In memory of Dr Ruth Thompson (1953 – 2016)
We have received the very sad news that Birkbeck’s Deputy Chair of Governors, Dr Ruth Thompson, has died of cancer.
We have received the very sad news that Birkbeck's Deputy Chair of Governors, Dr Ruth Thompson, has died of cancer.
Ruth was appointed as an independent Governor in 2009 after she retired as Director-General for Higher Education in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. A career civil servant, she also worked in senior roles in the Department of Trade and Industry, HM Treasury and the Department of Social Security.
She was a member of the Higher Education Policy Institute and in 2014 co-chaired an inquiry for the Higher Education Commission on the future financial sustainability of Higher Education.
At Birkbeck, Ruth was a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and the Remuneration Committee and took on the Deputy Chair role in 2014. She led the Review of Governor Effectiveness in 2013 and co-chaired the Review of the Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics in 2015.
"Ruth made an enormous contribution to Birkbeck in her time as a Governor, combining her tremendous intelligence and analytical skills with good humour", said Professor David Latchman CBE, Master of Birkbeck.
"I hope that knowledge of the enormous respect in which she was held at the College will be of some comfort to her friends and family at this sad time".