It is with great sadness that we inform staff and students of the passing of Mike Bernard Collins, a former Professor of Oceanography in Ocean and Earth Sciences at the National Oceanography Centre.
Mike passed away on 12 July and his funeral was held at Southampton Crematorium on 26 July.
Professor Steve Roberts, Head of Ocean and Earth Science said:
“Professor Mike Collins was an internationally recognised leader in the field of Oceanography and Sediment Dynamics. Yet, despite his many achievements and awards, Mike remained a kind and gentle man who inspired his students and colleagues, many of whom have risen to positions of influence throughout the world.”
Mike was born in Amersham on 20 July, 1944 but spent most of his early years in Hampstead, North London. The sporting son of an adoring mother, he developed a life-long love for rugby, a game he played until graduating from Brighton Polytechnic in Civil Engineering in 1967. This was a springboard to his second passion, that of sediment transport and dynamics, which he studied to PhD in the rivers of Sussex.
A chance meeting with his mentor, Professor Graham Evans, brought him to Imperial College in 1970 where he worked on the movement of silt in the Wash, a subject that occupied his interests throughout his career. He moved to the Department of Oceanography, Swansea University in 1973 where he rose in prominence to become Department Head, whilst also cultivating a keen interest in Welsh rugby that he avidly followed with his welsh-born son Christopher.
He subsequently moved to the University of Southampton in 1987 and quickly rose to Professor and Head of Oceanography and was influential in the amalgamation of the Departments of Geology and Oceanography into the present world-leading, Academic Unit of Ocean and Earth Science.
Mike leaves behind his wife Janice, their two much-adored children, two grand-children and a host of friends who will always keep his memory and legacy vibrant and who will always be in his deepest debt.
Our thoughts go out to his family and close friends at this sad time.
