Fred Holliday

Sir Frederick George Thomas Holliday, (22 September 1935 – 5 September 2016) was a British marine biologist, academic, academic administrator, and businessman. He was Acting Principal of the University of Stirling from 1973 to 1975, Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University from 1980 to 1990, and Chair of Northumbrian Water from 1993 to 2006.

Early life and education Holliday was born on 22 September 1935 on a council estate in Rubery, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. His father, Alfred Holliday, was a technologist at a glass factory that was involved in developing bulletproof glass for the British military during World War II, and his mother, Margaret Holliday, was a cook. He was educated at Bromsgrove County High School, then a grammar school in Bromsgrove. His interest in science was developed as a child: he would "prick the fingers of his sister, Myrtle, and examine her blood under his microscope kit", and his mother once found a "decomposing snake under his bed".

Later life At the age of 75, Holliday developed Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. He had developed cancer twice in his last few years.

Holliday died on 5 September 2016, a few weeks short of his 81st birthday, at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He had had a stroke.

Personal life Holliday met his wife Philippa when they both worked at the Marine Research Laboratory in Scotland.

Honours In 1971, Holliday was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). On 23 May 1985, he was made a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) to the Lord Lieutenant of Durham. In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, and therefore granted the title sir, in recognition of his service as Vice-Chancellor and Warden of the University of Durham. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on 25 July 1990.