News and events

Deputy Vice-Chancellor retires

Published 1 April 2010

Tributes have been paid to the university's Deputy Vice-Chancellor David House, who retires on 30 April after 37 years with the institution.

David, 64, was appointed assistant director (resources) in 1988 and deputy director in 1991, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2002.

Vice-Chancellor Julian Crampton said: "David's guiding hand, wise counsel, and expert knowledge have made a tremendous contribution to the growth and stature of this institution – there is no doubt that he has played a major role in the success of the University of Brighton.

"His influence has reached across the country through his association with the Joint Information Systems Committee and through the many other organisations and individuals who regularly seek out the advice of Brighton on how to manage a complex university successfully."

Lord Mogg, chairman of the university's Board of Governors, said: "Quite where the university would be without David's profound contribution to its growth and development is anyone's guess.

"It is not only the years and years that David has been here: it is far more his detailed understanding of a working institution and its philosophical approach; his grasp of the changing opportunities as political and educational approaches evolve, mature and sometimes go into reverse; and his appreciation of the people who work and have worked here over the years. We all owe him an immeasurable debt.

"And none more so than the Board of Governors. The value of David's gentle – and sometimes more forthright in my own case – advice and support to successive chairmen should never be underestimated. On behalf of Governors past and present therefore there goes a huge vote of thanks to him."

Another tribute came from Professor Sir David Watson, Director and Vice-Chancellor of Brighton Polytechnic and the University of Brighton between 1990 and 2005, who from October 2010 will be Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford.

He said: "When the history of the University of Brighton is finally written (as I confidently predict it will be in the next half-century) the author will discover one figure of immense but understated influence on what it has become. That will be David House. He worked with Geoffrey Hall to make it one of the most respected Polytechnics in the system of Public Sector Higher Education. He worked with me from 1990, and with Julian Crampton from 2005, to cement its place as a university to be reckoned with, locally, nationally and internationally.

"Throughout this key period of the university's history David has been the guardian of what it is sensible to strive for, what is possible, and above all of what is right. He has been the classical 'officer of last resort', never (even when it has been very tempting) giving up or letting go of even the most intractable issue.

"He has also had the priceless quality of a senior manager, of being able to take pleasure and pride in what every other member of the university is able to achieve. For David, even on the darkest days, it has always been fun, and it has always been worthwhile.

"Personally, I couldn't have hoped for a better deputy: loyal, imaginative, supportive, ready to tell me (but nobody else) on those many occasions how wrong many of my initial judgments were, and never afraid to follow through on difficult decisions. I owe him an enormous debt, but so too, I suggest, do all of the other members of the University of Brighton, past, present and future."