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Spotlight on Clare Bowerman

6 August 2015

This week the spotlight is on Clare Bowerman, Head of Communications What is your role and what does it involve? I am Head of Communications in UCL's Communications and Marketing office.

CLAREB My team is focused on furthering UCL's profile and reputation among its key audiences, and includes digital/audiovisual communications, editorial and design expertise, internal communications to staff and students and the management of UCL's visual identity. We manage ongoing initiatives, such as the delivery of regular newsletters and upkeep of UCL websites and social media channels and we also deliver one-off communications initiatives.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I've been at UCL for ten years in various roles. Prior to that, I was a consumer health writer and editor. I worked in magazines, on consumer health information and as a ghost-writer for magazine and radio comment.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

I've particularly enjoyed setting up new communications roles and functions and watching them flourish in the hands in the hands of the expert staff who manage them. UCL's staff and student communications functions were both set up from within the Communications Team, including the Week@UCL. Our readership has grown every year since launch, so please keep reading and sharing your stories and announcements.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list?

I'm currently working with colleagues on a project to improve UCL's visual identity assets, making sure the rules are easy to understand and implement. The UCL masthead plays a critical role in showing people who we are, particularly audiences who aren't yet very familiar with UCL, so it is really important we get this right. We're always happy to hear your feedback and suggestions - see www.ucl.ac.uk/cam/communications for more

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

I've listened to The Songs of Leonard Cohen or Charles Mingus's Pithecanthropus Erectus a lot over the years. Apart from that, pretty much anything I listened to round people's houses when I was in the sixth form - I'm quite a nostalgic person. I also have a cheeky fondness for Justin Timberlake for my running playlist. Film, either Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve or Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man. Novels - there are just too many to choose from. Two big novels that have always stayed with me are Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain and Charles Dickens' Bleak House.

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

I speak Esperanto like a native.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

A handful of celebrated wits - say Samuel Johnson, Oscar Wilde and Mae West. Most of my meals currently involve wiping kids' pasta off the walls, so I could use a bit of glamour.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don't overthink things.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

When I was a child, growing up in farming, I spent quite a bit of time mastering how to ride my father's cows. Cows have a very short neck, so it takes good balance to stay on them. I got to test the skill years later on one of those electric bucking broncos, and I was still unthrowable. So if my communications career falters, there's always rodeo.