Births, deaths and marriages
We are always delighted to receive updates from alumni telling us about their weddings and new arrivals. We also remember those who are no longer with us. If you have news you would like to share with the alumni network, please email alumni@surrey.ac.uk, and don’t forget to include a photo if you have one.
Births
My name is Zhuo Li (MSc in International Business Management 2014) and I met my husband, Kang Liu (MSc in Healthcare Management 2014) in a new student chat group. He was already on campus for his language course at the University of Surrey. He was very kind and gave me varieties of useful information. We became close friends. When I arrived in the UK, he became my guide around campus and we fell in love naturally. It didn’t take long for us to know that we want to spend the rest of our lives together.
Being together in Surrey, we were able to support each other through every step of the way. We headed back to China and got married. Three years later our beautiful son was born. We had already come to an agreement that we would name our baby Surrey, in honour of our university. Surrey is not simply a place that we studied at. We found love there. We decided to start a family there. We figured out what we wanted there. It is really important to us for our son to know what the University had given us.
Now Kang is working as a Marketing Supervisor in the American pharmaceutical company, Allergan. I am Director of Operations of global finance company, Asset Pro. We both benefitted so much from our time at the University. The University of Surrey will forever be our favourite place in the world. Wonderful things do happen there.
Deaths
Remembering former Surrey staff and graduates.
We are saddened to hear of the passing of David Anthony Lloyd who studied Microbiology from 1984-1987. His family have set up a fundraising page for cancer research which you can donate to here.
Hari Sutherland, former Students’ Union general manager, passed away on December 16th 2023.
Hari joined the University in 1966, from the Lyons organisation, and was part of the pioneering team of staff responsible for launching the new Guildford campus. While originally working from army style field kitchen, when Senate House opened, Hari was responsible for the bars on the 3rd and 4th floor of Senate (the staff and student bars).
When Union House opened in 1972, Hari was seconded to the Union to manage the bars and catering in the Students’ Union. A temporary arrangement that lasted until retirement. In his time at the Union, Hari opened the Lower Bar (now home to Youngs Kitchen and the Basement), the Union Lounge (now Rubix), and his beloved Chancellors Bar. With some planning foresight, he insisted that Chancellors was built with sufficient foundations to build an additional floor, which was then added in 1996 and named in his honour on his retirement in 1997.
Those who worked with him, will always remember his attention to detail and commitment to fantastic service as he hosted those who lunched at Chancellors. He was a passionate supporter of students and was a formidable force when working with the SU president.
Hari was hugely proud of his work at the University, and the Students’ Union, and maintained strong links with campus throughout his retirement, as well as friendships with many former staff and students. During his increasingly frequent visits to the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Hari would light up when he saw the University of Surrey logo on a staff members uniform, and ask them how much they enjoyed the University – but more importantly, how is the food?
Hari Sutherland’s funeral will be held at 2pm on Friday 26th January at Guildford Cathedral, and all who knew him are welcome, and also to remember him afterwards at Haris Bar in the Students’ Union. Please wear colour.
Professor Josephine Arendt, Emeritus Professor of Endocrinology, passed away on Monday 4 September.
Professor Arendt was instrumental in founding the specialisms in Sleep and Chronobiology here at the University of Surrey that are world-renowned today.
Below are a few words from Professor Debra Skene, who considered Professor Arendt a mentor and a friend for almost 40 years:
It is with great sadness that we report the sudden and unexpected death of Josephine Arendt on 4th September 2023. Jo joined the University of Surrey in 1977, established the Centre for Chronobiology at Surrey, and continued making an academic contribution as Emeritus Professor.
Jo was internationally recognised for her enormous contribution to the field of melatonin, circadian rhythms, and sleep, with over 280 publications. She pioneered immunotechnology for the detection and measurement of melatonin and its metabolites, their circadian and seasonal response to light, and their use to characterise circadian responses particularly in conditions such as jet lag and shift work. She first described the chronobiotic properties of melatonin in relation to sleep and the circadian system and initiated its use for circadian rhythm-related sleep disorders such as jet lag and non-24-hour sleep disorder of the blind. She characterised the importance of light and melatonin in humans, pursuing research in this area particularly in polar regions.
Frustrated by a lack of funding for research, in 1988 Jo founded a company, Stockgrand Ltd (10% university-owned), to exploit her radioimmunoassay expertise, with all profits supporting research and many PhD studentships. This technology helped research worldwide, and today measurement of melatonin is considered to be the most reliable biomarker of circadian clock timing.
Despite being overlooked by the male-dominated UK Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences, Jo achieved many honours: Fellow of the Royal College of Pathology, Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Medal of St Goran’s Hospital (Karolinska Institute), Medal of Justus von Liebig University (Giessen), Ernst and Berta Scharrer Medal (University of Frankfurt), European Biological Rhythms Society Johannes Ariens Kappers Medal, and Doctor honoris causa (Medical University of Lodz, 2007). She was a founding member of the European Biological Rhythms Society (previously the European Pineal Study Group, the European Pineal Society, then the European Pineal and Biological Rhythms Society) and of the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms. She served as President of The European Pineal Society (1987-1990), President of the Gordon Research Conference on Pineal Cell Biology (1998-2000), and a Board Member at Large for the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms.
Jo was a true European. She collaborated with many European laboratories, supporting Eastern European colleagues pre-1989 and mentoring many European early-career researchers. She was a Francophile, fluent in French, and a lover of French wine and food.
I was fortunate to be Jo’s first postdoctoral researcher in 1984, and for the past 39 years, I have had the privilege to have her as a mentor, colleague, and friend. She was my guiding star! Her kindness and generosity, both academically and socially, were much appreciated by many colleagues. She had a warm, caring nature, and her joie de vivre was infectious.
To get a flavour of Jo’s intelligence and personality, listen to these clips from the History of Modern Biomedicine and the Physiological Society.
The field has lost one of its shining stars. Surrey can be proud of a woman in science.
Anthony Donald Keedwell (known as Donald Keedwell, or “Don”) passed away peacefully in Kingston hospital on 6 August 2023 due to frailty of old age. He was 95.
Donald was a significant figure in the world of mathematics. He was particularly well known for his classic text, “Latin Squares and their Applications”, which was internationally recognised, and which he updated in 2015.
Born in New Malden, Surrey, he continued to live in the area until his death, having inherited his home from his parents. He joined the faculty of mathematics at Surrey University in 1952, which was initially based at Battersea College. He achieved his doctorate on Projective Planes in 1963, and when his office relocated to Guildford, he bought a second home there.
Conscious of the need to nurture new talent, he organised an annual conference for Sixth Formers with a talent in mathematics. After retiring from his position as Senior Lecturer in 1993, he continued to publish papers as a Senior Research Fellow, supervising PhD students, and speaking at international conferences.
He was an active member of a number of societies, including the London Intervarsity Club, the Ramblers Association, the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society, The National Trust The Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Mathematics Association.
He loved ballet, opera, contemporary musicals, art exhibitions, tennis and rambling. He also organised and led barn dances. Prior to his most recent decline in his health, he was a remarkably fit, indomitable and independent for a man of his age, and much loved by all who knew him, including those who nursed him in his final weeks.
Socially, Don was always very honest and straightforward, which could sometimes be a surprise to those who didn’t know him! He was, however, extremely kind, with a wonderful sense of humour, and infectious laugh. He was always genuinely interested in what was going on in your life. A humble and quietly charitable man, he bought a home for a friend in need, who lived there until his death. He leaves a significant proportion of his estate to a number of deserving charities. He never married but he had a close relationship with his niece and nephews, who visited and cared for him during his final months, while respecting his fiercely independent nature. They will miss him dearly.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mike Banfield,BSc Eng Chemical & Process Engineering, 1958.
Mike’s links with our institution stretch back nearly 70 years. In 1954, he left factory work after securing a scholarship to study a chemical engineering degree at Battersea College of Technology, the forerunner institution to the University of Surrey. It was a transformative experience and his undergraduate days remained a time he recalled with much fondness.
Following graduation in 1958, Mike accepted a role as a Graduate Apprentice at a British process engineering contractor. He became a Project Engineer, until he joined US firm Ralph M Parsons Company (now WorleyParsons), which was headquartered in Los Angeles.
Returning to the UK, after a brief stint with a Houston-based company providing technological services to the oil and gas sector, Mike decided on a change of direction. He set up his own consultancy, Peacock Engineering Ltd, to help businesses adopt engineering management software.
Mike was always proud of his links to Battersea and in 2020 he worked in partnership with the university to establish the Battersea Scholarship Fund. Thanks to Mike’s efforts the fund has raised over £100,000, which will fund nine scholarships to support students estranged from their families to study at Surrey.
Mike commented on the scholarship in 2022: “To know the inclusive and supportive spirit of Battersea will be commemorated through these scholarships for many years is a fitting memorial.”
Read Mike's full obituary here.
Mike Banfield will be posthumously awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Surrey accolade at the Vice-Chancellor’s Alumni Awards in June.
Prof. Karl Koch died on 18th May after a very short illness, diagnosed just weeks before his death.
Karl was one of the first generation of students at the new University of Surrey in the mid-1960s, when the Department of Linguistic and Regional Studies was set up, pioneering modern language courses with an emphasis on the social structures of the countries concerned rather than the traditional language and literature courses.
After graduation, he taught for a few years in what was to become Coventry Polytechnic, subsequently Coventry University.
In the mid-1970s Karl returned to Surrey as a lecturer in German Studies in the department re-named Linguistic and International Studies, where he was promoted to Senior Lecturer and subsequently Head of the German Section. His lectures covered the GDR (the former East Germany) and German Industrial Relations, taking a major role in the planning of the periods LIS students spent abroad, mostly in major German businesses and firms. A brilliant communicator he was much admired and popular with staff and students alike.
In the late 1990s, he was appointed Professor in the Business School of London South Bank University, where he taught and researched for 20 years, establishing an enviable international reputation as an authority on Industrial Relations both specifically in the context of Germany but also Comparatively, with Visiting Professorships in all parts of the globe.
Larger than life, jovial, generous in spirit he will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
Contributed by Dr Derek McCulloch
We are sad to announce that Jerry passed away peacefully on 25th January 2023 at the age of 89.
Jerry was a student at Battersea College of Advanced Technology, which later became the University of Surrey, where following his Graduation he was invited to join staff as a Lecturer. He was a passionate academic and lifelong educator, having a long, successful and enjoyable career, retiring at the grand old age of 75.
Jerry was an inspiring speaker, always enthusiastic about his subject, both to many generations of university students and also to people considering university. Respected within his field he contributed to a variety of committees.
On retirement he and his wife Judy became ardent travellers, visiting many countries. He was an avid reader and took an interest in a wide range of subjects. He enjoyed spending time with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchild, who have fond memories of the time he shared with them.
He will be sadly missed by so many.
We are sad to announce that Professor Ron Shail passed away on 7th September 2022.
Ron joined the University from the University of Liverpool in September 1966 as Reader in Applied Mathematics and was appointed Professor of Mathematics in October 1987 and Emeritus Professor on his retirement. He spent his first year at the institution commuting up to Battersea. He excelled at research, being awarded a DSc by the University of London in 1982. He was Head of Department from October 1989 to September 1994, a post he occupied with great pride and commitment.
Ron was passionate about his subject and an excellent teacher at all levels. The family have received many wonderful tributes from former colleagues. He loved cricket and used to joke that his research fellows, assistants and PhD students were recruited on the basis of their ability to bowl at him in the cricket nets although this did not always work out!
Ron loved the university. Even after he had moved away from Guildford in 2016 to be nearer his family, he still looked forward to receiving news and was always so proud about how well the university was performing in the various league tables. He was Surrey through and through!
After a six year battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Susan Gay Walton (née Hoar) died suddenly at home in West Byfleet, Surrey, on November 10th 2022.
Born on September 15th 1936 in Cawnpore, India, Susan relocated with her parents and younger sister to the UK in 1945 and, after attending Northampton High School, moved to London in 1954 to join the Hotel & Catering Department at Battersea Polytechnic (later Battersea College of Advanced Technology). On leaving Battersea in 1957, she held a variety of positions including at the Great Northern hotel in London and, subsequently, as a demonstrator of Kenwood mixers in Harrods, Knightsbridge. It was during her time working in Harrods that she chanced upon one of her former teaching staff from Battersea, who suggested that Susan should consider returning to work within her old department. She subsequently returned to Battersea and joined the staff in 1960 in the capacity of Chief Steward of the Hotel & Catering Department. Relocating to Guildford in the late 1960s (in advance of the completion of the University campus in 1970), Susan continued to work in the department until her retirement in late 2002.
As one of the longest-standing members of the University’s staff at the time, she was appointed an MBE (for services to education) in the new year’s honours list in 2000. And, to mark the 120th anniversary of the establishment of Battersea, Susan was, together with a number of other Battersea graduates who had received diplomas instead of degrees, awarded an honorary degree at a graduation ceremony held in Guildford Cathedral in 2011. A warm and vivacious individual who loved life and lived it to the full, Susan adored her role at the University. She particularly cherished the relationships that she forged with the many students who passed through the department over the years. As one former student commented “she was a truly remarkable and wonderful lady; a kind and lovely friend who never forgot anybody and who had a true gift for friendship. Surely a light has gone out”.
Susan was married to her husband Michael in 1958 and they would have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in May 2023. They had one child, Timothy (also a graduate of the University of Surrey and now a regular guest lecturer and a member of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management advisory board). Above all else, she was committed to her family and especially devoted to her two grandsons, Henry and Edward, who became the centre of her world after her retirement. Susan is survived by her husband, son and two grandsons.
Frances studied BSc (Hons) Human Biology at the University of Surrey 1974-78 making friendships that sustained a lifetime. Born in 1950 into a farming family, the third generation of Foords at Fair View Farm, Stockbridge, Hampshire Frances’ early education comprised: West Home Preparatory School Andover; Stockbridge Primary School; and Andover Grammar. “Always the good one of the bunch” of school friends on the train along and out the Test Valley, the daily commute gave 11-year-old Frances a taste for travel.
In the early 70s, after working four-years at the University of Southampton, getting her HNC and a fondness for her car, Frances followed the Hippie Trail to Kathmandu and India. She returned to study at Surrey graduating in 1978, becoming a State Registered Nurse at St George’s Hospital London in 1979 and State Certified Midwife at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in 1980.
Frances B.Sc. honours dissertation led to a job offer from British Medical Research Council Dunn Nutrition Unit (MRC DNU) at the Seasonality Conference 1979 where she was presenting her findings on seasonality of conception. Dunn personnel attending the conference invited Frances to work at their field station in The Gambia, West Africa as principal nurse-midwife and this was the start of twenty-six years’ dedication to the advancement of midwifery in The Gambia.
As well as overseeing the outpatient clinic at MRC DNU field station with 18,000 consultations a year, Frances provided maternal health care to 500 women of childbearing age who lived in Keneba village where the field station was located and two nearby villages: Manduar and Kantong Kunda. Frances got to know the traditional midwives, local mature women with a culture of attending women in labour, delivering babies and consequently having years of practical experience. Frances’ ante-natal, post-natal and family planning services were honed to the needs of the villages and delivered with respect, support and training for traditional midwives. Trust and respect were reciprocated creating the close, collaborative relationship with indigenous village midwives crucial to the effectiveness of a maternal outreach service that Frances organised in collaboration with The Gambia Government Ministry of Health for 22 villages in the wider Kiang West district under the WHO 1987 Safe Motherhood Initiative. This mobile midwifery service reduced maternal mortality five-fold and gained recognition for Frances’ approach to qualified midwives supporting the work of traditional midwives at the 22nd International Congress of Midwives at Kobe Japan in 1990.
Propriety foremost, Frances worked with a sensibility free from prejudice responding simply to the individual and their needs with compassion and generosity. At the heart of her principled dedication were the women: girls, young wives, mothers, daughters, grandmothers. This meant addressing the politics and traditions of gender inequality and female genital mutilation (FGM) in her own home, in the village compounds, at district, national and international levels, which Frances did relentlessly, modestly and firmly by paying attention to the everyday of women’s lives.
Frances was Secretary for the National Association of Gambian Nurses and Midwives, for thirteen years (1992 to 2004) steering the Association’s membership of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM); raising money for Gambian nurses to attend ICM Congresses in Canada 1993 and Norway 1996. In 1999 Frances became Honorary Fellow of the West African College of Nursing.
Frances’ retired from MRC in 1998 and worked at The Gambia College School of Nursing and Midwifery and later The University of The Gambia coordinating their reproductive health care course for B.Sc. Nursing. She also practiced as independent midwife in Kombo district; was consultant to many national programmes including: ‘Maternal and Child Health Programme Evaluation’; ‘Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS’; and volunteered at GAMCOTRAP for seven years campaigning against traditional practices disadvantaging women including FGM. Legislation to make FGM illegal in The Gambia was passed in 2015 and GAMCOTRAP continues to empower women through community education. Frances kept busy. In 2002 she joined The Gambia National Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Taskforce publishing a Situational Analysis Report in 2004 and repeating this work for UNICEF assessing OVC needs in Sierra Leone in 2005.
Frances returned to midwifery in the UK at West Middlesex University Hospital in London in 2006, settling in Feltham, an hour’s drive from Stockbridge and close enough to support her parents who were then in their eighties. She helped West Middlesex become the first London hospital to attain Baby Friendly Status and was part of a team of midwives giving one-to-one continuity of care for women having a named midwife. Young midwives partnered together with Frances greatly admired her level of dedication and passion and most of all were “grateful for her constant positivity and enthusiasm in her work, particularly in those few moments when the job was most difficult and demanding for us.” Still wishing to apply her skills and experience in the service of new mothers after retiring from West Middlesex Frances became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2018.
Frances died 5th October 2022 in hospital in London three weeks after surgery for ovarian cancer. She leaves a husband Kebba Colley, co-wives Ndye and Hawa, daughter Safi, and stepchildren Lamin, Fatou, Isatou, Alieu, Cira, Rohey and Ma Tida Colley.
Mr Ramji Bhimji Khuti was born on 7th October 1933 in Kericho, Kenya. He attended Battersea College of Advanced Technology from 1954-1959. After leaving Battersea, Ramji spent a year as Assistant Engineer with John Howard and Company (Africa) Ltd, Nairobi Kenya.
Between 1961-1974 he held positions as Regional Water Engineer in Dar-es-salaam, Morogoro and Arusha, Tanzania for Government of The Republic of Tanzania. Water Development and Irrigation Department. From September 1975-December 1978, he worked as Assistant Engineer focused on flood control with Anglian Water. His final working years were with Government of The Republic of Zambia Ministry of Energy and Water Development Department of Water Affairs Lusaka, Zambia From April 1979- May 1997 retired as Director of Water Affairs.
He peacefully passed away suddenly on June 29th 2021 in Lusaka, Zambia.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of alumni David Swift, who died last year at the age of 64.
After completing his bachelors from Keele University, David joined us at Surrey for his Doctorate, which he graduated from in 1987. Following his time at Surrey, David spent time working at Leed's University as a Post Doctoral Research fellow before moving to work for the Ministry of Defence attached to the Army's training group. He travelled widely for work in formulating and assessing army training programmes, the use of simulators, observations at weapons trials, and lecturing at international conferences among other commissions.
David retired and then chose to concentrate on his fascination for Hammond tone-wheeled organs, of which he owned several. He played these in local bands: from local gigs in Hostelries to national annual festivals.
David will be deeply missed by his family, including parents James and Vera, siblings, and wife Angeline.
We are very sad to announce the death of Alumni, Jane Sinclair, who died on the 21st of March 2020 in Woking Hospice after losing her brief battle with Pancreatic cancer.
Born in Redruth Cornwall, her family move to Surrey where she went to school. She training as a nurse in London and become a midwife in the early 90’s, training and then practicing in St. Peter’s Chertsey. Jane worked as a Midwife and Matron in the Labour Ward at St Peter's Chertsey for 25 years where she had a profound impact. She made some strong and lasting friendships that made the job she loved even more important to her.
Jane was a mother to three wonderful adults who loved her dearly, a daughter who made her mother very proud, a sister to Mark and loving Aunty to his two children. Jane was also a loving wife to John who says "there are no words to describe what she was to me".
It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Surrey Alumni, Gavin Whichello, has passed away after a long illness.
Gavin graduated with a degree in Human and Physical Sciences in 1974. The son of a stevedore in the East End of London, he was the first in his family to attend university and studied under Britain’s first female Professor of Physics, Daphne Jackson. Following graduation, Gavin trained as a computer science teacher and his time as a teacher, coupled with his experiences at university, gave him a passion for helping young people from hard to reach backgrounds get into university.
Following his time in teaching, Gavin had a varied business career in the UK and USA in the technology and training sectors. He was the founder of the UK’s largest PC training company, Training International, which was floated on the stock exchange in 1987 and the co-founder of Winmail, at the time Europe’s leading messaging service. In 2005, he joined logistics company Isotrak as Chief Executive and Investor and in less than a decade increased the value of the company more than 20 fold. In 2006, Gavin acquired Qube Learning and has turned it into one of the top 20 training providers in the UK and a company that provides learning opportunities to literally thousands of people a year, many of them from similar backgrounds to his own.
For almost a decade, Gavin has been one of the University’s most engaged alumni. During this time he has financially supported PhD students and mentored a range of postgraduate and undergraduate students who have ambitions in technology and entrepreneurship. He taught regularly on the Surrey MBA programme and was always happy to share his experience and expertise with students. As a technology innovator himself, Gavin bought live streamed Qube Board Meetings into the MBA programmes giving students an opportunity to understand board level decision making.
Gavin was one of the first members of the Surrey Business School Advisory Board and, through this, contributed greatly to the development of the strategy and education of SBS. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Surrey Innovation and Digital Enterprise Academy (SurreyIDEA) where he was able to combine his passions for entrepreneurship and bringing young people from similar backgrounds to his into university. Through SurreyIDEA, Gavin regularly contributed to workshops and Young Persons University events and was hugely influential in the development of innovative undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In recognition of his work for the University and Business School, Gavin was made a Visiting Professor in 2017 and, in 2019, was the recipient of the Vice Chancellors Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to the University.
Gavin was a loving family man with a wife, Claire, and four children Anna, Mollie, Lucy and Stanley.
Professor Andy Adcroft, Deputy Dean of SBS and Director of SurreyIDEA said “Gavin will be hugely missed in the University. In SurreyIDEA, and with the many students he has mentored and supported, he leaves a lasting legacy that many people will benefit from. Over the years he has a champion of the Business School both inside and outside the University but, most of all, he has been a dear friend.”
Mark Ladd’s long association with the University of Surrey goes back to the 1950s, when he joined Battersea Polytechnic’s Chemical Physics and Spectroscopy section.
In 1958, he began work on a part-time PhD at Birkbeck College. During his studies, he used a new computer, an Elliot 503, and had a camp bed installed so he could work overnight to keep track of all the calculations. His PhD was awarded in 1965.
Mark began to teach and, in 1968, Battersea College was granted its royal charter and it moved to Guildford, becoming the University of Surrey. Here, Mark organised the layout of the new Chemical Physics department.
The 1970s were a time of change. Personal computers were evolving and Mark, an early adopter of computers in the 1960s, saw this as an opportunity to use microcomputers as a means of monitoring and controlling a range of scientific processes.
Mark continued to teach Surrey students until the early 1990s.
Over his long career, he authored and co-authored many textbooks, including Practical Radiochemistry and Crystals and Structure Determination by X-Ray Crystallography.
Outside of the University, Mark was passionate about music. He played the double bass as a member of the Croydon Symphony Orchestra. He was also president of the Surrey Doberman Society for several years.
Sadly, declining health curtailed many of his activities. But he still finished his final book, The Essence of Crystallography, which was published at the end of 2019.
Mark leaves two sons, Tony, a Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Florida, and Nick, a Church of England Minister. Val, his beloved wife of 69 years, died only five weeks before he did.
His legacy at Surrey, however, lives on in the Department he did so much to help create.
Contributed by Dr Ian Cunningham, Head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Surrey
It is with sadness we announce the death of Ravi, who graduated in 2010 with a MSc in Radiation and Environmental Protection from the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.
He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka and moved to the United Kingdom in 2008 to proceed his postgraduate studies.
He leaves his wife, Kasthiri, sons Larshwin aged 8 and Tharsith aged 6.
He was a very popular and much-loved member of the student community and maintained close contact with a number of friends from the University. He was also a member of the Tamil Society at the university. Ravi passed away from a heart attack 10 October 2020 at his home in Southampton.
Terry was the Head Groundsman for the University of Surrey from t- he 1st September 1975 to 1985. He passed away on the 27th July 2020 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.
Terry was born in Minster, Sheppey, Kent.
After training to be a Royal Naval nurse and serving ten years, he left to become a shepherd for a short period and then attended Kent Farm and Horticultural Institute gaining valuable knowledge of land management. Later he undertook short courses at Merrist Wood Agricultural College acquiring a further skills’ set.
Terry joined the University of Surrey’s grounds team in 1975. The director of works at that time made these comments about Terry, ‘His enthusiasm and devotion is a superb example to us all. Most of the landscape improvement schemes were personally designed by him and executed by his groundsmen. He was also responsible for similar planting schemes at Hazel Farm and ‘Yardfield’. The lakeside development is worthy of particular mention. Further, he formed a good working relationship with the Borough Council Grounds Department, Merrist Wood Agricultural College and Wisley Horticultural establishment.
As the Head Groundsman for the University of Surrey, Terry managed a large team at the grounds’ department. He was instrumental in landscaping large areas of the campus, overseeing the year-round work cycle involved in keeping the campus' grounds both attractive, safe and enviable. Visitors to the University often commented on his visionary abilities, leadership qualities and extensive knowledge of horticulture. The small pond on campus close to Senate House was named in his honour and is still referred to as 'Terry's Pond'.
Derek joined the University of Surrey in 1968 and gained an honours degree in Chemistry. His first year of study was at the Battersea complex before moving on to the new facilities at Guildford. After graduating in 1971, he moved on to study at the Institute for Education, London. His chosen career path lay in education and he completed 40 years of teaching in secondary schools in East London and Essex.
Upon his retirement he was elected as a senior governor at one of these schools. Del won the prestigious Jack Petchey award for his services to education and young people. He was highly respected by his fellow colleagues, parents and former pupils for his teaching of the physical sciences.
His warmth, sense of humour and commitment to education, will be sadly missed. Del continued to donate to the Forever Surrey Student Hardship Fund until his untimely death in 2020. A dedicated family man loved by all.
We regretfully inform you that John Williams (BSc in Mechanical Engineering 1984) died tragically as a result of a collision whilst on holiday in Spain with his Bury Rugby Club friends.
He studied Mechanical Engineering at Surrey from 1980–84 and was a leading light of the rugby club, in keeping with his Welsh roots. He maintained strong links with the ‘old boys’ from his era since. He leaves his wife Rachel and three grown-up children, Lloyd, Ethan and Hannah.
We are saddened to hear of the death of Battersea Polytechnic Alumni Christopher Terrel Wyatt (BSc in Civil Engineering 1946).
Christopher is described by the Institute of Civil Engineers as “one of the greatest engineers of his generation”. He was involved with the design of the Channel Tunnel among many other famous global projects. He will be very much missed by his wife Patricia.
We are saddened to hear of the death of former Maths lecturer Dr Mike Clark. He started at Battersea College of Technology and was a founding academic of the Guildford campus.
He was the first Dean of Students and a keen sportsman, promoting the sporting side of university life. He coached the water polo team for many years, was warden of Colours, and, in 2012, carried the Olympic torch through Westcott.
He was an honorary member of the Students’ Union. Mike retired at the end of the 1990s, after which he edited the retired staff magazine.
After gaining his diploma, he joined Caterer and Hotelkeeper and subsequently joined Catering Times as features editor. After 18 months he moved to the Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board as Head of Information Services, before returning to Catering Times as editor where he remained for 13 years.
In 1978, he published the first edition of How to Buy Your Own Hotel, which was subsequently revised in 1984 and 1995, with a recent major revision in 2015. This time in collaboration with Peter Nannestad.
Miles founded Wordsmith and Company, a public relations and publishing company specialising in the hotel, catering and tourism industries in 1981. He was joined by journalist Alan Sutton and later he formed Wordsmith Marketing and Public Relations with Diane Needham to provide a full and exclusive public relations and information service in London for Jersey Tourism.
He edited and produced Tourism: a Portrait to celebrate the silver jubilee of Horwath Consulting; edited the Horwath Book of Tourism and was consultant editor of The Hospitality Yearbook published by the HCIMA (now IOH).
He was responsible for producing the British Hospitality Association’s annual contract catering report from 1996 to 2010. He also acted as public relations consultant and editor of the BHA’s publications including its magazine, annual reports and Trends and Developments reports.
He was a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality.
Miles was considered to be one of hospitality’s most important and admired journalists and communicators.
He leaves a wife, Diane, two children, Katie and Stephen, and four grandchildren, Hugo, Lawrence, Zephyr and Celeste.
It is with profound sadness that the family of Baptist Furtado, of Bejai, announce his passing at Mangala Hospital, Mangalore, India.
He was the only child of Daniel and Carmine Furtado (nee D’Souza) of Surathkal, Mangalore. He studied at Vidyadayini High School, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from St Aloysius College, Mangalore and a Master’s degree in Physics from Belgaum University.
Baptist had a full and productive life, working as a teacher and lecturer across different countries. Early in his career, and following some years teaching in Bombay, India, Baptist moved to Zambia where he taught in the Chemistry Department at Canisius College, also teaching physics and maths. When he left the college, he spent a year teaching at St Raphael’s School in Livingstone, before moving to Lusaka with his family, where he taught for some years at Evelyn Hone College. He then went on to obtain an additional Master’s degree in 1981 – this time in Medical Physics – from the University of Surrey. He spent the rest of his career in Nigeria, teaching physics at secondary schools in Ogoja, Cross River State, before going on to become a lecturer at the University of Calabar’s Medical School, where he taught medical physics to radiographers and medical students.
He returned to India with his family in 1995, where he spent his retirement years.
Baptist had a deep love for animals – especially dogs and cats – and nature, music, enjoyed watching sports and nature programmes and studying. He valued education very highly. He was soft-spoken but firm and principled and people who knew him speak about his calmness, gentleness, and his love for his family.
He is survived by his wife, Adela, his son Leslie, daughters Lisa (Allan) and Selma, and four grandchildren. He is greatly missed.
Ron’s daughter Ann has told us the sad news of the death of her father in June 2018, aged 95. He was the Librarian of Battersea Polytechnic from 1950 and moved the library to its new site at Guildford when the University of Surrey was created in the 1960s. He retired as Librarian in 1982.
"I’m greatly saddened to report the death of my husband, Leo. We both studied together over the same years in the LIS department.
We had been married for 33 happy years. Leo was a doting, kind and gentle father to our two daughters and much loved by all who knew him; treasured by us all.
We maintained many friendships from our student days and so many have been supportive with visits and messages during his illness and our subsequent bereavement.
I treasure the years we had together and our shared history at Surrey. Fortunately, we were able to celebrate our youngest daughter’s wedding just weeks before Leo’s illness. He died only eight months later as a result of an aggressive brain tumour.
We had managed a brief visit to Surrey a few years ago but we were somewhat disorientated!"
Vicki Grattarola
It is with sadness we announce the death of Jos, who graduated in 1983 with a BSc in Maths. She was a very popular and much loved member of the student community and maintained close contact with many friends from the University. She was married to Slim Hayward, a loving, caring husband. Jos suffered a few health problems during the past months but showed what a true fighter she was and hosted several parties which brought many of her close friends together.
There can be few professional audio engineers who have not heard the name of John Borwick. He was, after all, editor and chief author of what is probably the most famous sound recording textbook of all time – Sound Recording Practice – and because John devoted the best part of his career to educating the professional audio engineer.
With a BSc degree in Physics, Maths and Applied Maths from Edinburgh University, John served as a signals officer in the RAF from 1943 to 1947. He then joined the BBC as a studio manager/balance engineer and later ran BBC Radio’s training studio. On leaving the BBC, he became a regular broadcaster, including anchoring the fortnightly Sound programme.
He was instrumental in setting up the BMus (Tonmeister) course in Music and Sound Recording at the University of Surrey and was senior lecturer and course director there for 11 years. He left the Tonmeister course in 1979 when David Pickett took over. David left in 1983, and when the University was unable to appoint a successor, John agreed to return for a further year.
I first met John in 1984 when I was appointed to run the Tonmeister course as his (second) successor. I well remember our first meeting; he seemed quite relaxed and I was very nervous. If only he’d realised how ill-prepared I was, I expect he would have been more nervous than me!
He was Secretary of the Association of Professional Recording Studios for many years and instigated their annual Engineer’s course at Surrey's Music Department. John also contributed much– to the Audio Engineering Society, helping to set up the British Section in 1970, being its first secretary and doing a two-year stint as Vice-President Europe.
He somehow found time to be technical editor/director of Gramophone magazine for 36 years and published many books, from Hi-Fi for Beginners in 1961 via Sound Recording Practice and Microphones: Technology and Technique to the Loudspeaker and Headphone Handbook. Amazon lists 29 titles by him.
In 2012 he was awarded an APRS Sound Fellowship for his services to the audio industry.
Broadcaster, educator, author, journalist, academic, John Borwick will be mourned and missed by generations of Tonmeisters as well as the audio industry at large; he truly was a great man.
One of our honorary graduates, Bill Bellerby MBE, known affectionately as Mr Guildford, died at the age of 100 on 19 September.
Bill was Guildford’s most respected elder citizen, serving for many years as a Labour councillor for Stoke ward and Surrey County Council and served as Mayor of Guildford in 1972–73 and 1973–74.
He trained as a teacher in 1948, and went to teach at many schools across Surrey including Northmead Boys’ School, Woodlands County Primary School, Perry Hill County Primary School and Knollmead County Primary School, where he spent 19 years as headmaster before retiring in 1979.
He celebrated his 100th birthday in March this year in the company of many friends, including Guildford MP Anne Milton.
He was married to Doreen, also a local councillor, for 74 years and who passed away in 2015, aged 95.
Together with Doreen, he was awarded the MBE in 1991 in recognition of his services to the community. In the same year, they were both awarded honorary degrees by the University.
Honorary graduate Professor Ke Jun has died at the age of 101 in Beijing, China. He was a renowned scientist and educator, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a pioneer of metal physics and the history of metallurgy, and professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB).
Professor Ke graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Wuhan University in 1938, completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham in 1948 and later became a senior lecturer there. He returned to China in 1953, and served as professor at the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology, Chair of the Department of Physical Chemistry, Vice President of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, and Consultant to President consecutively. In 1980, he was elected an Academician of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and member of the Standing Committee of the Faculty of Science.
In 1980s and 1990s, Professor Ke worked hard to promote the international outreach of USTB and established a bridge between Chinese professors and colleagues in the UK. In 1988, he received an honorary doctorate from Surrey for his contribution to the study of the history of metallurgy in China, as well as his endless efforts to promote the academic exchange between the two countries.
It is with sadness we announce the death of Tom who graduated from the University of Surrey in Mathematics in 1969, having started at Battersea in 1965. He subsequently completed a MSc at the University of Surrey in 1971.
Tom spent his time working in the computer industry and only retired from work a few months before. He leaves his wife, Margaret, and daughter Abigail.
It is with sadness we announce the death of former University technician and later police officer PC Nigel Furlonger on 9 March 2017.
Before joining the police force, Nigel worked in the School of Biological Sciences but had always dreamt of becoming an officer. As a tutor for new officers, Nigel featured in the TV series Rookies which followed young recruits joining the force. In the show in August 2016 he said: “When they first come to me they are a member of the public in a uniform. I’ve got to turn them into a police officer.”
Retired Surrey senior research fellow Dr Miloslav Dobrota said: “Nigel really was one of the loveliest people you would wish to meet. Everyone in the old School of Biological Sciences knew him as he was also the School’s cheeky, cheerful and lovable IT chap who came to install and check on our e-mail.
“He really was a bundle of fun, not averse to giving people an impromptu hug. Indeed I recall that I would do my best to embarrass him (when he became a PC) by giving him, this uniformed officer, a hug. Needless to say when I did come across him he beat me to it.”
Nigel’s funeral took place on 7 April at St Emmanuel Church in Stoughton.
It is with sadness we announce the death of Bill, who graduated from the University in Metallurgy in 1969. He subsequently competed a PhD at Swansea University and spent more than 30 years at 3M, first as a metallurgist before moving into HR.
He leaves his wife, Kay, sons Stephen and Andrew and three grandchildren.
We have been informed of the sad news of the death of Philip Byrne, aged 89, who graduated with a BSc from Battersea College of Technology in 1951.
We are sad to announce the death of Susan Goltsman, who with her husband Daniel Iacofano, graduated with an MSc in Environmental Psychology in 1980
Susan and Daniel went on to found MIG, based in California, which specialises in environmental design that promotes healthy human development.
Susan pioneered the concept of inclusive design, the idea that “every individual has the right to full and equal participation in the built environment”. She created and tirelessly advocated for environments that contribute to our physical, creative, emotional, social and intellectual development. Through her efforts, those are now foundational elements in park and urban planning and design.
With Daniel, Susan set up the MIG Research Fund for Environmental Psychology at Surrey, which awards scholarships to MSc students to carry out projects that chime with the company’s ethos. In 2013 the couple hosted an alumni reception in their offices for Surrey graduates based in the US.
The MIG website says: “Beyond being a Founding Principal of our company, Susan was a visionary force behind all that is MIG, our inspiration and innovator, our fearless leader, always pushing us forward toward greater things.”
The University is saddened to hear of the death of Martin Foltin who tragically died aged 35 in a motorcycle accident in his hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany.
After graduating, Martin joined the opening team of the Four Seasons Doha Hotel in 2005. He subsequently worked at the W Doha for six years, latterly as assistant director of food and beverage at the hotel. Last year he moved to Bahrain as complex director of food and beverage for Westin & Le Meridien.
Friend and fellow graduate Chris Connor said: “Martin was the soul of our department, liked and respected by all whether you were in his direct friendship group or not.”
Martin met his wife Ana Figueiredo Foltin at Surrey and they were due to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary this year.
We are saddened to hear of the death of Peter Jacobsen, who studied Linguistics and Regional Studies from 1968–72. Devoted husband of Lindsey, also a Surrey graduate.
It is with sadness we announce the death of Emeritus Professor Otto Pick, who was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and was Pro Vice-Chancellor from 1979–85.
Professor Otto Pick was born in Prague to a Czech-Jewish family. His father was the well-known German-speaking journalist, writer, translator and critic Otto Pick. Professor Pick began his studies in Prague, where he attended an English high school. After the establishment of the Protectorate in Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939, he escaped to the Great Britain thanks to the ‘Nicholas Winton train’. In the UK, he graduated from school and continued his education at Oxford University.
In 1943, he joined the Czechoslovak Army in the UK, where he served in various garrisons, and he also participated in the Normandy landings. After the war he returned to his hometown – Prague. There he worked briefly at the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, and he enrolled at the Faculty of Law at Charles University. After the communists took power in Czechoslovakia, he, as a former member of the Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade in the UK, was forced to emigrate again – this time with his wife Zdeňka – to the UK, where he obtained a position as an editor at the BBC.
He also continued his studies in history at Oxford, where he won a scholarship. After his university studies Pick embarked on an academic career. He started out as an assistant at the London School of Economics, where he completed his postgraduate studies. He moved to the University of Surrey in 1973, where he headed up International Relations in the former Department of Linguistic and International Studies, before becoming dean and pro vice-chancellor.
In 1983, he became the head of the Czechoslovak section of Radio Free Europe in Munich, and afterwards he taught at the University of Munich and also at Johns Hopkins University in Bologna.
He moved back to Prague in 1991, where he contributed to the creation of the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University. In 1993, Professor Pick became the director of the Institute of International Relations and worked there until 1998 when he became the First Deputy in the office of Jan Kavan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a focus on the integration of the Czech Republic into NATO.
Later, he achieved a series of successes as an Ambassador at Large with a focus on Czech-German and Czech-Austrian relations. Between 2000 and 2013, he was an adviser to all the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
He was awarded the Czechoslovak Medal for Valour against the Enemy (1945) and the Federal Cross of Merit for the support and development of democracy and he was appointed as a member of the Order of St Michael and St George (2002) by the Queen.
Bruce Russell, who died on 2 January 2016, was a well-known figure in the British construction industry, particularly abroad.
His father Edward was a civil engineer, working on perfecting tank-launching pads for the D-Day invasion for two years before it took place, just as Bruce was born. Bruce followed Edward into engineering which he never ceased to find fascinating and absorbing. He was educated at Highgate School, and regretted that, in those days, the school did not take engineering seriously, and was biased towards medicine and the law. This did not deter him, and he read civil engineering at the University of Leeds, where he met his beloved wife-to-be Jenny.
After graduating, he immediately started work with Taylor Woodrow, on a cargo tunnel at Heathrow airport, learning a whole new range of swear words, as well as how to work extremely hard. Soon he was on the Danube basin in Romania, working on a huge irrigation project, learning another new language, this one based on Latin and French roots, and also learning to respect the locals’ ability to breakfast on ‘tuica’, a powerful plum brandy.
Mining in Sierra Leone was next, becoming project manager, up in the bush, and turning around a failing project. This time he had to learn respect for the so-called ‘dragons beneath the ground’ and their effect on the men above. He cared deeply for the well-being of his men, and they responded to this.
Dubai, Malaysia and Borneo beckoned and were enjoyed until he decided that his three children should have a settled English education; he could not bear to send them away “to be brought up by someone else” and so the family returned to the United Kingdom.
Bruce still travelled the globe, and recognised throughout the industry for his can-do approach, he rose to become chairman of Taylor Woodrow International and a Main Board director. He gave evidence on behalf of the construction industry to Select Committees about the importance of foreign contracts, went on foreign trade missions, was part of the reconstruction of Kosovo following the break-up of Yugoslavia, and of the development of the Light Rail Transit system in Kuala Lumpur in time for the Commonwealth Games, when he had the pleasure of advising the Queen to “hold on tight” as the train set off on its maiden journey.
Taylor Woodrow effectively bowed out of international construction in 2000, and Bruce took early retirement – and continued to use his practical and relationship skills. He became Emeritus Professor at the University of Surrey, developing a course in construction management, was a major in the Engineering and Logistics Staff Corps, a governor of Highgate School, a trustee of Highgate Cemetery, a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, and the Highgate Newtown Community Centre, as well as giving his time generously to other local charities.
He eventually succumbed to the strains of an enlarged heart, which he had coped with from birth, a fact few friends would have guessed, as they saw him golfing hard, producing enough fruit and vegetables from his garden to make the family self-sufficient, walking the Cornish Coastal path, sailing his dinghy, and supporting his local football team, Arsenal.
He is survived by his wife Jenny, and their three children, Sophie, Pippa and Guy and eight grandchildren.
A personal remembrance by Battersea alumnus Frank Green
The afternoon of 8 December 8 2015, was bright and blustery as about a hundred family and friends met at Aldershot Crematorium to celebrate the life of, and say goodbye to, Ken Berkeley: Chartered Engineer and Fellow of both the Institute of Corrosion and the Institution of Material Minerals and Mining.
I first met Ken when we were Battersea ‘Freshers’. An affable man, full of fun and kindly wit, he loved his ale and had a trim, almost military moustache. All of that stayed with him all his life. He was one of an in-between generation. Some of us had arrived straight from school, others had seen extended military service, a few had been in the war. Ken was one of those in the middle who had left school, done his National Service in the REME and then arrived at Battersea.
He joined the Metallurgy Department and was a candidate for the Institution of Metallurgists: back then many professional institutions were examining, as well as being qualifying, bodies. The Institution and London University had nearly identical syllabi. It wasn’t long before the Met. Department and the Hotel and Caterers moved in to their new, purpose-built, block. With many ladies on the upper floors and lots of chaps below, romances flourished. Ken and Elizabeth met and formed a close and enduring partnership.
Perhaps Ken’s career was determined by one of our lecturers, the corrosion expert Lionel Shriver, who went on to play a major role in the design and development of the protection system for the Thames Barrier. Battersea had a strong entrepreneurial spirit so Ken and a fellow student set off on their own into the corrosion protection business. That initial association did not last, but Ken built his own business and became recognised as a world authority in cathodic protection. His book, aimed at giving practical advice to engineers, surveyors and architects, remains a recommended text.
He became an active member of his local community; as a committed Christian he gave, together with Elizabeth, much time and talent to the Scouting movement.
Ken had had a good student career too. Battersea had no Students’ Union building, but there was the Student Representative Council whose activities served much the same purpose. Our bar was across the road at The Grove pub.
Ken was active in many ways, becoming the President of the SRC during 1954-55. His fondness for his ale was one of the drivers behind his part in creating the Met. Department’s 53 Club. This was essentially for maintaining a contact network after we had left. Ken always saw it as a drinking club too; one of its rules was that if you were caught not wearing your 53 tie on a Thursday, you bought drinks all round. It lasted until 2003, and we saw it off with a great farewell dinner at the old Kew Bridge Pumping Station.
The last time I saw Ken and Elizabeth was at a recent Battersea Lunch at the University. Though frail, he was still dapper and witty and still thought of the 53 Club in its drinking mode. I understand that even when being taken to hospital, he asked his paramedics if he could drop off for a pint!
The Grove often had jazz in an upstairs room, another of Ken’s delights, so it was no surprise that good jazz was playing as we entered the chapel and as we left we got The Saints loud and clear. Ken abides as being “among that number”.
John was born in Sutton on 22 November 1948 when he joined his sister Eileen to complete the family of William and Alice Harding.
He was educated at St Joseph's College, a specialist College for Mathematics, in Upper Norwood. John proved to be a brilliant scholar and achieved A-level scores exceeding those required for Oxbridge. However, he chose to enter Imperial College London, world-famous for its engineering and science, and opted to study civil engineering.
His application and innate intelligence led him to graduate at the top of his class of very bright contemporaries with a First Class Honours degree. He proceeded as a postgraduate student in advanced structural engineering and specialised in the strength of steel plates such as those used to construct bridges and marine structures.
Around this time, there was an intensive programme of research on steel box girders underway in the Structural Engineering Laboratories of Imperial College. This was as a result of the collapse of a series of box girder bridges during construction, resulting in the deaths of many construction workers.
The first of these was The Milford Haven Bridge in South Wales and this tragedy was followed by the collapse of bridges of similar construction at Yarra in Australia and Koblenz in Germany in 1971.
Public concern at this loss of life was at such a peak that Government grants poured into Imperial College, funding research to find the causes of these failures and prevent future collapses. John's research slotted neatly into this programme and he went on to produce ground-breaking results that contributed significantly to the output of Imperial's team.
Following John's stellar performance as a researcher, I invited him to join me as a co-editor of The Journal of Constructional Steel Research in 1980. As with every other task undertaken by John, he proved to be superbly efficient as an editor and continued to co-edit that journal for some 35 years.
Of course, it was not just me who recognised John's talents and, although appointed as a Lecturer at Imperial in an attempt to retain him on our staff, he was inevitably lured by the offer of a Professorial Chair to The University of Surrey in 1985 at the relatively young age of 37.
In 1991 he was promoted to a senior management position as Pro Vice-Chancellor. At this level, he undertook a series of roles including student welfare, staff development, and external academic relationships.
In this latter capacity, he established a special relationship with St Mary's, Strawberry Hill, (now St Mary's University) where he served on their Governing Body for several years. Alongside these responsibilities, he also was Head of Civil Engineering from 1997 to 2002.
Basically, if there was a difficult senior job to be done, John was entrusted with it. Throughout, John continued with his research and numerous publications with amazing energy and enthusiasm.
When I arrived at Surrey as Vice-Chancellor in 1994, John had already established a worldwide reputation as a distinguished academic. We became even closer friends and allies in our duties of leading and managing the University. I treasured his advice and company until my retirement in 2005. Three years later, John took early retirement in March 2007 and moved with his family to their lovely home in Shipston-on-Stour.
During the past eight years, John's many interests flourished in a way that was nothing short of astonishing. His passion for photography reached exceptional heights. John joined the local photography club where the club chairman reports that by 2009 he was the most prolific of the members and was winning prizes all over the world for his photography.
But what of John 'the man'? In all senses of the phrase John was a Big Man. So many people have been in touch since the news of his untimely death to express their admiration for John and condolences for his family, that it is possible to assemble some of the virtues attributed repeatedly to him by those who knew him well.
Words and phrases such as gentleman, genuine, honest, fair, patient, good natured, a wonderful boss, loved his students, loved by his students, a family man, occur again and again. All of these resonate loudly with me.
But the John I like to recall was a dear friend with whom I spent many happy hours swapping ideas and planning our next actions together, interspersed with laughter aided by his gentle good humour, over a pint (or maybe two), with me teasing him about his Irish ancestry and him denying any Celtic connections and declaring himself to be a True Blue Brit.
Whatever his ancestry, he was 'one hell of a guy' who has left an indelible mark on so many aspects of life from the educational sector, the engineering profession, the publishing world, the art of photography, the gardening scene and most importantly on his family, friends and admirers across the world.
It is cruel that he has been taken from us so soon, when he had so much more to give. John was married with two daughters. We shall all miss him enormously. May he rest in peace.
Professor Patrick Dowling, 18 May 2015
It is with sadness that the University announces the death of Sir Basil John Mason, known as John, who was Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University from 1979-1985.
Sir John was Professor of Cloud Physics at Imperial College London and was Director-General of the Meteorological Office from 1965-1983. He held many notable positions within his field of science, physics and meteorology including that of President of the Royal Meteorological Society, President of the Institute of Physics, Treasurer of the Royal Society, and UK Permanent Representative to the World Meteorological Organisation.
Before he became Pro-Vice Chancellor, John had been a member of Council since 1969 and Chairman of Council from 1970-1975. Sir John died on 6 January 2015.
Information from The Times:
Sir Harry Hookway, who completed his PhD in Chemistry at Battersea in 1947, was the first chief executive of the new British Library, having masterminded the planning of the vast building at St Pancras.
Sir Harry was handpicked for the task after impressing the government as a scientific attaché to the British Embassy in Washington, reporting on the technological revolution in the US that was causing the ‘brain drain’ of British scientists to organisations such as NASA. He used his scientific rigour (and diplomatic skills learnt in Washington) to bring together several disparate organisations, such as the British Museum and the National Lending Library, together into the ‘hub’, as he called it. Started in 1978, the final part of the building was finished in 1996.
He was born in London and attended the Trinity School of John Whitgift in Croydon. After his PhD, he moved to Washington where he forged a partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities to take forward the English Short Title Catalogue covering the 18th century. He foresaw the digital revolution and made plans for the catalogue to be digitised.
He leaves two children: Simon, who works in financial services, and Philippa, who serves in the police.
John Wakely, who has recently died at the age of 96, worked for Battersea and Surrey in various capacities for 45 years. He joined Battersea Polytechnic as its accountant in 1953, becoming the accountant of Battersea College of Technology in 1956 when the status of the institution changed, and then, 10 years later, accountant and deputy secretary (finance) of the University of Surrey from 1966. He retired from this position in 1977 and then served for a further 21 years as part-time ‘Retirement Correspondent’.
John was born and brought up in the London Borough of Fulham. He joined the finance department of Chelsea Polytechnic in 1935 and, apart from war service and a year in the film industry, spent the rest of his career in education. John was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators and his professional skills as an accountant and financial adviser were evident to everyone closely connected with Battersea and Surrey. Ralph West (the Principal of Battersea in the 1950s) and Peter Leggett (Principal of Battersea and subsequently the University’s first vice-chancellor) both readily acknowledged John’s leading contribution to the successful establishment of the University, as did the senior lay members of the Battersea’s Governing Body and Surrey’s first Council (notably Sidney Rich, the chairman whose tenure spanned the transformation of Battersea into the University of Surrey).
John was a key member of the small central administrative team which worked tirelessly to relocate Battersea College of Technology to Guildford as the then new University of Surrey. One can only begin to imagine the amount of work that entailed, without the benefits of modern office technology. Indeed, recalling his time at Battersea and Surrey, John noted that until 1963 all cheques drawn on the institution’s bank account were handwritten and individually signed. It was only then that “after long and careful consideration” the Governing Body agreed to his proposal that a “cheque-writing machine which created a facsimile signature produced by metal dies” should be purchased!
But John was much more than an accountant concerned with estimates, budgets and balancing the books. He was interested in everyone – staff and students alike. For example, when the Battersea Students’ Union was suspended for a few months early in 1959, and had to meet in the bandstand in Battersea Park, John attended the meetings as an ‘interested spectator’. It is probable that he subsequently had a hand (behind the scenes) in resolving whatever crisis had occurred between the Principal, the Governing Body and the Students’ Union. He championed the case (albeit unsuccessfully after a narrow defeat in Council) for a member of the non-academic staff to be included on the Council when the original Charter and Statutes were being drawn up in the mid-1960s. Also, he often called in at the public relations office (then located in a goldfish bowl-type office on the second floor of Senate House) with the latest news of a former Battersea colleague with whom he had been in touch.
It was therefore very appropriate that John should be appointed as the University’s part-time Retirement Correspondent in 1977. He carried out these duties diligently for 21 years thus laying the foundations of what would later become the Surrey Society and, more recently the alumni relations office, which now includes former staff as well as graduates. Again, he did this without the help of modern technology, for example cutting out pieces of news from the University’s weekly Newsletter and monthly Gazette, which a member of the Secretariat team then turned into a quarterly newsletter for retired staff.
On his retirement from full-time responsibilities in 1977, John was awarded the degree of Master of Science honoris causa and he also received a Queen’s Jubilee Medal in acknowledgement of his long service to the University. We extend our condolences to John’s daughter, Helen Faulds, and the rest of the family.
Anthony Kelly (known to his friends as ‘Tony’, but invariably addressed in the University as Vice-Chancellor or simply VC) was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex in 1929. By the time he was attracted to Surrey by Lord Robens (then Chancellor of the University) to become the University’s second Vice-Chancellor, he had an international reputation as a scientist with experience in universities, government and industry.
Undergraduate study at the University of Reading, where he obtained two first-class honours BSc degrees – General and Special (Physics) – was followed by a PhD at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1953. He then worked at the University of Illinois and at Birmingham University before spending three years as an Associate Professor of Metallurgy and Materials Science at Northwestern University, Chicago. He returned to Cambridge in 1959 to take up an appointment as a university lecturer and as a Founding Fellow of Churchill College where he was Director of Studies in Natural Sciences until 1967. He then moved to a number of roles in government science for eight years, becoming Deputy Director of the National Physical Laboratory in 1969. He received an ScD from the University of Cambridge in 1968 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1973 at the age of 43.
During the tenure of Professor Kelly’s vice-chancellorship, from 1975-1994, the number of full-time students at Surrey increased from 3,000 to 7,000 with a significant increase in the proportion of postgraduate students. During the 1980s the University developed a large network of associated institutions, awarding Surrey degrees (notably the Roehampton Institute and St Mary’s College, Twickenham, both now universities in their own right) and at that time it became one of the foremost validating universities in the country.
Although Surrey’s annual income rose from £6m to £63m between 1975 and 1994 – a significant real increase – the 1980s were not an easy time to be a vice-chancellor. In the infamous University Grants Committee (UGC) cuts of 1981, Surrey suffered one of the highest reductions in government funding, in spite of being at the forefront of establishing links between higher education and industry. Professor Kelly responded to the situation with characteristic determination, closing a number of academic departments (rather than spreading the pain evenly which would not have been in the long-term interests of the University) and further increasing the University’s income from non-government sources. At this and other times, conversations in the Vice-Chancellor’s office could be challenging but, as Sir Austin Pearce (then a Pro-Chancellor and a former Chairman of British Aerospace) said many years later, when presenting Anthony Kelly for the degree of DUniv honoris causa “when he digs his heels in he is invariably right”.
A notable feature of the University’s strategy in the 1980s was the development of the Surrey Research Park. Anthony Kelly had first conceived the idea during a sabbatical term in Switzerland in 1979 and a small group (including in particular Jerry Leonard, University Treasurer and Leonard Kail, University Secretary) took the development forward. It was at around the same time that Anthony Kelly became the first Chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology. It is fitting that the building at the entrance to the Research Park which accommodates start-up companies is named the Anthony Kelly Technology Centre.
Surrey was one of the first universities to introduce a staff appraisal scheme in response to the 1985 Jarratt Report on the management of higher education and was also one of the first to draw up a strategic plan, long before all universities were required to do so by the Funding Council. Anthony Kelly was a strong advocate of the professional training year which has made a major contribution to Surrey’s consistently high graduate employment record. He had the interests of students at heart and he was meticulous in developing good relationships with the Students’ Union. He was a champion of student sport and could often be found on the Manor Park sports fields on a Saturday afternoon cheering on one of the University’s teams. He encouraged the development of a broader range of subjects in the University – for example the introduction of Dance Studies, a controversial move at the time.
Unusually among vice-chancellors, Professor Kelly continued to make a significant contribution to his own discipline. He was elected to the Fellowship of Engineering (now the Royal Academy of Engineering) in 1979, to the National Academy of Engineering of the USA in 1986 and to the Academia Europaea in 1990. He received many international prizes and awards and honorary doctorates from Birmingham, Reading and Surrey, Hanyan University in South Korea and Navarra University in Spain.
He is regarded by many throughout the world as the “father of composite materials” and received the President’s Award of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2011 in recognition of a lifetime of significant achievement throughout a career spanning more than sixty years. His major book, Strong Solids (first published in 1965, third edition 1986) is still regarded as the seminal work in the field. An international symposium Advanced Materials in the Marketplace (organised by Professor Michael Kelly and Professor Jim Castle) was held at the University in 1994 to mark his retirement. He was Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Structural Safety of the Institutions of Civil and Structural Engineering from 1988 to 1998.
At another event held to mark Anthony Kelly’s retirement, HRH The Duke of Kent (Chancellor of the University) commented on his ability, as an experienced yachtsman, to chart a course through choppy waters – an ability which helped to steer the University through a difficult period following the 1981 UGC cuts. At the same event, Professor Graeme Davies (Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England) proposed a toast to the continued success of the University, concluding: “Professor Kelly has had the vision to set about one of the most difficult tasks in higher education – to change irreversibly the culture of an institution. I believe that during the thirty years since the Robbins Report only two of the former colleges of advanced technology have made it into the top grouping of our best international research universities: Surrey and Bath” - a judgement surely amply borne out in current university league tables.
On his retirement from the University, Tony and his wife Christina (who sadly died in 1997) returned to live in Cambridge. He soon became actively involved as a Fellow of Churchill College (having been elected as an Extraordinary Fellow of the college in 1985) and as an Emeritus Professor and Distinguished Research Fellow in the University’s Department of Materials Science and Technology. He became a well-known and respected figure at Churchill, editing the college’s Review for many years. He served as President of the Institution of Materials in 1996-97.
Professor Kelly was for a number of years a Vice-President of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf. He was appointed CBE in 1988 and a Surrey DL in 1993. Although from a devout Roman Catholic background, he did not allow his faith to intrude on his role as the head of a secular institution, while nevertheless encouraging the development of an ecumenical approach to the university chaplaincy. He was appointed a Knight of St Gregory in 1992.
Anthony Kelly died peacefully in his sleep at home on 4 June 2014 at the age of 85. The University extends its sincere condolences to the members of his family, Marie-Clare, Paul, Andrew and Steve.
Jim studied metallurgy at Battersea Polytechnic from 1947–50 and in 1952 became a member of the teaching staff, with a particular interest in welding technology.
The department was in many ways in advance of its time in realising that close relationships with industry to find solutions to practical problems was of great importance to both sides. To achieve this, it would be necessary to call upon the expertise which existed elsewhere in the institution. Jim played a vital role in promoting these aims and the advantages he saw in industrial collaboration.
He was a supporter of interdisciplinary courses, largely because he realised that problems in industry were frequently of an interdisciplinary nature; of a flexible approach and the introduction of an element of general studies and, perhaps most of all, the concept of the sandwich course, not always welcomed by academics.
In 1965, Jim was appointed Industrial Liaison Officer, and in 1969 became Director of the Bureau of Industrial and External Liaison, whose tasks covered short courses, extra-mural contracts and contacts with the University friends. Jim was instrumental in in setting up the Surrey Alumni Society (now Forever Surrey) and integrating Battersea within it.
Upon his retirement in 1984, the University Newsletter said: “It can be seen that Jim has played a significant role in the establishment of a modern vocational university. He has an approach which is stabilised by a happy family relationship and it has always been the case that Jim and Jo have supported University occasions with a sense of belonging and fun.”
At his funeral, Professor Peter Miodowdnik, Head of he Department of Metallurgy from 1982-1988, said: “The links he created included inviting captains of industry to come to see what we were capable of doing and getting them to contribute to the revision of syllabi so that they were more industrially orientated.
“Most importantly, he championed a system of industrial placements for students in their third year, following the system which we had started in the Metallurgy department. This meant that students had a whole year of industrial experience under their belt before completing their final year and gave an industrial context to their academic studies.
“They returned more mature, more confident and more determined to complete their degrees. This gave them a valuable advantage when it came to subsequent employment interviews. Jim’s tireless work in this allowed Surrey to top the league table for percentage employment after graduation year after year.”