University of Leeds

University of Leeds at Leeds, England; established 1884 by the amalgamation of Yorkshire College (1874) with the Leeds School of Medicine (1831). The school was known as Yorkshire College until 1904, when its present name was adopted. It has faculties of arts, economic and social studies, education, law, science, engineering, and medicine.

Leeds City and county district on the River Aire, West Yorkshire, n England. Founded in Roman times, it forms part of one of England's major industrial regions. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Leeds was famous for its cloth manufacture and it remains the centre of England's wholesale clothing trade. Leeds has two universities (1904, 1992) and is host to an international piano competition. Industries: aircraft components, textile machinery, engineering, chemicals, plastics, furniture, paper and printing. Pop. (1997) 726,800.

Michael, Livi (Olivia) (1960– ), novelist, educated at the University of Leeds. Her first novel, Under a Thin Moon (1992) was followed by Their Angel Reach (1994), five interlinked stories evoking with lyrical realism the often depressing lives of women in a fictitious Lancashire village. All the Dark Air (1997) is an unsentimental but poignant portrayal of Julie, young and confused, adrift in a world of unemployment, homelessness, drugs, and doubt.