Professor Sir Kenneth Calman bows out as Chancellor
Published: 18 June 2020
'Through learning I help others' has been his motto
At the beginning of this week, after more than 14 years in the role, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman retired as Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
At the age of 78, he has achieved more “firsts” than virtually anyone in his generation – in medicine, public service and the third sector. And he also enjoys his fame for being the father of comedian and mental health campaigner Susan Calman.
Sir Kenneth’s motto is “Through learning I help others”: indeed he has a Coat of Arms in the University Chapel with those very words in Latin “Cum Scientia Succurro”. These words, he says, sum up the important things he has done in his life.
His life embodies the values of widening participation before it was a higher education concept. Born in Knightswood on Christmas Day 1941, his beloved father Arthur died when he was nine, leaving his mother and a close extended family to bring up the young Kenneth and his younger brother Norman.
Thanks to a scholarship, he entered the University of Glasgow to study medicine, picking up a science degree on the way. His links to the University go back 61 years and he must surely be unique in having been a student, lecturer, professor, Dean and Chancellor at the same university. He is certainly the only Chancellor to have graduated with a degree while in post: an M.Litt in Scottish Literature and Medicine, under the tutelage of Professor Gerry Carruthers and Professor Kirsteen McCue.
Having come to know members of staff as a student, he asserts: “This made it clear to me just how good the staff are. The range of expertise in the University is amazing. Once I got back into the learning bit of it - as opposed to being the Chancellor – I realised really how good the place is.”
His “firsts” include being the first Professor of Oncology (1974) and being appointed Chief Medical Officer at the Scottish Home and Health Department and subsequently CMO in the Department of Health in London. His medical interests have ranged from cancer treatment to palliative care and to medical ethics (alongside the Moral Philosophy Professor, Robin Downie); and he was an early evangelist for patient-centric treatment.
He was CMO in England during the BSE crisis and the MMR debate. He has been a chair of the WHO’s Executive Committee; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Durham from 1998-2007; and chaired the Commission on Scottish Devolution from 2008-9.
As the world is engulfed in the worst pandemic in modern times, he refrains from commenting on the handling of the Covid-19 crisis but focuses instead on how the University is responding. “Glasgow is doing very well,” he believes.
“It’s got the senior management team and the unions on board. There are joint statements coming out rather than only statements from the Principal – and that’s quite different from other universities’ way of doing it,” says Sir Kenneth.
For all these achievements, he does not stand on ceremony and delights in the fact that the University’s photo unit call him “Chancy”. He has warm words for the janitorial staff, drivers and catering staff, all of whom are “marvellous”. And he is equally complimentary about the academic staff, secretaries and office staff; the Library is, he says, “a special place” while the University Choir is “very special” to him.
If he were to offer some words of wisdom as he demits office, they would be to retain the links between research and teaching – they should not be seen as alternatives but closely related; to look beyond the study of a single discipline; to work even harder at widening participation; and to heed what some students have told him in letters – that they have “not been taught by a black person - why not?”
Life post the Chancellorship will bring more writing (he is already the author of numerous books on medicine, a volume of poetry and an autobiography); more reading; more time with his two grandchildren, son Andrew and daughters Lynn and Susan; and further travel.
Sir Kenneth wishes Dame Katherine Grainger, who succeeds him as Chancellor and is the first woman Chancellor in the University’s history, every happiness in the post.
He, in turn, leaves the post with her heartfelt good wishes.
She said: “It is an enormous privilege to become Chancellor, although following Sir Kenneth is very daunting. He has not only been an outstanding leader for the University but he has fulfilled the role with real warmth, humility and humanity. He will be very much missed but I am sure he will always remain a great supporter, advisor and friend to all of us at the University.”
The Principal, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, said: “I will look back on Ken’s time as Chancellor with great affection and gratitude. He did so much for the University, from the pivotal role he played in royal visits to campus, graduations and honorary graduations, the great many other formal duties he carried out and, of course, his legendary Christmas dinner toast. I should also like to acknowledge the gracious and valuable contribution made by Ken’s wife, Ann, to the hugely important social side of the University. Ann is a wonderful co-host and has been an integral part of so many events on campus.
“Over nearly a decade and a half, Ken made the role his own. Speaking personally, he has long been a source of wise advice and support and I know our friendship will continue in the years ahead.”
• To find out more about the remarkable life of Sir Kenneth, read his autobiography “It Started in a Cupboard. Adventures in Life, Learning and Happiness”. Published by Luath Press Ltd.
First published: 18 June 2020
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