PEOPLE - RETIREMENTS

Friends and colleagues gathered in the Henry Wellcome Building to mark the retirement of Professor Gordon Roberts (right).

'Outstanding Advocate' and distinguished academic hailed at retirement ceremony

Professor Gordon Roberts of the Department of Biochemistry retires

Issued 24 October 2008

Professor Gordon Roberts has retired after 22 years of service to the University of Leicester Members of staff and students past and present recently gathered to mark the occasion of Professor Gordon Roberts’s retirement with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Robert Burgess and Dr Tim Harrison, Head of Biochemistry, paying glowing tributes.

Professor Burgess commended Professor Roberts for his commitment and dedication to numerous activities within the University saying, “At the University, we have come to rely on Gordon; he almost has a permanent seat in the Haldane Room, for which I am very grateful. Gordon is very generous in saying yes and his enthusiasm has not diminished over the years; he is still very much prepared to get involved.“

Gordon, who joined the University in 1986, has made a considerable contribution to furthering Biological Sciences at Leicester. He was Head of the Department of Biochemistry between 2000 -2004 and has been head of the School of Biological Sciences since 2004. However, Gordon has not limited his generosity to the University and has been an active member of a wide range of scientific societies including the British Biophysical Society, the International Council of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems and is President –Elect of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics. Gordon is also currently chair of the Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship selection panel at Harvard University and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Institute of Molecules and Materials at the University of Nijmegen in The Netherlands.

Professor Burgess also recognised the enormous contribution Professor Roberts made to bringing about the creation of the Henry Wellcome Building saying “[He] has produced numerous research proposals over the years, but in my view the best proposal he ever wrote, or co-wrote, was that for the Henry Wellcome Building. He carefully nurtured and planned for the building and is justifiably proud of it. It is a testament to Gordon’s ability to bring a range of people together to get the project done. He has the great mixture of patience; great diplomacy skills and huge quantities of common sense.”

Professor Burgess went on to say “The School is losing one of its best advocates – he really knows how to achieve what is required. He has successfully raised the profile of Biological Sciences across the University, which is no easy feat but he manages to make it look easy.”

Dr Tim Harrison also recognised these attributes adding “What Gordon Roberts epitomises to me is the adage that you should engage your brain before speaking. Every word is carefully considered. Gordon has a way of distilling apparently complex problems, bringing to the fore the real issue of importance.”

Dr Tim Harrison spoke of Professor Roberts’s outstanding academic career. “Over the years he has produced a huge volume of publications relating to his research interests of protein structure and dynamics, enzyme mechanisms, molecular recognition and NMR (a key phenomenon used in structural analysis). But his influence has been much wider than the specific work of his laboratory, since his arrival in 1986 marked a major strategic development in research in structural biology at Leicester. His leadership since then has brought us to the position where this is an internationally recognised strength of the department with 7 members of academic staff and a large supporting infrastructure that is impacting through collaborations on the activities of the wider bioscience community.

Tim Harrison concluded by saying “We have noticed a lightness of spirit in Gordon as the date of his retirement approaches. Although we face his retirement with trepidation, we are pleased that he will still be around to offer advice and support. To Gordon and Hilary, we wish you good health and lots of happiness in your future”

Professor Burgess added “Gordon, I trust you have had a tremendous time at the University and thank you for everything that you have done. I am also pleased that you have agreed to participate further in the work of the University. I hope that you and Hilary have a very long and happy retirement and we shall enjoy seeing you for some time to come.

Thank you very much for being such a splendid colleague, moving the University forward, not just in terms of science but also through the people you have been involved with.”

Professor Gordon Roberts expressed his gratitude to those who had gathered to pay tribute to him, and those who had helped to make his time at Leicester so enjoyable. He named Bill Shaw (former Head of Department) and Maurice Shock (former Vice-Chancellor) as being instrumental in bringing him to Leicester.

Gordon recalled an event early on in his career at Leicester when a research council made a site visit with a view to awarding some funding. During the day the research council made it clear that the University would be expected to contribute £100,000 which caused Gordon’s heart to sink. However, Maurice Shock took the University people out of the meeting and agreed to provide the contribution. Gordon added “The University has continued to look after me - although not always with as little struggle.” He alluded to the progressively nicer labs he had been given, “although”, he added “[my lab] is still not big enough! “

“It really is the people who have made my time here so special: Jean, Marilyn and Liz, who have looked after me; successive heads of department, schools and Deans; the much maligned central administration, who have always been helpful over the years, whilst not always saying yes, they have said no in an extremely friendly manner.

The people I would like to thank most are the students, post-docs and my colleagues within the department and school who have made it such a great pleasure to work here. Thank you all very much.”