Graham John Hills

Sir Graham Hills (9 April 1926 – 9 February 2014) was a physical chemist, principal of the University of Strathclyde, and a governor of the BBC. He was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex and educated at Westcliff High School for Boys and Birkbeck College, London (BSc 1946, PhD 1950). He was knighted in 1988 for his services to education.

Academic career

Hills served as a professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Southampton for 18 years, until 1980, when he became principal at Strathclyde University, succeeding Samuel Curran who had held the post since 1959. There, his early foci were accommodating cuts to government funding by the University Grants Committee (UK), and dealing with the school's other financial difficulties. He found alternative sources of income, restructured the university (in 1982) to reduce its nine schools to four, and introduced early retirement for faculty members. Hills also changed the academic year to the two-term semester structure.

With the financial challenges stabilized, Hills turned to expanding the university. Purchases were made in 1983 and 1986, respectively, of the Ramshorn Church and Barony Church - the latter restored in 1989 and converted into a graduation hall) - and in 1987 the acquisition of Marland House (a former British Telecom office block, which was renamed for Hills on his retirement). The "student village" on the eastern third of the campus was further expanded from the mid-1980s onwards.

After Sir Graham's retirement, he was the driving force behind the establishment of the University of the Highlands and Islands. He moved to Inverness to be a full-time advisor to the nascent university. In 2004 he coauthored, with Robin Lingard, the book UHI: The Making of a University, a comprehensive account of the university's creation.

Professional posts Imperial College, London: Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, 1949–1962 University of Southampton: Professor of Physical Chemistry, 1962–1980 University of Western Ontario: Visiting professor, 1968 Case Western Reserve University: Visiting professor, 1969 University of Buenos Aires, Visiting professor, 1977 University of Strathclyde, Glasgow: Principal and Vice-Chancellor, 1980–1991

Professional committee work President of International Society of Electrochemistry, 1983–1985 Non-Executive Director: Scottish Post Office Bd, 1986–1999 Member: Council for Science and Technology, 1987–1993 Scottish Development Agency, 1988–1990 Member: Council for National Academic Awards, 1988–1993 Glasgow Action Partnership, 1989–1990 Scottish governor of the BBC, 1989–1994 Design Council, 1989–1990 Society of Chemical Industry, 1991–1993 Scottish Enterprise, 1991–1993 Design and Industries Association, 1992–1996 Chairman of the Council of Quarrier's Homes, 1992–1997 Chairman of the Ness Foundation (formerly Highland Psychiatric Res.), 1998–2003

Professional fellowships Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1990 Fellow of Scottish Vocational Education Council, 1989 Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, 1978 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 1950

Professional honours Hon. DSc: Southampton, 1984; Lisbon, 1994 Hon. ScD: Technical University of Lodz, Poland, 1984 Commander, Polish Order of Merit, 1984 Hon. LLD: Glasgow, 1985; Waterloo, Canada, 1991; Strathclyde, 1991 Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, 1986 Hon. Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, 1988 Hon. Medal, University of Pavia, Italy, 1988 Hon. Fellow of the Polytechnic of East London, 1991 Hon. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 1992 DUniv: Paisley, 1993 Hon. Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers, 1996 Hon. DEd University of Abertay Dundee, 1999

Publications Hills, G. J. Reference Electrodes, 1961 Hills, G. J., Inheritance of Michael Faraday, (University of Southampton), 1964 Hills, G. J., Polarography, (Macmillan), 1964 Hills, G. J. (ed.) Electrochemistry: A Review of Chemical Literature: vols 1-3 (Specialist Periodical Reports), (Royal Society of Chemistry), 1970, 71, 73 Hills, G. J., Transactions of the Faraday Society Articles (Royal Society of Chemistry) (numerous contributions on electrochemistry Hills, Graham & Lingard, Robin, UHI: The Making of a University, (Dunedin Academic Press), 2004

Honors Honorary degree, University of Pavia, 1988

Obituaries A list of obituaries available online and accessed 3/8/2015: The Royal Society The Scotsman. A photograph of Sir Graham is given here The Daily Telegraph. A photograph is also given here The Independent. This obituary was written by Tam Dalyell), with photograph The Herald. This is a letter written to the newspaper The Times Higher Education Supplement The Royal Society of Chemistry The Strathclyde Telegraph. This is the university student newspaper