Oxford Brookes University theological activities on the site, although theology was withdrawn in 2015. In October 2003, Oxford Brookes University became the first university in the world to be awarded Fairtrade status. Baroness Kennedy served as the university's Chancellor from 1993 to 2001. In 2007, Graham Upton retired as Vice-Chancellor and his successor, Janet Beer, was inaugurated in September. In July 2008, Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, replaced Jon Snow as chancellor of the university. In March 2015 Alistair Fitt was inaugurated as Vice-Chancellor, replacing Janet Beer. Dame Katherine Grainger British Olympic rower also replaced Shami Chakrabarti as Chancellor. Katherine is Britain's most
Yitzhaq Shami father, and Ladino with his mother, and the family conducted its life in customary Middle Eastern style of the period. His family was religiously observant, and in his youth, he studied Hebrew and Arabic in the local religious school. While Shami was growing up, his father traveled across the Middle East and in the locality for his business, and through his father, Shami was exposed to the local villagers (fellahim), which were later treated as characters in his stories. A critical influence on Shami as a young teenager was Jurji Zaydan (died 1914)—founder of the Arabic Al-Nahda (Revival), modernizing of