The University is saddened to learn of the passing of Emeritus Professor David Parsons.
The tribute below is by Dr B.A.Austin:
Emeritus Professor J.D. (David) Parsons died peacefully, in Formby, on 24th August 2026. He was 91. He had served the University of Liverpool with distinction between his appointment to a Chair in Electrical Engineering in 1982 and his retirement, having served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, in 1998.
David Parsons was a man of the highest integrity who was not only highly regarded as a friend and colleague by all who had the privilege of working alongside him but he also fostered a large group of research students whose subsequent careers bore testimony to his erudition and great humanity.
Never one to shirk responsibility, Professor Parsons served two terms as Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics as well as being Dean of Engineering and, then, he was appointed a Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University where, again, he served two terms between 1990 and 1996.
In addition, he was an active member of the professional bodies that represented engineers in the fields of electronic and radio engineering and, again, his services were called upon by both the Councils of the Institution of Electronics and Radio Engineers and the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
David Parsons was born in Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire where he was educated at the local grammar school. His National Service was in the RAF, commencing in 1954, and it was while being trained in radio communications and radar that his interest in electronics was fired up.
In 1956 he registered to read electrical engineering at University College, Cardiff (now Cardiff University) where he graduated magna cum laude three years later. Following a brief spell in industry he became an academic at The Polytechnic, Regent Street, London and while there he completed a master’s degree at King’s College, London University. In years to come he would receive the D.Sc(Eng.) degree from the University of London.
In 1969 he was appointed to a lectureship at the University of Birmingham and it was there, while working in an internationally recognised research group, that his lifelong interest in mobile radio communications was stimulated and he was soon to become one of the pioneers in the development of cellular radio systems that have since revolutionised the world of personal communications in the form of the ubiquitous mobile phone. After progressing through the academic ranks at Birmingham to become Reader in Radio Communications in 1982, he was then appointed to a Chair at Liverpool later that same year.
Over the period of his tenureship in Liverpool, the mobile communications field flourished in the Department with David Parsons’ research group making significant contributions to the state-of-the art. Perhaps most notable was his publication, in 1992, of what was undoubtedly one of the definitive books on the subject, “The Mobile Radio Propagation Channel” soon to be followed by a second edition nine years later.
David Parsons was a wonderful servant of the University, a pioneer in his field of research and an admirable human being.
The funeral service will be held on Friday 18th September 2026 at 11:30 am at West Lancs. Crem Chapel, Pippin Street, Burscough.
All are welcome.