Steve Richards studied BSc Management and Systems from 1973 to 1976. He’s been living in Australia for 36 years but hasn’t lost his Welsh accent. We caught up with him for the first in our #Cassat50 series.
Why did you come to Cass?
I wanted a generalist degree, I didn’t have any vocation in mind when I was doing my A-Levels, but knew I’d end up in business, possibly the computer industry, which was developing and seemed interesting. I also wanted to live in London. The then Department of Systems Science offered the BSc in Systems and Management which offered a broad-based, systems-thinking course which covered a broad range of subjects. It fitted the bill exactly. Amongst my A-Levels was one of the earlier Computer Science courses and I knew that City University was strong in, as we knew it then, computing (“I.T.” hadn’t been invented!). And in London to boot!
What was your experience of studying at Cass?
I had a ball. The degree course has one of the heavier class hours load but the variety of subjects was really enjoyable so I enjoyed the research and the study, especially getting away from a lot of rote learning we did at A-level. The social life was awesome, back then everything was paid for by the (Swansea) local council. I loved Uni life in all regards, you could pace yourself, study and have a lot of fun. I met a load of people from all sorts of backgrounds, which was great.
What is your favourite memory from your time at Cass?
The social life, especially the bands that came to play – Bill Haley and the Comets, The Troggs, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band amongst them. The Uni Bar was a good hangout too, I worked behind the bar sometimes. Also the President’s Ball, which was THE big night of the social calendar. Oh, and one final memory … the day one of the other London colleges (Imperial?) stole the big uni carrot mascot. I was there that day and hung onto the back of the van they put it in. It didn’t help, they got away as I recall and extracted a ransom!
How did studying at Cass change your life?
I guess it gave me the start to my career, predominantly in the I.T. industry. I emigrated to Australia three and a half years after graduating and landed a programming job on arrival which set me on a course that I have generally been on, in or around I.T., ever since. The manager who hired me asked to see my degree certificate – the only person who ever did! It couldn’t have hurt. Over the years I stopped doing real I.T. things and progressed into management where I remain to this day. My generalist degree and the systems thinking it taught has definitely been an asset.