When Tez joined us he was returning from retirement as Secretary of Wye College, thinking that, as the Courtauld is a fraction the size of Wye, he was taking on a reduced role suited to his situation. This state of affairs lasted no more than a few months before the Institute was presented with a choice between merger and independence. The following eighteen months saw the Courtauld gain that independence, and there is no doubt that Tez’s abilities and special experience played a crucial role in successfully setting up the new administrative structure. The special experience in question includes his part in the taking of Wye into Imperial College (a journey in the opposite direction but with the same ingredients), his flair for defining, sequencing and solving problems, and, not to be forgotten, his unsurpassed talents at networking friends and associates, on whose advice and experience he was able to call.

That constitutes the big picture. Alongside this he carried out the normal duties of the Secretary and Registrar, in the process reassessing everything about the job, from the most immediate — the furniture in the Registry — to the most far-reaching — such as the financial systems of the Institute and the reporting lines of the staff in his care. Now the new role of the Secretary and Registrar to the free-standing college has, thanks to Tez, been established. He can return to the retirement which the Courtauld interrupted in the ¸rst place. With our gratitude for what he has achieved, we wish him well and the very best of times in these old and new circumstances.

ERIC FERNIE — Director Emeritus