It is with great sadness we inform you that former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Roy Farrar, passed away on Monday 23 July.
Roy Farrar joined Mechanical Engineering at the University in 1965. He was promoted from senior lecturer to professor in 1983, becoming Head of Mechanical Engineering, Deputy Dean and then Dean of Engineering and Applied Science (1989-1992) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (1992-1999).
As DVC he had several roles related to teaching and learning, including Chair of the Teaching and Learning Strategy Committee and was heavily involved in the formation of the University of Chichester. He finished his term as DVC in September 1999 and in 2000 he was awarded an honorary doctorate.
His research expertise was in welding technology and he was famously a consultant in the investigation of Simon le Bon’s yacht ‘Drum’, when its keel sheared off during the 1985 Fastnet Race as a consequence of design failure. Many former students in engineering at Southampton will remember with varying degrees of fondness ‘An Engineering Data Book’, which he co-authored with Roger Calvert and was an essential accompaniment to many exams in the Engineering Faculty over the years.
On retirement from the University in 2000, Roy plunged into a new role with his typical enthusiasm and was ordained as a non-stipendiary priest, serving in the Diocese of Bristol, and in the Church of England Diocese in Europe. He was the Chaplain of Lille for two years, was briefly on staff at St Michael’s, Paris, and then Chaplain of Neuchatel English Church. Our thoughts are with Mieke, his wife, and his wider family.
“Roy was a welcoming figure when I first joined Southampton in 1992 as a new lecturer. He worked with academics in the Engineering Materials sub-department as well as in Mechanical Engineering – one of his key goals being to ensure that our graduates had appropriate real-world engineering understanding (for example, not stating in job interviews that train carriages can be “extruded”!) His research expertise in welding was undoubted and he also helped bring in specialist short courses on welding to further support our students’ skills development. He made a valuable contribution to both Engineering and the wider University and is remembered fondly by those who knew him.” Professor Philippa Reed, Head of Mechanical Engineering.
