Sir William Kerr Fraser (18 March 1929 – 13 September 2018) was a British civil servant, who served as Permanent Secretary at the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

, and as Principal and later

Chancellor of the University of Glasgow The Chancellor is the titular head of the University of Glasgow and President of the General Council, by whom they are elected. The office is intended to be held for life. Their principal duty is to confer degrees upon those presented to them b ...

Early life

William Kerr Fraser was educated at Eastwood High School in Glasgow. He studied at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

(M.A., LL.B.), where he was President of the Students' Representative Council from 1951–52.

Civil Service

He joined the Scottish Home Department, part of the Civil Service, in 1953, becoming Private Secretary to

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

in 1959, and to the Secretary of State in 1966. In 1967, he became Assistant Secretary at the Regional Development Division, and in 1971 became Under-Secretary at the Scottish Home and Health Department. In 1975, he became Deputy Secretary, and in 1978 Permanent Secretary at the

, serving until 1988. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1978, and created a Knight Commander of the order (KCB) in 1979 and a Knight Grand Cross of the order (GCB) in 1984.

University of Glasgow

Sir William became Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1988 and served in these posts until 1995. In 1996, he was elected Chancellor of the University. He stood down from this role in 2006 and was succeeded by Professor Sir

Kenneth Calman Sir Kenneth Charles Calman, HonFAcadMEd (born 25 December 1941) is a doctor and academic who formerly worked as a surgeon, oncologist and cancer researcher and held the position of Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, and then England. He was Wa ...

. The HUB Building at the University of Glasgow was refurbished as a student services centre and named the Fraser Building in his honour. He was awarded an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

by the University in 1982.

Personal life

In 1956, Fraser married Marion Forbes, a Past President of the

Queen Margaret Union The Queen Margaret Union (QMU) is one of two students' unions at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1890, it caters to the social and cultural needs of its members by providing a range of services including volunteering opportuni ...

, then the women's

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

of the University of Glasgow. They had three sons and one daughter, and several grandchildren – one of whom is himself a former President of the

, Colum Fraser. Sir William served as Governor of the Caledonian Research Foundation from 1990–99 and Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland from 1995–2000. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1985, and an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1992, and of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1995. He received honorary degrees (

) from the Universities of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

(1982),

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

(1991) and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

(1993), and a Doctorate ''honoris causa'' from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

(1995).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, William Kerr Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Principals of the University of Glasgow Chancellors of the University of Glasgow 1929 births 2018 deaths Civil servants from Glasgow