In Memoriam For full obituaries and tributes visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/alumni/in-memoriam


Peter Scullion, former Principal of Pendle College and Safety and Compliance Manager, passed away in May 2024. Peter held a number of roles in the University’s Facilities division, beginning in March 1993 as a Building Superintendent. He went on to become a Building Surveyor in August 1996, Surveyor Operational in 1998, then Project Manager in 2000. Peter was appointed Principal of Pendle College in August 2004 and served two terms in this role until 2010. He went on to become the University’s Safety and Compliance Manager until he took retirement in July 2013.


John Mackness, formerly of the Management Development Division, now known as Professional and Executive Management Learning in the Management School, died on May 13th 2024. John was a man of many parts - teacher, researcher, administrator, philanthropist, and poet. He arrived in LUMS as a graduate student in 1971, with a degree in Mining Engineering from Nottingham University, and obtained a Master’s degree in 1971 and a doctorate in 1975. He spent the following seven years teaching and researching at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis in Brazil. He joined LUMS as a Teaching Fellow in 1986 and was named a Professorial Fellow in 1996, retiring in 2010. In his retirement he continued to present lectures and supervise master’s students in LUMS, ultimately working part-time in the Centre for Training and Development (CETAD) until 2023.


Professor William (Bill) Ritchie, OBE, former Vice-Chancellor, passed away on May 12th 2024. Professor Ritchie was Lancaster’s fourth Vice-Chancellor between 1995–2002, during which time he maintained the University’s high reputation for research and initiated the creation of the Lancaster Environment Centre. He had been a Professor of Physical Geography (1979- 95) and Senior Vice-Principal (1992-95) at Aberdeen, and joint editor of ‘The Environmental Impact of the Wreck of the Braer’ (Scottish Office,1994).


Maurice Slawinski, former Head of the Italian Department, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies (in the then Faculty of Humanities and Arts) and long-time Director of Undergraduate Studies in DELC, died on April 9th 2024. He was an important part of DELC’s forging of an innovative European cultural studies approach to great national acclaim at the turn of the millennium, a time when Lancaster was also an established centre of excellence in Italian Studies.


Graeme Uttley (History, 1982, Pendle) died on March 24th 2024 in Torquay, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Graeme moved to the USA shortly after graduation in 1982. He lived mostly in California, working in project finance for major US contractors, including Boeing, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. He maintained his dedication to Tottenham Hotspur, despite being a few thousand miles away. Graeme retired in San Diego, but in October 2023 he moved back to England, bought a season ticket for Tottenham and was in the process of house hunting in Devon when he was taken ill.


Baroness Ruth Henig, who had an exceptionally full and distinguished career in lecturing and public service, died on February 29th 2024, aged 80. Ruth was appointed as Assistant Lecturer in History at Lancaster in 1968 and awarded a Lancaster PhD in 1978. She retired as Senior Lecturer from Lancaster in 2004 and became one of its first Honorary Fellows two years later. Ruth’s public service spanned local, regional and national affairs. She was made a life peer after retiring from the University and specialised in policing and security bodies, including as President of the Association of Police Authorities and Chair of the Security Industry Authority. In 2015, she also became a Deputy Speaker in the House of Lords.


Dr Alison Wilkinson, (PhD Educational Research, 2022) died after a short illness in February 2024. She made a huge contribution to the creation and development of the Morecambe Bay Curriculum as part of the steering group and as Chair of the Cumbria Schools Working Group.


Victoria Nixon, (Geography, 2023, Bowland) passed away in January 2024. After graduating in July 2023, she went on to work on EcoEats – a project which stemmed from the ECO Challenge competition and delivered food boxes to students’ accommodation on campus to help with cost-of-living in an environmentally sustainable way.


David Carroll, Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing, passed away in January 2024. He joined Lancaster in 1972, where he established a reputation as an excellent academic and teacher of English Literature. He is remembered as an exceptionally able administrator. He was reasonable, balanced, a good listener and he saw both sides of a debate, qualities which ultimately saw him become an effective Head of Department.


Kennett Parrott, former theatre practitioner and instrumental figure in the creation of Lancaster University’s Nuffield Theatre and Workshop, died on January 3rd 2024. He arrived at Bailrigg in 1967, as the newly appointed first director of the Nuffield Studio and Workshop. At the time, it was nothing more than a concept and a large hole in the ground, and his first task was to create the very building which was to be the theatre. He left the University in 1985, having created an institution which has shaped definitively the cultural life of the campus. Ken moved to London and continued to pursue a professional life as a freelance director, working in Bromley and the outdoor summer seasons of the Penny Royal Theatre, Bosham.


2023


Peter Spillard, formerly of the Marketing Department died on December 18th 2023. He came to Lancaster as a Senior Lecturer in the early 70s with a degree in Economics from the University of London and after spending time in industry. His speciality was the formation and running of companies and he published widely in this area. He was Head of Department from 1977-82. From 1996 he went part-time, although his connections with the University continued for some years afterwards.


22 | STEPS 2024


Laurence Canty (Economics, 1972, Lonsdale) passed away on December 17th 2023. After graduating he moved to London where he became a successful bass guitarist, author and tutor. Eventually, he moved back to Lancaster and formed the band ‘Quay Change’ with Fred Binley (LU alumnus and current member of staff) and they regularly played on campus over the last 20 years. He wrote the book ‘Electric Bass Guitar: The Complete Guide’, co-authored ‘What Bass’ and contributed to the music magazine ‘Making Music’ with his column Bass Case. People who found guidance and inspiration through his life include Colin Greenwood - Radiohead, Yolanda Charles - Squeeze, Hans Zimmer, Robbie WIlliams, George Anderson - Shakatak, Dave Swift - Jools Holland Band and Paul Weller. He is survived by his son, Matt, who also graduated from LU in 2011.


Professor Emeritus Alan Blackburn, formerly of the Lancaster Environment Centre, passed away in December 2023. Alan joined the University in August 2000 as Lecturer in Remote Sensing, before being promoted to Senior Lecturer in August 2011, and then to Professor in August 2017. He retired as an Emeritus Professor in December 2022.


Professor Bahram Honary, former researcher in the Computing and Communications Department, died after a short illness on November 30th 2023. He held a number of research roles at Lancaster over many years and he was an internationally-recognised academic and researcher in the field of communication systems. He became a faculty member in 1993 and was instrumental in establishing the Communications Research Centre in 1994, which later became the Communication Systems Department in 1999.


Mike Guilfoyle (Religious Studies and Sociology, 1980, County) passed away on November 19th 2023, having lived with advanced prostate cancer for five years. After completing his degree he undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at St Martin’s College, Lancaster before taking up a teaching post in Suffolk. After a year working as a nursing assistant in Colchester, he moved to London and joined the Inner London Education Authority as an Education Welfare Officer. He completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Work at South Bank University and for twenty years he was a Probation Officer in London. On retiring, he sat as a Magistrate in South East London and worked as a volunteer for the Jesuit Refugee Service in East London. Mike was accorded an Honorary Lifetime Membership of his union for his sterling contributions as a union member and his passionate commitment to promoting the best in probation practice in his articles that he published monthly based on his front-line experiences as a Probation Officer for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.


For full obituaries and tributes visit


www.lancaster.ac.uk/ alumni/in-memoriam


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