts and degree of white colouring on tail tips.    M. c. melvillensis is the smallest of the four subspecies, but has a proportionally longer bill, while M. c. cucullata is the largest (as measured by wing span), but has the shortest bill.

Confirmation of M. c. westralensis and M. c. picata as subspecies is in dispute. A mitochondrial and nuclear DNA study on a limited number of specimens suggested that M. c. westralensis belonged to a separate clade, whereas M. c. picata and M. c. cucullata were in the same clade. Further analysis  is needed to confirm initial DNA findings as overlaps in the distribution ranges of the various subspecies (excluding M. c. melvillensis) are recognised.

Description
The hooded robin is around 16 cm (6 in) in length and weighs an average of 22 grams.

The male has a distinctive pied coloration, with a black head and neck ("hood") and a white stripe along its shoulder. It has a white chest and underparts. The male's black wings have white wing bars and the square-ended tail is white tipped underneath with distinctive white panels on the dorsal side, each of which are clearly visible in flight. The eyes, bill, and feet are also black.

The female is an undistinguished grey-brown above, with a pale grey throat and paler underneath, and dark brown wings and white wing bars.

Juveniles transition through several moults over a 3-year period. Juvenile males initially have dark brown plumage surrounding the head, and upper body sometimes with lighter brown or off-white tips. Breast feathers are dark brown and mottled, but wings retain distinctive lighter coloured bar on wing and tail from an early age, which aids in identification. The darker brown plumage is replaced in successive moults to the black hood of the adult in approximately 50% of males, by the beginning of the third year. Juvenile females more closely resemble adult females, but with darker brown colouring of the juvenile feathers. which are subsequently replaced upon moulting to the lighter brown grey of the adult female.

Distribution
Historical records of the Tiwi hooded robin indicate its presence on both Bathurst and Melville Islands. The south-eastern hooded robin is found from far southeast Queensland, through to the southeast corner of South Australia.  Distribution of M.c. picata  and M. c. westralensis extends through the northern arid and southwestern arid regions of Australia, respectively, with overlap in the central arid regions.

The hooded robin is not found in Tasmania, on the Nullarbor Plain, Cape York or inland around the Simpson Desert.

Ecology

Behaviour
Hooded robins are sedentary birds, frequently observed in pairs or small groups. Though normally a quiet bird, male birds call in the early morning. They have a fast, undulating flight pattern, mostly over small distances and catch invertebrates by pouncing on them from an exposed perch close to the ground.

Male hooded robins have been observed to show aggressive, chasing behaviour to other ground foraging insectivores, including jacky winters and willie wagtails. Injury-feigning displays, including tumbling along the ground, have been observed in both sexes, to distract potential predators and humans that encroach upon occupied nests.

Breeding
Breeding season is from July to November with one or two broods raised. The nest is a neat cup made of soft, dry grass and bark. Spider webs, feathers, and fur are used for binding and filling, generally in a tree crevice, hollow or fork. The clutch generally consists of two pale olive- or bluish-green eggs, with darker spots and blotches, measuring .

Females build the nest and incubate the eggs for approximately 15 days. Males forage and feed females while nesting, only brooding themselves for short periods of less than 2 minutes at a time. Assistance in feeding the young and fledglings can sometimes be provided by other members of the small groups with which they reside.

Habitat
The hooded robin shows a preference for dry open forests, combining acacia and eucalypts with shrubs that offer perching positions relatively close to the ground. It further benefits from nearby native grass cover with open patches and a complex blend of logs, fallen branches and deeper soils, which provide ideal breeding conditions for small lizards and arthropods – their preferred diet.

Thick patches of exotic grasses and extensive grassless areas, limit the hooded robin's foraging success. Though previously recorded as present in wetter forests near Armidale, New South Wales, surveys in the last 15 years have failed to confirm its presence.

Conservation status
The Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 currently lists two of the four subspecies in its 'Species Profiles and Threats Database'

 M. c. melvillensis was listed as Critically Endangered (possibly extinct) on May 11th 2018. The last known verified sighting was on Bathurst Island in 1992.
 M. c. cucullata was listed as Endangered on March 31st 2023, primarily on the basis that the existing population was deemed to have reduced by > 50% in the last 10 years (one generation 3.0 years) as evidenced by repeated bird surveys in known locations.

 The hooded robin is listed as Vulnerable under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988).

Threats
Numerous threats to the long-term viability of the hooded robin have been identified.

Historically high nest predation rates are being exacerbated by altered fire regimes and ongoing reduction in size of quality habitat. Reduced high quality habitat is further impacted by territorial competition with other species, not the least of which is the noisy miner. Extensive land clearing for agriculture and the subsequent habitat loss and fragmentation are considered medium risks to the hooded robin's survival.  Their ground foraging behaviours also make them susceptible to predation by feral cats. Furthermore, extended droughts limiting food resources and changing land-use have been attributed to the disappearance of hooded robins from previously populated areas.

References

External links

hooded robin
hooded robin
Endemic birds of Australia
hooded robin
Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Hooded robin


Gordon Ian Ash (born December 20, 1951) is vice president of baseball projects of the Milwaukee Brewers. He left his role as assistant general manager with Milwaukee in 2015. He was the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1995 to 2001.

Ash received a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in 1974. After graduating, he started at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce working in a branch. In 1978, he joined the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club in the ticket department. He quickly became operations supervisor in 1979, assistant director of stadium operations in 1980, administrator of player personnel in 1984, and assistant general manager in 1989.

From 1995 to 2001, he was the general manager. During his time the Blue Jays made many noteworthy draft picks, such as Roy Halladay, Craig Wilson, and Ryan Freel in 1995, Billy Koch in 1996, Vernon Wells, Michael Young, and Orlando Hudson in 1997, Felipe López in 1998, and Alex Ríos in 1999. A number of these prospects, most notably Michael Young, ended up being traded away before they fully developed. During his tenure, Toronto finished no better than 3rd in the AL East division, with a record of 541–575 over that span. After being replaced by J. P. Ricciardi, in 2001, he became a baseball analyst for TSN before he was appointed assistant general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003. David Stearns, who was hired as the Brewers' general manager after the 2015 season, reassigned Ash within the organization.

With Brewers owner Mark Attanasio and pitcher Ben Sheets, Ash is an investor in the Milwaukee Admirals minor league hockey team.

References

External links
 Gordon Ash at Baseball America

1951 births
Living people
Canadian sports businesspeople
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Major League Baseball farm directors
Major League Baseball general managers
Milwaukee Brewers executives
Businesspeople from Toronto
Toronto Blue Jays executives
York University alumni
Canadian sports executives and administrators
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

Gord Ash


William Thacher Longstreth (January 1, 1920April 11, 2003) was a Republican member of the Philadelphia City Council who was perhaps best known for his long tenure and unique image.

Longstreth, a graduate of Princeton University, was an eighth-generation Philadelphian born to Quakers William Collins (b. 1882) and Nella (née Thacher) Longstreth, who married in 1917. William C. Longstreth owned the Longstreth Motor Car Company and his family lived in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and was affluent until the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Thacher was a cousin of President Herbert Hoover and his maternal grandmother, Ella Hoover Thacher was the president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union for many years. In 1970, he led the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and spearheaded the drive to hold the annual Earth Day commemoration in Philadelphia. That event became one of the biggest Earth Day events in the nation. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  He was predeceased by his half sister, Nella Cameron Downward (1913-1997). His younger brother, Frank Hoover Longstreth (b. 1922) died in 2008.

He was a two-time Republican nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia, first in 1955, losing to Richardson Dilworth, and again in 1971, losing to Frank Rizzo.

He was initially elected to Philadelphia's City Council in 1967, resigning his seat to run for Mayor in 1971. While a member of City Council, he served as a sideline reporter on Philadelphia Eagles radio broadcasts on WIP in 1969 and 1970. Longstreth was again elected to Council in 1983, defeating incumbent councilwoman Beatrice Chernock for the at-large seat he had vacated twelve years earlier to run for Mayor. He would remain in office until his death. During his tenure on Council, Longstreth helped support the efforts of Edmund Bacon to bring an urban renaissance to Philadelphia. He was also well known for wearing bow ties and argyle socks.

He suffered from Parkinson's disease, and died of a pulmonary embolism while on vacation in Naples, Florida.

References

External links
 (archived)
City of Philadelphia Archives

|-

1920 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Quakers
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
Haverford School alumni
Pennsylvania Republicans
People from Haverford Township, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia City Council members
Princeton University alumni
United States Navy officers
United States Navy personnel of World War II

Thacher Longstreth


Fellesaksjonen mot gasskraftverk (lit. The common action against gas power plants) is a former environmental organisation that functioned as a binding between various NGOs who were opposed to the construction of fossile gas thermal power plants in Norway. It was created in all secrecy in 1997 and was able to collect about 3,000 people willing to use civil disobedience to hinder the construction, before going public to announce this resistance. The organization was disestablished in 2002.

History
The organization was established mainly by the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature (NNV) and Natur og Ungdom (NU). It was led by former leader of NU, and later leader of NNV, Lars Haltbrekken. The background for the organization was that Naturkraft had permission to build two gas-powered thermal power plants at Kårstø and Kollsnes, though these would be built without carbon sequenciation. At the congress of NU in January 2007 there had been made a decision to use civil disobedience, and a network to organize this was needed.

The rhetorics of the organization were partially based on threatening Cabinet Jagland with a new Alta controversy demonstrations just before the 1997 election. The strategy worked, and in the spring of 1997 Thorbjørn Jagland delayed the permissions of the power plants. After the election, the First cabinet Bondevik, who were opposed to gas power plants, enter cabinet. Fellesaksjonen successfully managed to hinder the building of gas power plants during its existence, with the full climax coming in 2000 when the First cabinet Bondevik left office to hinder their building. By 2002 there was no longer use for Fellesaksjonen, who closed down, though the work still continued in other environmental organizations.

References

External links
 Official website

Environmental organisations based in Norway
Organisations based in Oslo
Organizations established in 1997
Organizations disestablished in 2002

Fellesaksjonen mot gasskraftverk


Through the Camera Eye is a videocassette/laserdisc release by the Canadian band Rush. It was released in 1985 by PolyGram Records. It contains promotional videos issued for the band's albums Moving Pictures (1981), Signals (1982) and Grace Under Pressure (1984). Absent from the collection were the videos for "Limelight" and the album version of "Tom Sawyer", both filmed at Le Studio (the same locale as the "Vital Signs" video). The live version of "Tom Sawyer" comes from the concert video Exit... Stage Left (1982). No DVD re-issue was released.

The concept of "The Camera Eye" is a literary device used by the author John Dos Passos in his U.S.A. trilogy.

Track listing
 "Distant Early Warning" - 5:31
 "Vital Signs" - 4:42
 "The Body Electric" - 5:08
 "Afterimage" - 5:11
 "Subdivisions" - 5:37
 "Tom Sawyer (Live)" - 4:43
 "The Enemy Within" - 4:22
 "Countdown" - 5:56
 Credits - 1:24

Personnel
Geddy Lee - Rickenbacker, Fender Jazz, Steinberger Bass, Minimoog Synthesizer and Moog Taurus Bass Pedals Oberheim OB-X, Oberheim OB-Xa, Oberheim DSX, Roland JP-8.
Neil Peart - Electric and Acoustic Drums and Percussion
Alex Lifeson - Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson ES-355 Electric Guitars and Moog Taurus Bass Pedals

References

Rush (band) video albums
1985 video albums
Music video compilation albums
1985 compilation albums
Rush (band) compilation albums

Through the Camera Eye


The Lorenz attractor (also called Lorenz system) is a system of equations. Edward N. Lorenz formulated the equations as a simplified mathematical model for atmospheric convection. The equations are ordinary differential equations, called Lorenz equations.  They are notable for having chaotic solutions for certain parameter values and starting conditions. In particular, the Lorenz attractor is a set of chaotic solutions of the Lorenz system which, when plotted, resemble a butterfly or figure eight.

The notion of butterfly effect is coupled with that of the Lorenz attractor. Lorenz first used the phrase in a speech he gave in 1972.

Mathematics

Lorenz attractor


José Romeo (1701–1772) was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period.

Biography
He was born in Cervera de la Cañada in Aragón. He painted some dark paintings recalling Salvator Rosa. He studied in Zaragoza and was given a scholarship to study in Rome under Agostino Massuci. He returned to Barcelona, then moved to Madrid to become chamber painter for the king Felipe V. He was employed in restoring canvases for the palacio del Buen Retiro (Casón del buen Retiro). During the reign of Fernando VI he helped Santiago Amigoni paint a Hall of Conversation. He is also called Josef or José Romero.

References

.

1701 births
1772 deaths
18th-century Spanish painters
18th-century Spanish male artists
Spanish male painters
Spanish Baroque painters

José Romeo


Credit Foncier of America was a late 19th-century financing and real estate company in Omaha, Nebraska. The company existed primarily to promote the townsites along the Union Pacific Railroad, and was incorporated by a special act of the Nebraska Legislature in 1866. Credit Foncier was said to be "intimately connected with all the early towns along the Union Pacific."

While related to George Francis Train's Crédit Mobilier company, Credit Foncier was not involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandals that tore that organization apart.

About
Founded, controlled, and initially owned by eccentric railroad booster George Francis Train, Credit Foncier was named after Credit Foncier de France. Along with support from businessman Cyrus McCormick, Omaha banker Augustus Kountze was among the original "special commissioners" appointed by the Legislature to form the company. The company is said to have been organized to "profitably dispose" of the Union Pacific's land grant acreage.

The company owned almost 5000 lots in Omaha; 1000 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and several hundred in Columbus, Nebraska, along with other land along the Union Pacific mainline. Train once explained, "One of my plans was the creation of a chain of great towns across the continent, connecting Boston and San Francisco by a highway of magnificent cities." The company built a hotel it called the "Credit Foncier" in Cleveland, Nebraska in 1868; it was moved to Columbus the next year. George Train, with so much land in the city, predicted a great future for Columbus. Train is credited with writing newspaper articles and delivering speeches in which he promoted the town, calling it, "Columbus, the new center of the Union and quite probably the future capital of the U.S.A."

Train served as president of the company; George P. Bemis, who later became mayor of Omaha, was the secretary. Train built the Cozzens House Hotel in Omaha. He also developed a tract at the southern edge of Omaha, originally called "Train Town" for its owner and still entitled "Credit Foncier Addition" in city records. This yielded Train "a small fortune" as he sold homes and empty lots to new settlers.

Train later moved the headquarters of Credit Foncier to Denver, Colorado, and again to Tacoma, Washington. Along with Omaha, Train promised each city it would become the "gleaming metropolis" of the Union Pacific.

See also
 History of Omaha

References

Defunct companies based in Omaha, Nebraska
Companies based in Denver
Economic history of the United States
American frontier
History of United States expansionism
History of rail transportation in the United States
Union Pacific Railroad
Pioneer history of Omaha, Nebraska
Defunct companies based in Tacoma, Washington
Defunct companies based in Colorado
1866 establishments in Nebraska Territory

Credit Foncier of America


West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech, WVIT, WVU Beckley, or West Virginia Tech) is a public college in Beckley, West Virginia. It is a divisional campus of West Virginia University.

History
The college was founded in 1895 in Montgomery, West Virginia as the sub-collegiate Montgomery Preparatory School for West Virginia University.  In 1917, it was separated from WVU and renamed the West Virginia Trade School.  Next, in 1921, it reached the junior college level as the New River State School.  It became a four-year college as New River State College in 1931 and was renamed the West Virginia Institute of Technology in 1941.  It began to grant engineering degrees in 1952.

West Virginia Tech added a community college in 1966. It began granting the master's degree in engineering in 1978, but no longer offers graduate degrees. WVU Tech's community college component was separated from WVU Tech in 2004 and WVU Tech is now part of West Virginia University.

The school became a regional campus of West Virginia University in 1996, leading to its present name. It later became an integrated division of WVU in July 2007. While several support departments on campus report directly to WVU, local oversight of academic programs remains on the WVU Tech campus.

2011 revitalization efforts
The school had been beset with declining enrollments for many years.  In 2011, the state government passed the WVU Tech Revitalization Project law, in response to its declining enrollments and financial distress. As a condition of the law, an assessment was conducted over the summer of 2011 and a "revitalization report" was completed by October 2011. The report identified a number of specific actions that needed to be taken, culminating in a revitalization of the university's administrative staff, and ultimately a move of the entire campus to the larger city of Beckley, West Virginia (see next section).

2015 move to Beckley
In January 2015, WVU completed purchase of the buildings in Beckley formerly used by Mountain State University, which is about 30 miles from the Montgomery campus. WVU President E. Gordon Gee stated that Tech's future was "very secure" but refused to answer a question from the Charleston Daily Mail about the possibility of the school relocating.

On August 31, 2015, it was announced that Gee had recommended that WVU Tech move from Montgomery to the former MSU campus in Beckley, a larger and more accessible city.  The university's Board of Governors unanimously approved this recommendation at its September 1 meeting. For the 2016–2017 academic years, freshman courses were taught at the Beckley campus, and all other courses remained in Montgomery. Summer classes in 2017 were mostly held online with all academic programs, administrative offices and athletic teams moving to Beckley in the Fall 2017.

Since the move, enrollment has increased from 1,106 students in 2017 to 1,622 in Spring of 2019, and the university has been ranked the best return-on-investment in the state of West Virginia.

Former Montgomery campus
The "Old Main" building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Neal D. Baisi Athletic Center was completed in 1968 and was home to the Golden Bears' basketball teams.

On April 21, 2017, it was announced that the buildings on the Fayette County side of the Montgomery campus would be lease-purchased by KVC Health Systems, a foster care and adoption services provider, for conversion into a proposed "transitional college for persons aging out of foster care", while the buildings on the Kanawha County side would be transferred to BridgeValley Community & Technical College.  The only exceptions are the "Tech Marina" (a boat dock) and the David S. Long Alumni Center, which were transferred to the city of Montgomery, and the HiRise Residence Hall, which was demolished on June 4, 2017.  However, the KVC effort was abandoned in 2019 and the buildings are currently listed as surplus property and unused.

Academics
WVU Tech offers baccalaureate degree programs in 32 majors spread between two academic divisions (the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences & the College of Business, Humanities and Social Studies).

Athletics
The West Virginia Tech (WVU Tech) athletic teams are called the Golden Bears. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the River States Conference (RSC; formerly known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) until after the 2015–16 school year) since the 2015–16 academic year. The Golden Bears previously competed as an NAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) from 2012–13 to 2014–15; and in the Mid-South Conference (MSC) from 2006–07 to 2011–12.

WVU Tech historically competed in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), which is currently affiliated with the NCAA Division II ranks, with the other small colleges in the state from its inception in 1924–25 until the end of the 2005–06 school year, when it could no longer maintain that level of competition. They also competed as a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) from 2012–13 to 2015–16.

WVU Tech competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and eSports. Former sports were football, which it was dropped as a result of the Revitalization Study after 2011.

Accomplishments
The sports at WVU Tech have been very successful over the years. The men's basketball team has won the WVIAC and has been successful in the Mid-South Conference. They were runners-up in the AII Tournament in 2013. They have also been to the NAIA Nationals over the years. The women's basketball team won the AII Championship in 2013 and went to the NAIA National Championships that year.

The men's soccer team won the USCAA National Championship in 2013 and 2014. They also were runners-up in the USCAA National Championship in 2012.

Notable alumni
 Chuck Banks – football player
 Charles E. Bayless - business man and educational administrator
 Squire Parsons – Christian music soloist and baritone
 Sedale Threatt – basketball player
Steven Smith – NAIA national champion
 Calvin Wallace – football player
Mike Barrett – basketball player
 Paulo Dias Ignacio Jr. (swimming) - NAIA National Champion (Men's 100y Breaststroke 2020)

References

External links

 Official athletics website

1895 establishments in West Virginia
Beckley, West Virginia
Education in Fayette County, West Virginia
Educational institutions established in 1895
Engineering universities and colleges in West Virginia
USCAA member institutions
Public universities and colleges in West Virginia
West Virginia University
River States Conference
Education in Kanawha County, West Virginia
Education in Raleigh County, West Virginia