Sir Gordon Conway
L-R: Vice-Chancellors Lord (Asa) Briggs, Sir Denys Wilkinson, Sir Leslie Fielding, Professor Gordon Conway, Professor Alasdair Smith and Professor Michael Farthing, with a portrait of Sussex's seven VCs
Sir Gordon Conway, who was the University’s Vice-Chancellor between 1992 and 1998, has died.
Joining Sussex in 1992, he played a foundational role in the establishment of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and was instrumental in the appointment of one of the University's most ardent supporters, Lord Attenborough, to the role of Chancellor.
He described his vision for the University as wanting to do “new and exciting things” and presided over a large period of growth in student enrollment whilst also instigating a major reform of the administration.
During his tenure he personally chaired every appointment and promotion committee, hiring 18 professors and promoting 43 internally - significantly increasing the proportion of women academics.
As Chair of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), he championed the sustainable management of agricultural land. An ecologist with a special interest in agricultural pest control and biotechnology, Sir Gordon was able to apply his knowledge for the benefit of the global South, having worked extensively in Borneo, Indonesia, Thailand and later in Sub-Saharan Africa. He co-authored the highly influential IDS discussion paper Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century.
Sir Gordon had trained in agricultural ecology, attending the University of Wales (Bangor), the University of Cambridge and the University of the West Indies (Trinidad) before completing a PhD at the University of California (Davis).
He held a wide range of research interests, publishing books on agriculture and food security as well as the global food crisis. In parallel to his scientific and policy work, in the 1990s he chaired the Runnymede Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia.
In 2002, the University conferred on him the title of Emeritus Professor of Environmental Science, and in 2004 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. During his lifetime, Sir Gordon was awarded five honorary degrees and fellowships – including being made a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George in 2005.
Pioneering the ‘sustainable intensification’ of agriculture, Sir Gordon worked as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department for International Development, and headed the Agriculture for Impact initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. His work to supply insecticide-treated bed nets was a significant factor in reducing infant mortality in East Africa.
He was the first non-American to lead the Rockefeller Foundation, where he managed an endowment of nearly $3 billion. He also served as President of the Royal Geographical Society from 2004 to 2009 and Senior Advisor to the Malabo-Montpellier Panel of agriculture and food security experts.
After leaving Sussex Sir Gordon played an important role in the Sussex community by chairing the Suss-Ex Club, a close-knit association of former staff members.
A funeral for Sir Gordon will be held on Thursday 7 September at 11:30am in the Meeting House. This will be an opportunity for those who knew and worked with Sir Gordon to pay their respects. A public memorial service will follow in the months ahead, which will be open to the broader university community.
See the Institute of Development Studies' obituary for Sir Gordon.
Watch Sir Gordon discuss efforts to end world hunger (2012)