1943 – 2025 

We report with sadness the death of Angela Brew, an outstanding figure in academic development, student learning and academic practice. Angela was remembered with great affection and respect by her Australian colleagues Peter Kandlbinder, Lilia Mantai and Denise Wood in their tribute to her on the HERDSA website on 7 May 2025, ‘Fighting for a revolution in student learning’. Angela had been based in Australia for many years but made many visits to the UK and was a frequent attender at SRHE’s conferences, remembered by all as a delightful colleague with unrivalled knowledge, experience and insight into student learning, and a relentless determination to make things better for students.

1954 – 2025

We report with sadness the death of Professor Claire Callender OBE on 15 April 2025. Claire held joint professorships at UCL Institute of Education and Birkbeck, University of London and her outstanding academic career was well described in Simon Marginson’s splendid obituary for HEPI on 18 April 2025.

Claire’s research gave her an unrivalled understanding of the consequences for students of higher education funding methods, and she had a rare ability to communicate clearly with both the academic community and with policymakers, reflecting her experience of working in government as well as in academe. Her work showed her consistent concern for the fortunes of part-time students.

As Simon Marginson wrote: “Her heart might have been with Birkbeck, and there her policy focus on part-time, adult and evening students had its natural home.” As Deputy Director in the ESRC Centre for Global Higher Education she played a major part in promoting research into higher education worldwide, being recognised and respected not only for her exceptional research expertise but also for her kind consideration and warm support for colleagues in many countries.

Claire was an active member of SRHE as a member of the Research and Development Committee, serving on the Editorial Board of Studies in Higher Education, giving wise advice to Council on policy issues, and elected as an SRHE Fellow in 2011.

In the words of Simon’s obituary: “She touched the lives of many as a scholar, colleague and mentor; played a central role in policy and public discussion for three decades; and had much respect and friendship in the sector.”

Our thanks to Professor Rob Cuthbert, SRHE News Editor for the above tribute. 

Former SRHE Trustee Professor Emily F. Henderson has also written a personal reflection on the Conference Inference blogspace entitled Fleeting encounters with a formidable scholar – remembering Claire Callender

1954 – 2009

Burton “Bob” Clark earned his Ph.D. in Sociology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1954. Clark was the first incumbent of the Allan M. Cartter Professorship and served in that post until his formal retirement as Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Sociology, UCLA. During his career, he taught at five American research universities in departments of sociology and graduate schools of education: Stanford University (Sociology, 1953-1956); Harvard University (Education, 1956-1958); UC Berkeley (Education, 1958-1966); Yale University (Sociology, 1966-1980); and UCLA (Education, 1980-1991). Clark was one of the first sociologists to study higher education from a global perspective. He became a Distinguished Member of the European Association for Institutional Research in 1997. The following year he received the Comenius Medal from UNESCO and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from the universities of Strathclyde (1998) and Turku (2000).

1923 – 2018

Lewis Richard Benjamin Elton was a German-born British physicist and researcher into education, specialising in higher education.

He was Professor of Physics at Battersea College of Technology from 1964 until 1970. He founded the Institute of Educational Technology in 1967, the first of its kind. He became Professor of Higher Education in 1970, a post he held until 1988.

In 1994 he was appointed Professor of Higher Education at University College London, where he founded the Higher Education Research and Development Unit (now the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching). He became an honorary professor there in 2003. He was appointed Visiting Professor of Higher Education at Manchester University in August 2005.

Read a full tribute to Lewis via https://srheblog.com/tag/lewis-elton/ 

1938 – 2025

Professor Mary Henkel (Brunel University) sadly passed away on 1st February 2025 after a brief illness. Mary was made a fellow of the SRHE in 1998, and was a lifelong supporter and friend to the Society.

Mary was part of the generation of colleagues that established the field of higher education studies in Europe and one of the first female academics to become a University Professor specialized in our field. She was also a founding member of CHER and a very important contributor to the intellectual development of our community, having been an active member until recently and a member of the Board.

Mary grew up in Blackheath with her parents and a brother. After school she entered Oxford in the late 1950s and studied classics. She did not only distinguish herself academically but also played on the college hockey team and was an excellent tennis player. After graduating she was a teacher at a comprehensive school. She then became a social worker and taught social work at London School of Economics. In the 1970s, when Mary Henkel was studying for a master’s degree at Brunel University she met Maurice Kogan, which started a long-lasting working relationship and a close friendship with him and his wife, Ulla. After finishing her degree, Mary Henkel got a position at Brunel as a Lecturer and she was later promoted to Reader and then to full Professor.

For the last quarter century Mary Henkel distinguished herself as a leading higher education scholar. She authored or edited thirteen books. Her contributions to the field span several topics such as: academic work, governance, higher education and preparation for work, or the use of performance indicators. In addition to those topics, she has written on learning and teaching in social work and on evaluation and research policy. An overarching interest throughout her research has been the values and identities of academics and professionals and how they are affected by policies, reforms and managerial tools.

Mary Henkel was a gifted scholar and through her excellent work, intellectual openness and kindness she has earned a well-deserved scholarly reputation and the gratitude of numerous friends that will deeply miss her.

With thanks from SRHE to CHER members Alberto Amaral and Pedro Teixeira for writing the above tribute which we have edited as above. 

1949 – 2022

Professor John  Richardson enjoyed a distinguished career, first in cognitive psychology and lately as a student-centred higher education researcher. He was a leading contributor to the development of the UK’s National Student Survey and a greater understanding of students from traditionally underrepresented groups.

John was the Associate Editor for the SRHE Journal Studies in Higher Education from 2012 – 2020. A highly respected scholar he also authored several titles for the SRHE & Open University press, and later in the SRHE book series.

Read a tribute to John by Bart Rienties at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jun/03/john-richardson-obituary

Ted Tapper was longstanding supporter of the Society for Research into Higher Education, known not only for his influential writings but also his generous support for so many colleagues in the field.

Ted Tapper spent most of his academic career at the University of Sussex (1968-2003). He was an Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of Sussex, and also held a research professorship at the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (OxCheps) which is based at New College, Oxford. At Sussex he was a member of the Department of International Relations and Politics, completing his career as departmental chair. He was also Series Editor for the Routledge comparative series, ‘International Studies in Higher Education’ alongside David Palfreyman and Scott Thomas (Claremont Graduate University, California).

A fuller tribute to Ted can be found at: https://srhe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ted-Tapper.pdf Originally published in SRHE News.

1949 – 2015

Professor Sir David John Watson was a British academic and educationalist. He was Director of Brighton Polytechnic from 1990 to 1992 and Vice-Chancellor of its successor the University of Brighton from 1992 to 2005. In 2005 he was appointed Professor of Higher Education Management at the Institute of Education and was Course Director of the Institute’s MBA in Higher Education Management. Between 2010 and 2015 he was Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford. David was a committed supporter of the work of the Society for Research into Higher Education and the Society’s President from 2005 to 2012.

Read a Tribute to David written by Paul Temple via https://srheblog.com/2015/05/05/david-watson-1949-2015-a-tribute/#more-302 and https://srheblog.com/2015/02/10/professor-david-watson-1949-2015/

1935 – 2021 

Gareth Williams began his career at St John’s College, Cambridge where he read economics. On graduation he was appointed to a research post at the Agricultural Economics Research Unit at Oxford. From there he moved on to the economics of education, in a post in OECD working on econometric models of education, including the application of forecasting models.

In 1968 he became Joint Director of the Higher Education Research Unit, which had transferred to LSE. Five years later at the age of 37 he was appointed at Lancaster as Professor of Educational Planning and Director of the Institute for Research and Development in Post Compulsory Education. In 1984 he accepted an invitation to join the Institute of Education (now part of UCL) as Professor of Educational Administration where he established the Centre for Higher Education Studies (CHES) which became a leading centre for research and policy studies in the field. On his retirement Ron Barnett, Paul Temple and Peter Scott edited a festschrift, Valuing Higher Education (UCL Institute of Education Press 2016) which brought together contributions from academic colleagues from around the world stimulated by his work.

Read a full tribute to Gareth via: https://srheblog.com/2021/09/28/professor-gareth-williams-his-contribution-to-british-higher-education/

1923 – 2013

Renate Simpson, graduate of the London School of Economics, authored published research on postgraduate education since the 1960s, first with Ernest Rudd in the Unit for Research into Higher Education at the University of Essex, and then in Cuba and the Philippines. The Society for Research into Higher Education published her monograph How the PhD came to Britain in 1983, and she provided the historical section of the Winfield Report The Social Science PhD in 1987.

Renate was born in Berlin in 1923, and was exiled to London with her mother and siblings in 1934.

Fuller accounts of Renate’s life and achievements can be found at:

http://www.sisters.org.uk/Renate%20Simpson%20biography.pdf

 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/02/renate-simpson-obituary

1948-2022

Professor and Foundation Director of the LH Martin Institute, Lynn was previously Professor and Director of the Centre for Higher Education Management and Policy at the University of New England. Having completed a PhD in the sociology of higher education at the University of Cambridge, he had almost three decades experience researching higher education policy issues.

Lynn was the Editor-in-Chief for SRHE journal Studies in Higher Education from 2012 – 2020. He was on the editorial board of several international journals and book series and worked with such international agencies as UNESCO and the OECD.

Read a full tribute to Lynn via https://srhe.ac.uk/in-memoriam-vincent-lynn-meek/