Charles Frederick Carter
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Sir Charles Frederick Carter (15 August 1919 – 27 June 2002) was an English academic known primarily for his role as the founding Vice-Chancellor of
Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
.


Early life

Carter was born in Rugby to a father who was an electrical engineer and the developer of the Carter coefficient, and a mother who was an active member of the
Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
. He lived in Long Itchington. He was educated at Lawrence Sheriff School''Coventry Evening Telegraph'' Friday 28 April 1961, page 15 and
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
, where he read Mathematics and Economics and attained a First. His brother Geoffrey was a Professor of Engineering, who attended the same school.


Career

In World War II Carter refused to fight, being a
conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...
, and because he refused to accept any conditions for his exemption he spent three months in Strangeways Prison,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. When released, he joined the Friends' Relief Service, where he met Janet Shea, whom he married in 1944. In 1945, he returned to Cambridge, where he became a lecturer in statistics and, from 1947, a fellow of
Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...
. He remained at Cambridge until 1952, when he took the Chair of Applied Economics at
Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
. Whilst in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
he became a student of
The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
, and concluded that a Protestant monopoly on power was unacceptable and could not be sustained. He also chaired the Northern Ireland Economic Development Council. In 1959 he moved to the Stanley Jevons chair in Manchester, remaining there for four years. As an
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, he was a follower of G.L.S. Shackle, and was concerned about the impact of expectations in human decisions. In 1963, he became the founding Vice-Chancellor of the new
University of Lancaster Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
. He managed to admit the first 264 students in 1964, a year ahead of schedule, by utilising disused buildings as temporary accommodation and teaching facilities. Carter's vision was for Lancaster to be a university for the whole North West, commenting that the people of
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
thought of it as their university. He refused "discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, politics or any other thing" and established links with various Higher Education Colleges, thus pre-empting the drive for
widening participation Widening participation (WP) in higher education can be a component of government education policy. It consists of an attempt to increase the number of young people entering higher education, and improve equality of opportunity for students from al ...
forty years later.


Personal life

His tenure at the University of Lancaster ended in 1979, the same year he was knighted. He retired to
Seascale Seascale is a village and civil parish on the Irish Sea coast of Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland. The parish had a population of 1,754 in 2011, barely decreasing by 0.4% in 2021. History The place-name indicates that it was i ...
,
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
, and continued to work on projects he deemed to be worthwhile.


Works

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References


External links


Obituaries of Charles Carter
1919 births 2002 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British conscientious objectors British Quakers British economists Knights Bachelor Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Lawrence Sheriff School People from Rugby, Warwickshire People from Stratford-on-Avon District People from Cumberland {{UK-economist-stub