In Memoriam 2026


Emeritus Orator Oliver Westall, formerly a member of the Economics Department, passed away in April 2026. His career at Lancaster began only two years after the opening of the Bailrigg campus. Appointed as a lecturer in Economics and Economic History after his graduation from the LSE in 1969, Oliver’s wider contribution over the following decades was to be to the enhancement of the young university’s reputation through regional, national and international engagements.


Baz Kershaw, a pioneer in the field of theatre and performance studies who taught at Lancaster from 1988 to 1998, died on the 31st of March 2026. He joined the small but rapidly expanding Department of Theatre Studies at Lancaster University in 1988 as a lecturer but was rapidly promoted to Senior Lecturer and finally became the first Professor of Theatre Studies from 1995. From 1991, Baz also served as the Chair of the School of Creative Arts, a forerunner of the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts and now the School of Arts.


Christopher Terence John Dodson (Kit), formerly of the Department of Mathematics, died on the 28th of March 2026. He came to Lancaster as a lecturer in Mathematics in 1969 and stayed until 1989, becoming Head of the Department of Mathematics for his final five years. He then took up a Senior Research Chair at the University of Toronto, returning to the UK in 1996 to a Chair in Pure Mathematics at the University of Manchester.


Alan Dick, formerly a member of the Engineering Department and a member of the University Estates Committee passed away in March 2026. He had a long association with the University starting with the Engineering Department in the mid 1970’s. Alan’s initial involvement with the University drew primarily on consultancy of staff and he also served for several years on the Estates Committee and lectured on Engineering Management.


Dr Jane Howarth passed away in 2026. She joined the University in its early years and was employed from October 1972 as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy.


22 | STEPS 2026


In 1998 she gained promotion to a senior lecturer and then also served as a tutor for the Open Studies Programme. Jane retired in 2000 and then took up an Emeritus role at the University.


Dr Fotios Katsigiannis, formerly of the Department of Management Science, died on the 7th of March 2026. Fotis, as everyone knew him, was first an MRes student at Lancaster and then a PhD student and Post-Doctoral Researcher, as part of the OR-MASTER project delivery team. From October 2021 to September 2022, he worked as Senior Research Associate,


Professor Michael Mullett died on the 10th of February 2026 after a long illness. Austin Woolrych, recruiting staff for his new Department of History at Lancaster, appointed Michael as Lecturer in1968 straight from Cambridge. He remained in post for the next forty years, taking a Lancaster doctorate, becoming Professor of Cultural and Religious Studies in 2001, and Emeritus Professor after retirement in 2008.


Dr Gareth Ridall, formerly of the School of Mathematical Sciences, passed away on the 26th of January 2026. He joined the department in August 2007 after having studied as a PhD student at Queensland University of Technology from where he graduated in 2005. Throughout his academic career at Lancaster, he contributed to the development of the MSc in Statistics and to undergraduate courses and was a strong proponent of formative assessment.


Dr Allan Chapman, (History, 1972, Fylde) died on the 21st of January 2026 aged 79. Described as “extraordinarily erudite” and an “indomitable spirit”, Dr Chapman was a historian with a particular interest in scientific biography and astronomy. He regularly appeared on the long-running BBC programme ‘The Sky at Night’ and fronted several documentaries as a television presenter. He was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a full obituary can be read on the Royal Astronomical Society’s website. He received an Alumni Award from Lancaster in 2014.


Dr Nigel Rogers, formerly of the Department of Chemistry, died on the 16th of January 2026. Nigel joined Lancaster University in 1965, and he was a committed member of Cartmel College. Nigel’s activities during his time at university were by no means confined just to teaching and research and his most notable additional contributions were to the development of exchange programmes with overseas universities. Following the closure of the Department of Chemistry in 1990, he joined External Relations and finally retired in 1997.


Professor John Thorley, Principal of Charlotte Mason College and Dean of Teacher Education and Training, died on the 12th of January 2026 at his home in Milnthorpe, aged 85. In 1983 he was appointed as Principal of Charlotte Mason College in Ambleside, a position he held until 1994, initially while the college was affiliated with Lancaster and then when it was fully integrated with the University. From 2006 he taught in the History Department at Lancaster.


Philip Wallace, a Teaching Fellow in Accounting and Finance, died on the 2nd of January 2026 following a short illness. Philip joined the University in September 2011 and had been a member of staff in Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) for almost 15 years. Colleagues say that he imbued the LUMS value of collegiality and was a very dedicated and highly regarded teacher by the students he taught.


Dr Jane McChrystal (French & Italian Studies, 1980, Cartmel) died in January 2026 aged 67, after a short illness. She loved her time at Lancaster and found its modern approach inspirational. Following university, she went on to have a varied career, first as a chartered librarian, then as a registered psychotherapeutic counsellor and independent trainer and lecturer, obtaining a Master’s and PhD in Psychology along the way. Jane’s intellectual passion and enquiring mind was persistent and she was passionate about equality for women.


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