RETIRING STAFF: THE CLASS OF 2012 NOVEMBER 2012

1. RETIRING STAFF: THE CLASS OF 2012 NOVEMBER 2012

2. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Mr John Askell School of Dental Sciences First appointed 1977 John’s role as a senior instructor was to develop in dental students the skill required to make orthodontic braces of many kinds, which includes the apparently mundane but impossibly challenging task of bending short lengths of wire to precisely the required form. Dental students past and present would vouch for the thoroughness of his teaching by virtue of many a painful finger or thumb!A keen and passionate follower of all things fishy, he made the most of his highly accomplished wire-bending skills by tying his own fishing flies. Many of John’s colleagues saw the benefit with gifts of salmon, trout and even a brace or two of pheasant. The caricature above was commissioned by his colleagues and the framed original was presented to John at his farewell dinner. The ‘fish-cake’ was one of the many retirement treats made for John by dental students. The indeterminate species of fish is wearing a ‘fixed brace’!His colleagues wish John a plethora of ‘tight lines’ in the future.

3. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor Tom Anderson Dean of Business Development (SAgE) Tom was born in Blaydon, and so is a local lad who has never left. He joined the university in 1965 as an undergraduate fulfilling a number of roles after gaining his PhD until in 1979, after several months as a visiting member of staff at NASA, he took up a lectureship at the University. From 1981 he led his firstand very successful SERC-funded research project on software reliability ("Fault Tolerant Software for Command & Control Systems") - the first ever anywhere to provide some solid experimental evidence of the costs and effectiveness of software fault tolerance. This involved programmers who had solid industrial experience, and the implementation - to industry-standards - of a demonstration command and control system for a helicopter, involved in engaging an enemy naval vessel. This was of course known as the "battleships" project. In 1984 he established the Centre for Software Reliability – jointly with CURDS the longest-established University Research Centre. CSR now runs the Safety Critical Systems Club – a technology transfer organisation with almost 2000 mainly industrial members and an enviable reputation for organising its own and other people’s conferences. In 1986 Tom was promoted to Professor of Computing Science, and in 1992, on the separation of the academic and service functions of the Computing Laboratory, became the first Head of the Department of Computing Science. His welcome to new students always included instruction on the pronunciation of the name of their university – “N’eu-Cassle”, not “New Carsle” – in the way only a native Geordie can. From 1998 to 2002 he was the last Dean of the Faculty of Science, subsequently referring to himself as a “has Dean”.Tom is unusual – perhaps unique – amongst university staff in having flown on Concorde. He was asked to take part in a NASA (or NSF?) project review, but didn’t really want to do it, so pleaded that other commitments would make travel difficult. His objections were overcome by the offer that they would fly him out on Concorde. In the event the outward Concorde flight didn’t go so passengers were transferred to another plane and he arrived late for the review – but he did get to fly home on Concorde (and has the Concorde whisky glass to prove it!).

4. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor Maggie Bassendine Institute of Cellular Medicine Maggie Bassendine came to Newcastle in 1980 as First Assistant in Medicine after a dazzling research career under Professor Sheila Sherlock in London. She was the first clinician in the Faculty to adopt molecular biology techniques. Her research was initially in the autoimmune liver disease Primary Biliary Cirrhosis when in 1988 she and Professor Steve Yeaman discovered the nature of the antigen against which the disease specific diagnostic antibody – anti-mitochondrial antibody – was directed. Her group continued this work over the next 5 years producing a landmark series of papers in the Lancet, PNAS etc. Switching to research on Hepatitis C virus, she was one of the first in the world to recognise the importance of the lipid coating of the virus and was an extremely influential government adviser on this disease for many years. She also established the Hepatitis C clinical treatment network in the North East and developed a busy and very successful viral hepatitis clinical service. She was made clinical lecturer in 1987 and Professor in 1991.

5. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor John Bond Institute of Health and Society John Bond joined the university in 1979 as a lecturer in sociology in the Health Care Research Unit, later the Centre for Health Services Research.   He could be said to be one of the founding fathers of the Institute of Health & Society since he was the director of the Centre for Health Services Research just prior to it joining with the departments of Epidemiology and Public Health and Primary Health Care and some smaller units to form the Institute in 2006.  Many of the policies and procedures developed under John’s leadership are still in use in IHS today and recently formed much of the basis for the IHS’ success in achieving an Athena Swan Silver award which recognises good practice insupporting the careers of women in science.  John’s research interests have focused on older age and dementia.  His text book Ageing in Society has been described as a cutting edge text on one of the most important subjects facing the modern world - a must for all students of ageing' – (Mike Bury, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of London).  His highly successful research career includes beinghonoured as anAcademician of the Academy of Social Sciences; being made Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and being one of the very first recipients of the prestigious National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator awards. John is fondly remembered by some of the older members of the IHS for his good humour, particularly at Christmas when in his capacity as Director he was expected to dress up to present gifts from the bran tub – his Father Christmas needed a lot of padding to get the required bulk to portray the character accurately and his Ali G was spectacular!  Although John continues to do some work for the Institute his retirement allows him to spend more time on his hobbies, including walking with his dogs,  playing bridge, and playing cello for a regional orchestra.  John is an accomplished carpenter and has built several pieces of furniture for his home; his garden is a source of awe and wonder to visitors and guests at his celebratory garden parties. His interests are constantly expanding according to whatever his social secretary, wife Senga, another former Director of CHSR, decides they need to sample next!  

6. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor Martin Eccles Institute of Health and Society Martin joined the university as a Visiting Fellow in 1988 and has worked his way through the promotion route, achieving a personal chair in 1997 and being awarded the William Leech Chair in Primary Care in 2001. He worked with another of ourrecent retirees, John Bond, in the Centre for Health Services Research, then the Institute of Health & Society, for many years serving on the Executives and contributing significantly to their development. Martin’s main areas of research are in the area the fields of Effective Practice and Organisation of Care and mental health in older age with particular interest in the diagnosis of dementia in primary care. He was an editor for the Cochrane Collaboration Effective Practice and Organisation of Care review group and co-Editor-in Chief of Implementation Science.  All through his research career Martin also worked as a GP two afternoons a week. Martin has had a close working relationship with the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for many years and continues to do some work for them as a senior mentor. He was President of the UK Society of Behavioural Medicine and was awarded a prestigious inaugural NIHR Senior Investigator award in 2008 which was renewed in 2012.  Martin is a devoted family man. His wife Julie was also a GP as is one his daughters, Sarah.  His other daughter, Kate is a teacher.  Martin loves jazz music but he is most well known in IHS for being a keen ornithologist often arranging his holidays with a view to spotting a new bird. This hobby has taken him all over the world from Alaska to Varangerfjord, Norway via Chile, India, the USA and more recently China and many places in between.  He is an excellent self-taught artist drawing and painting the birds he has seen in these often exotic places.  He displays his work on a website which is well worth visiting.  At Christmas time a few lucky people in IHS would receive a calendar from Martin which showcased his art – paintings of birds or sculptures.   Following his early retirement Martin is once again a student – this time he is studying for a degree in Fine Art here at Newcastle.  From time to time the Centre Executive would get together socially; Martin’s task was always to choose the wine!  I’m reliably informed that his favourite dessert is Bakewell tart! He also enjoys fine chocolate much to the benefit of his support staff who made sure that he remembered they liked it too!

7. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Dr Clive Gerrard Information Systems and Services Newcastle University man and boy: first in Maths, then a PhD in Computing Science in 1979 before joining the Computing Lab as a Programme Adviser (micro to mainframe linked applications) in 1980 having spent a couple of years in Industry. Clive was a main contributor to implementation of the common desktop, many years ahead of most universities. This included tools for single sign-on, automated software deployment and management. The University was second in the country to implement Microsoft Exchange for e-mail and the then Vice-Chancellor was the second person to use the new Exchange infrastructure. He was also instrumental in setting up RAS for remote working, shared filespace for collaborative working and the Condor grid for high-performance computing – all taken for granted today, but ground-breaking at the time. A great interest in collaborative working with researchers led to his more recent contributions to the Iridium project and Software Carpentry – workshops for researchers to improve their use of software. Clive is far too modest to use the term legacy, but he was crucially important in the join-up of computing around the University. And this way of thinking continues: a recent recruit into ISS asked the Director how to build links with academic colleagues to ensure that ISS practice reflected the needs of researchers. Clive would be very pleased with this!

8. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor Geoff Hammond School of Medical Sciences Education Development Geoff took his time before he realised that Newcastle and medical education development was to be his destiny. He started his academic life as a physiologist, joining the University in 1977 as temporary Lecturer in Physiology. In 1979 Geoff was appointed to a Lectureship in and when the Anatomy department was abolished joined the Department of Neurobiology. Geoff became Director of the Faculty of Medicine Computing Centre in 1992 and it was his vision and strategic approach that endowed the medical MBBS degree with its cutting edge approach to embedding learning technologies in the delivery of medical education. In 1996 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer, in 1999 Deputy Director of LTSN Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine and in 2002 Head of School of Medical Education Development before the School changed its name to MSED. In 2004/5 Geoff led a bid for one of HEFCE’s Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Programme and CETL4HealthNE came into existence with Geoff as its Director. He was promoted to Professor of Medical Education Development in 2005 and his contributions to medical education are extensive. Apart from CETL4HealthNE he attracted significant monies for a range of educationally innovative projects funded by HEFCE, DfEE as well as a UK-USA collaboration with University of California to support multidisciplinary clinical education. The other success story which is down to Geoff is the School of Medical Sciences Education Development. When Geoff took the helm in 2002 the School comprised diverse individuals and diverse teams working in isolation. As a result of his wise leadership, the collection of silos has been forged into one cohesive School with its unique range of expertise in education design, multimedia production, communication skills, on-line delivery, staff development and e-learning management . The School now enjoys a high national profile in Engagement and is well-placed to face the challenges presented by changing patterns in training and health education in the NHS and medical education. It is very much as the result of Geoff’s vision that the School’s reputation has been enhanced and Learning Technologies have been fully integrated into both the students’ and the teachers’ experience.

9. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Dr Vanessa Hammond Faculty of Medical Sciences Vanessa first joined the University as a Research Associate in the Department of Medicine in 1983. In 1986,she was appointed Administrative Assistant in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. In 1990 she moved to the then Faculty of Medicine before becoming the Secretary and Head of Administration within the newly renamed Faculty of Medical Sciences in 2002. Vanessa has provided outstanding service to the University over many years. There is a unanimous view from those who have had the pleasure of working directly with her that she combines commitment, organisational skills, integrity and common-sense and we simply came to rely on her. She has both intelligence and wisdom - a rare but vital combination for the important positions she has held. While she will be best known to staff in the Medical Sciences Faculty she has made an important contribution to the work of the whole University. The opinion of the former Provost Dr Peter Baylis when writing in 1986 as a Consultant Physician/Senior Lecturer in Medicine is hard to beat: “She is an intelligent, extremely pleasant and well organised worker, and is capable of independent thought. There is no doubt that she is very conscientious and thorough. Her personality is delightful. She is honest, straightforward and has a good sense of humour. She gets on well with all her colleagues in the Department.” As for the next steps – well The Great British Bake Off probably will have a new contestant following Vanessa’s successful completion of introductory course at the Cocoa Black Chocolate & Pastry School near Edinburgh. Whether she can bake and do Zumba at the same time remains to be seen.

10. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Dr Alun Harris School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Alun Harris has been a tremendous asset to EEE over the last thirty years.  In his time here he has filled many roles, from recruitment and admissions though lab organiser to eventually representing the university in India, based there for the last two years of his career.  Alun will be known for his level headedness – always calm in a crisis – through to his incredible feats of balance. He was the only academic we have ever had who could bend over on one leg and pick up a packet of cornflakes with his teeth!   We all miss him and hope he keeps in touch.

11. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Dr Nick Jepson School of Dental Sciences Nick Jepson is a man of contrasts. At one time he was possibly the world’s most unfashionable man. Paramount were his purple flares worn during the 1980s. But he was renowned for much more than just the wrong trousers. Always a family man and an clever man, he was the natural choice for Academic Lead for Restorative Dentistry –a challenging and multifaceted task. Not only was he responsible for managing hundreds of students and dozens of staff he also had to cope occasionally with aggrieved patients when treatments failed to progress as anticipated. As if that wasn’t enough he made significant research contributions in the field of Prosthodontics. Some say that he is a prophet outside his own land. Indeed, Jepson is a household name to many Scandinavian dentists. In his leaving speech Nick intrigued us with his “two week rule” – “two weeks after you leave everyone forgets you”. Nick is the exception that proves the rule. No one will forget his wise counsel, his friendly countenance and his endless puffing at tabs. We are all grateful he packed the habit in; particularly so the Parky in Leazes Park having fewer dog ends to deal with. Nick continues as one of the “Old Lags” a venerable group of senior and retired dental academics who meet the week before Christmas at Hexham’s Tap and Spile. He can be assured of a good reception there and any time he wants to pop back and see friends and colleagues at the School of Dental Sciences.

12. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Dr Francis Kanu Medical Sciences Education Development First appointed at the University in 1993 • Appointed to a newly created role as Clinical Demonstrator in the Anatomy and Clinical Skills Centre • Made a significant contribution to the teaching of undergraduate medical students over a range of clinical procedures • Has been an active fund-raiser for his homeland, Sierra Leone, especially in the aftermath of its civil war, and intends to spend more time there in his retirement

13. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Dr Hentie Louw School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape First appointed at the University in 1976 • Came to Newcastle from South Africa in 1972 to undertake an MPhil • Appointed Lecturer in 1976 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1985 • A respected scholar, colleague and friend he is the leading expert on historic joinery – and the window in particular!

14. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Mrs Gill Lynch Information Systems and Services During her career, Gill worked in several areas of UCS and ISS and is probably best known for providing the software licencing service, which she created from scratch and ran with great efficiency and dedication. Gill worked very closely with computing officers and academic staff during a period of rapid change in IT to enable the delivery of the software that staff and students need in the most cost effective way possible.  Software licensing was not Gill's only contribution however. Colleagues agreed the contribution she made was a very personal one, just by being herself - a genuinely warm, friendly and caring person famous for her hospitality and ability to make anyone feel welcome.

15. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor David Parker School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences First appointed at the University in 1974 • Appointed Head of Department of Surveying in 1995 • Following restructuring, became Head of the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences in 2002 • His leadership culminated in delivery of the University’s highest quality submission to RAE in 2008 – that of civil engineering

16. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor Elaine Perry Institute for Ageing and Health Elaine has been a key player in dementia research in Newcastle for many years and her work spans that of clinicians and basic scientists – particularly in the area of neurodegenerative diseases and the translational agenda. She has played a key role in the investigation of pathology and therapeutic potential of endogenous neuronal generation in degenerative dementias using cell markers in autopsy tissue in collaboration with Johannes Attems (Newcastle) and Clive Ballard (UCL). Publication of the book ‘New Horizons in the Neuroscience of Consciousness’ (edited by Elaine, Daniel Collerton, Fiona LeBeau and Heather Ashton) has sparked work on two further publications: ‘Changing Consciousness – Psychology and Neuroscience of Altered States’ with Daniel Collerton, Fiona LeBeau and Ursula Voss; and ‘The Neuroscience of visual hallucinations’ with Daniel Collerton and Urs Mosimann. Elaine has a passionate interest in the use of medicinal plants for research (particularly for cognition and mood) and was the Founding Director, with Ed Okello, of the University’s Medicinal Plant Research Group. Elaine is also Curator of the Dilston Physic Garden and provides educational modules for MSc students including a |foundation course in Plant Medicine, providing scholarships for university students.

17. RETIRING MEMBER OF STAFF Professor Tom Strachan Institute of Genetic Medicine First appointed at the University in 1993 • Professor of Human Molecular Genetics since 1993 • Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences UK, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, winner of European Society of Human Genetics Education Award in 2007 • Founder member of the Institute of Human Genetics and strong supporter of its evolution into the Institute of Genetic Medicine

18. THANK YOU AND BEST WISHES TO ALL!