The funeral for Professor Philip Reynolds, Lancaster University’s second Vice Chancellor and founding Principal for Furness College, will take place at Lancaster Crematorium tomorrow.
Professor Reynolds, who died earlier this month after a long illness aged 89, served as Head of the University’s Politics Department until 1973, going on to become Vice-Chancellor of the University in January 1980, serving until 1985. He was also Principal of Furness College.
Fiercely dedicated to the success of the University, he helped see it through troubled times, which included a student rent strike and the closure of some departments as it sought to stabilize its financial situation in the face of Tory education cuts. As The Times notes in its obituary, between his appointment and retirement as Vice-Chancellor, the university system as a whole lost about 20 per cent of its annual grant; yet over that period Lancaster achieved a substantial accumulated surplus on revenue account and was able to invest in its emerging research profile. .
Departments cut at the time were Archaeology, European Studies and six languages: Russian, Czech, Serbo-Croat, Arabic, Latin and Greek. Sady,
Professor Reynolds balanced the need for stringency with a love of the finer things in life, helping to build up the Furness College wine cellar and asking that funds raised to commemorate his period of office as VC should fund an annual concert for as long as they lasted.
Professor Reynolds is survived by his wife, Mollie their their children Sue, Anthony and Michael and his four grandchildren.
• The funeral is at 2.00pm on Tuesday, 22nd September at the Lancaster Crematorium. No flowers please, donations to Amnesty International c/o the funeral directors, Preston Ireland Bowker, 20B Queen Street, Lancaster LA1 1RX.