Graham John Hills

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}} {{Use British English|date=May 2017}} {{Infobox writer  |name = Sir Graham John Hills |image =Inverness March 2000 4.jpg |caption=Sir Graham Hills and Lady Mary Hills at their Inverness home (March 2000) |birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1926|04|09}} |birth_place = [[Southend-on-Sea]], [[Essex]], U.K. |death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2014|02|09|1926|04|09}} |death_place = |occupation = [[University Principal]], [[Physical chemist]], [[Educationalist]] |nationality = [[England|English]] |spouse= {{Plainlist| *Brenda Stubbington (d. 1974) *Mary Jane McNaughton (1980-2013; her death)}} |children= 4 }}

'''Sir Graham Hills''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSE}} (9 April 1926 – 9 February 2014) was a [[physical chemist]], principal of the [[University of Strathclyde]], and a governor of the [[BBC]]. He was born in [[Southend-on-Sea]], [[Essex]] and educated at [[Westcliff High School for Boys]] and [[Birkbeck College, London]] (BSc 1946, PhD 1950). He was knighted in 1988 for his services to education.<ref>{{Who's Who|id=U20215|title=Hills, Sir Graham (John)}}</ref>

== Academic career == {{More citations needed|section|date=January 2023}} Hills served as a professor of [[Physical Chemistry]] at the [[University of Southampton]] for 18 years, until 1980, when he became [[Principal (academia)|principal]] at [[Strathclyde University]], succeeding [[Samuel Curran]] who had held the post since 1959. There, his early foci were accommodating cuts to government funding by the [[University Grants Committee (UK)]], and dealing with the school's other financial difficulties. He found alternative sources of income, restructured the university (in 1982) to reduce its nine schools to four, and introduced [[early retirement]] for faculty members. Hills also changed the academic year to the two-term semester structure.<ref>Cf. The Glasgow Story website: http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSS00032 ''Accessed 2012-08-05''. The information on this site was reproduced with the permission of Strathclyde University Archives.</ref>

With the financial challenges stabilized, Hills turned to expanding the university. Purchases were made in 1983 and 1986, respectively, of the [[The Ramshorn|Ramshorn Church]] and [[Barony Church]] - the latter restored in 1989 and converted into a graduation hall) - and in 1987 the acquisition of [[Graham Hills Building|Marland House]] (a former [[British Telecom]] office block, which was renamed for Hills on his retirement). The "student village" on the eastern third of the campus was further expanded from the mid-1980s onwards.<ref>Cf. The Glasgow Story website: http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSS00032 ''Accessed 2012-08-05''. The information on this site was reproduced with the permission of Strathclyde University Archives.</ref>

After Sir Graham's retirement, he was the driving force behind the establishment of the [[UHI Millenium Institute|University of the Highlands and Islands]]. He moved to [[Inverness]] to be a full-time advisor to the nascent university. In 2004 he coauthored, with Robin Lingard, the book ''UHI: The Making of a University'', a comprehensive account of the university's creation.<ref>Graham Hills and Robin Lingard, ''UHI: The Making of a University'', Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, 2004. ISBN 1903765420</ref>

== Professional posts == *[[Imperial College, London]]: Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, 1949–1962 *[[University of Southampton]]: Professor of Physical Chemistry, 1962–1980 *[[University of Western Ontario]]: Visiting professor, 1968 *[[Case Western Reserve University]]: Visiting professor, 1969 *[[University of Buenos Aires]], Visiting professor, 1977 *[[University of Strathclyde]], Glasgow: Principal and Vice-Chancellor, 1980–1991

== Professional committee work == *President of [[International Society of Electrochemistry]], 1983–1985 *Non-Executive Director: Scottish Post Office Bd, 1986–1999 *Member: [[Council for Science and Technology]], 1987–1993 *[[Scottish Development Agency]], 1988–1990 *Member: [[Council for National Academic Awards]], 1988–1993 *Glasgow Action Partnership, 1989–1990 *Scottish governor of the [[Audience Council Scotland|BBC]], 1989–1994 *[[Design Council]], 1989–1990 *[[Society of Chemical Industry]], 1991–1993 *[[Scottish Enterprise]], 1991–1993 *[[Design and Industries Association]], 1992–1996 *Chairman of the Council of [[Quarriers|Quarrier's Homes]], 1992–1997 *Chairman of the [[Ness Foundation]] (formerly Highland Psychiatric Res.), 1998–2003

== Professional fellowships == *Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]], 1990 *Fellow of [[Scottish Vocational Education Council]], 1989 *Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Arts]], 1978 *Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]], 1950

== Professional honours == *Hon. DSc: [[University of Southampton|Southampton]], 1984; [[University of Lisbon|Lisbon]], 1994 *Hon. ScD: [[Technical University of Lodz]], Poland, 1984 *Commander, [[Polish awards and decorations|Polish Order of Merit]], 1984 *Hon. LLD: [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow]], 1985; [[University of Waterloo|Waterloo, Canada]], 1991; [[University of Strathclyde|Strathclyde]], 1991 *[[Royal Norwegian Order of Merit]], 1986 *Hon. Fellow of the [[Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama]], 1988 *Hon. Medal, [[University of Pavia]], Italy, 1988 *Hon. Fellow of the [[University of East London|Polytechnic of East London]], 1991 *Hon. Fellow of the [[Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow]], 1992 *DUniv: [[University of the West of Scotland|Paisley]], 1993 *Hon. Fellow of the [[Chartered Society of Designers]], 1996 *Hon. DEd [[University of Abertay Dundee]], 1999

== Publications == *Hills, G. J. ''Reference Electrodes'', 1961 *Hills, G. J., ''Inheritance of Michael Faraday'', (University of Southampton), 1964 *Hills, G. J., ''Polarography'', (Macmillan), 1964 *Hills, G. J. (ed.) ''Electrochemistry: A Review of Chemical Literature'': vols 1-3 (Specialist Periodical Reports), (Royal Society of Chemistry), 1970, 71, 73 *Hills, G. J., ''Transactions of the Faraday Society Articles'' (Royal Society of Chemistry) (numerous contributions on electrochemistry *Hills, Graham & Lingard, Robin, ''UHI: The Making of a University'', (Dunedin Academic Press), 2004

==Honors== *Honorary degree, [[University of Pavia]], 1988

== Obituaries == A list of obituaries available online and accessed 3/8/2015: * [https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/hills_graham.pdf The Royal Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106065535/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/hills_graham.pdf |date=6 January 2016 }} * [http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-professor-sir-graham-hills-principal-and-vice-chancellor-university-of-strathclyde-1-3305739 The Scotsman]. A photograph of Sir Graham is given here * [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10658228/Professor-Sir-Graham-Hills-obituary.html The Daily Telegraph]. A photograph is also given here * [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-graham-hills-9147855.html The Independent]. This obituary was written by [[Tam Dalyell]]), with photograph * [http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13145881.Sir_Graham_Hills__legacy_to_Strathclyde_University/ The Herald]. This is a letter written to the newspaper * [https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/people/sir-graham-hills-1926-2014/2012328.article The Times Higher Education Supplement] * [http://www.rsc.org/Membership/AboutRscMembership/Obituaries/graham-hills.asp The Royal Society of Chemistry] * [http://www.strathclydetelegraph.com/2014/03/obituary-professor-sir-graham-hills/ The Strathclyde Telegraph]. This is the university student newspaper

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== * Papers of Sir Graham Hills available at [http://strathclyde.ica-atom.org/graham-hills-papers Strathclyde University Archives. Collection OM/274]

{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | title=Principal and Vice-chancellor [[University of Strathclyde]] | before=[[Samuel Curran]] | after =[[John Peebles Arbuthnott|John Arbuthnott]] | years =1980-1991 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hills, Graham John}} [[Category:1926 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:Academics of Imperial College London]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Southampton]] [[Category:Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London]] [[Category:BBC governors]] [[Category:British physical chemists]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]] [[Category:Knights Bachelor]] [[Category:People associated with the University of Strathclyde]] [[Category:People educated at Westcliff High School for Boys]] [[Category:People from Southend-on-Sea]] [[Category:Place of death missing]] [[Category:Chemists of the University of Southampton]] [[Category:Chemists of Imperial College London]]