Today (Friday 30 April), the Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell updated all staff, in his regular View from the VC email. You can read the full View from the VC below.
I am on holiday this week but I couldn’t let the opportunity pass to say a very warm farewell to our Provost Saul Becker, who is retiring this week.
I’ve known Saul for around eight or nine years, since he was at Nottingham but really got to know him when he moved to Birmingham as PVC and Head of the College of Social Sciences.
In that time, I’ve come to admire a number of qualities he brings to his roles – in particular his incredible work ethic and his amazing capacity to develop followership. So, when we advertised for the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (now Provost) role, I was delighted when Saul applied.
Nearly four years later, Saul leaves having made a real difference. Most notably, he was the chief architect of our Sussex 2025 vision. In my time, I’ve read a lot of university strategies and, to be honest, there’s often little to distinguish them. Ours stands out as best in class: ours is defined by values that both embody and challenge the University. It is creating real change and is starting to be emulated by our competitors.
Saul is not just a university leader, of course, he is one of those rare things: a genuine world-leader in his field. He has been, first and foremost, someone who is viscerally committed to understanding, reporting and improving the lives of young carers. As most of you will know, Saul’s formative years in Blackpool involved substantial caring responsibilities. As a deeply humane person, he decided early on to use his experiences to help others and trained as a social worker. However, he came to feel that whilst he was making a difference to those people in his case load, the problems he encountered were structural and so he studied for a PhD, then held his first academic position at Loughborough where he struck up a life-long friendship with the titan of social policy, Ruth Lister.
In a career that has now seen at least 18 books and 330 papers, Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences, and being Chair of the Social Policy Association, Saul is not only acknowledged as the world’s leading expert on young carers, but he has genuinely made a difference to public policy and has advised charities and lawmakers around the world.
Saul, you’ve touched the University in a profound way during your time with us. Your humanity, energy, enthusiasm and humour have both earned the respect of the University and calmed and reduced tensions. You will be much missed by us all and we very much hope you stay in touch.
I hope you all enjoy the bank holiday weekend.
With best wishes,
Adam