It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor Kate Marsh, from the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, who passed away on Tuesday, 9 April after a long illness.
Kate’s colleagues have written the following tributes.
Professor Charles Forsdick from the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, said: “Kate was one of the most creative, dynamic and original French studies scholars of her generation. Her research and teaching were characterized by an often breathtakingly broad field of reference, ranging across French literature and culture from the eighteenth century to the present day, drawing skilfully on history, politics, literature and wider cultural production.
“In the increasingly focused and pressurized context of contemporary academia, Kate was a rare example of a colleague capable of an exceptional contribution across all the areas of her activity, without any apparent privileging of one to the detriment of others: she was an outstandingly bold, original and productive researcher and critic, whose work will continue to influence French colonial historiography and Francophone postcolonial studies for years to come; she was a dedicated and highly effective teacher, supervisor and mentor – quietly continuing to contact and encourage many students even after they had left the university; she understood that academic administration was a duty whose bureaucratic aspects should always be subsidiary to its intellectual, collegial and pastoral functions; and she was a passionate advocate for the disciplines with which she was engaged, reflecting this commitment in her tireless leadership of a subject association, in her meticulous (and often thankless) editorial activity and in her willingness to support colleagues both nationally and internationally through reviews, external examining and similar activity.
“We deeply mourn Kate’s cruelly premature death but will not allow this to detract from our own commitment to the standards of integrity, collegiality and rigorous intellectual curiosity of which, to the very end of her life, she was such an exemplary advocate.”
Professor David Joss from the Department of Physics, said: “Kate was an excellent friend and colleague with too many admirable qualities to be described in a few lines. Kate and I worked together as postgraduate research leads for our respective faculties where I witnessed her enormous contributions to enhancing the experience of postgraduate students across the University. She had an effortless ability to balance the utmost professionalism with a ready wit and tremendous sense of fun.
“Kate always tackled challenges with determination and found resolutions with the highest degree of clarity and common sense. It was also apparent from our early meetings, and amply demonstrated thereafter, that Kate possessed an innate integrity and a robust sense of fairness.
“While many of us will continue to cherish joyful memories of Kate, it is with great sadness that we bid a premature farewell to an erudite, funny, interesting, kind, musical, wise and courageous friend.”
Professor Graham Kemp from the Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, said: “Kate and I worked together for several years in postgraduate research, for a while as the academic leads for our two faculties, and then as part of the Liverpool Doctoral College team. Kate was a wonderful colleague, and with her exceptional clarity, courage and wisdom she made a huge contribution to postgraduate research in her faculty and the university. My Doctoral College role ended last summer, but we kept in touch. One of the pleasures of academic life is that a medic and a French historian can find a lot to talk about, and so I’ll remember her best for her conversation: perceptive, irreverent, illuminating and funny. The urge to email her about something interesting or absurd will eventually pass, but (if I can put it this way) Kate’s voice will stay with me.”
Bruce Gibson from the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, said: “I first met Kate at the beginning of 2015 when she became Director of Postgraduate Research for the Faculty of HSS. Over what is only four years since then, I have worked with Kate as Deputy Director of PG Research in our Faculty. This has given me the chance to see how fearlessly she defended and promoted the interests of postgraduate students in the Faculty and the University, how well she supported individuals who were in difficulties, and how she delighted in the successes of those starting out as researchers. That delight in the research of others was very characteristic of her, and it mirrored her inspiring commitment to her own subject which endured, formidable and cheerful, in spite of the enormous workload that fell to Kate in her various roles.
“I recall a meeting we had about a year ago which began as a discussion on various PGR matters, but changed into a wonderful opportunity to hear Kate talk to me in detail about her current research and her plans for her Leverhulme project (which had just been awarded). That occasion was an extraordinary privilege, especially when the general pressures of academic life make it difficult even for those working in the same subject to take the opportunity to find out what others are doing.
“When I think back on conversations with Kate over these four years, or the several hundred emails we exchanged (and even in email on unpromising topics she had a splendid style and turn of phrase, often with a choice word or two in French!), I am again and again struck by her kindness, understanding and courtesy, her wisdom and generous advice, and her peerless integrity. I am deeply grateful to have known Kate as a colleague and friend.”
To read Professor Forsdick’s tribute in full, please visit: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/modern-languages-and-cultures/staff/kate-marsh-tribute/