24 September 2025

Royal Agricultural University celebrates 180th anniversary with its global partners – and a giant birthday cake!

The oldest agricultural college in the English-speaking world – the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) - has held a special online party with its partners from across the globe to celebrate its 180th anniversary.

Staff and Governors of the historic university – which was founded in 1845 as the Royal Agricultural College – were joined online by senior staff from the RAU’s partner universities in China, the UAE, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine to celebrate the institution’s milestone anniversary.

RAU Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter McCaffery, and Dame Fiona Reynolds, Chair of the University’s Governing Council, welcomed guests, both in person and online, at the University’s Alliston Centre.

Joining online were President Professor Jinshan Zhao from Qingdao Agricultural University, China; President Professor Changjian Leng from Shandong Agricultural University, China; President Yanzhi Zhao from Shenyang University, China; Chancellor Aisha Abu Shlaibi from the University of Al Dhaid, UAE; Rector Dr Munira Aminova from the International Agriculture University, Uzbekistan; Rector Professor Ihor Kovalenko from Sumy National Agrarian University, Ukraine; and Professor Tiger Wang, RAU alumnus and Honorary Fellow and head of the RAU’s China office.

Professor McCaffery said: “Agricultural innovation requires international collaboration and we are delighted that our global partners in China, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Sharjah could join us today to celebrate our 180th anniversary this month.

 “We are all driven by a universal purpose to care for the land, and all who depend on it, as well as united by a common desire to address the global challenges that face humankind – climate change, food security, sustainable land use, biodiversity loss and heritage management.

 “Our founding mission, as the very first agricultural college in the English-speaking world, was to develop agricultural education and land management across the world and we are delighted and honoured to have them as members of our global family.

 “They bear testament to the RAU’s enduring impact and influence locally, nationally, and globally, as we aim to ensure we continue to be as socially relevant today, and in the future, as we have been over the past 180 years.”  

A special giant birthday cake – in the shape of the RAU’s iconic and historic main building – was made especially for the celebration by local RAU alumna Simone Walls who graduated in 1999, from the then Royal Agricultural College, with a degree in Rural Land Management.

Simone, who still lives near Cirencester and now works for a private wealth management company, set up her successful Bumpkin Bakes cake making business in 2012.

The huge cake was more than two foot high, two feet wide, and weighed more than 65kg. Among the ingredients were 168 eggs, more than nine kilos of flour, and 11 kilos of buttercream!

After hearing messages from the RAU’s global partners, Dame Fiona proposed a toast to celebrate the 180th anniversary before she joined Professor McCaffery to cut the 180th anniversary cake.

The Royal Agricultural College opened its doors to its first 25 students almost exactly 180 years ago - on 15th September 1845 – and the institution, which became a university in 2013, has held a number of special events this year to celebrate its 180th anniversary.

In addition to the more than 1,100 students studying at its Cirencester campus, the RAU has more than 3,000 students enrolled on RAU courses with its international partners, with planned growth for more than 4,000 students in 2026-27, and over 5,000 students in 2027-28.