Former Director of Student Administration and Support, Dr Gary Walker, sadly passed away aged 74 on Monday, 9 October.
Head of Student Administration, Phil Leonard, worked with Gary towards the end of his career and pays tribute:
Gary began his long association with the University in 1961 when he registered as an undergraduate student in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He went on to graduate with a PhD in Applied Mathematics in 1969 before continuing to work within the Department as a Lecturer.
His career took him into central administration where he held Faculty roles before becoming Director of Student Administration and Support until his retirement in 2007, though he continued to work in consultative roles for the Academic Secretary’s Office and for the Management School in the years following this.
A true champion of students, Gary served on the Board of Trustees of the Liverpool Guild of Students for eight years from 2008-2016 and held key roles such as Chair of the Guild’s Resources and Audit Committee during this time.
Gary was a strong believer in the communal power of sport and played a key role in the establishment of the increasingly popular staff golf days held at Formby and the Royal Liverpool Golf Clubs. He was also the 10th – and second longest serving – President of the University’s Athletics Union from 1992 to 2017.
Gary was well-known and well-liked across the University and will be hugely missed by all who knew him. His funeral will be taking place at 1.00pm on Wednesday, 18 October at St Michael’s Church, Dowhills Road, Blundellsands, L23 8SP.
Gary’s family have asked for any donations to be made to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and a collection has been started in Student Administration and Support. Any staff wishing to donate, should please visit Hilary Dixon in the Student Administration Office on the first floor of the Foundation Building.
Gary was a compassionate and generous collegial colleague who always made time to talk to staff and listen in spite of the many demands on his time.
One additional aspect of Gary’s many activities is his close involvement with the Mathematics Department’s outreach to schools, through Mathematical Education on Merseyside http://www.mathsmerseyside.org.uk/
In particular this was with an amazing competition “Radio Challenge” hosted and broadcast by Radio City from 1978 to 1985 and with a well-known Liverpool DJ as quizmaster each year. The “show” travelled to local schools where teams from two schools competed each week in rounds of maths questions for a trophy at the end of that year’s series. Gary was the scorekeeper and also among the small group of question-setters.