Colin Bell (1 March 1942 – 24 April 2003) was an English sociologist who served as the

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

for the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

between 1998 and 2001 and who was later Principal at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

.The Guardian 1 May 2003
Obituary: Colin BellBBC News 25 April 2003
University Principal Dies He died suddenly on 24 April 2003 and the University of Bradford now holds an annual memorial lecture in his name discussing

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 ...

. The University of Stirling named the building currently housing the Department of Social Science after him.

Life

Bell was born in Kent, graduated from the

University of Keele Keele University is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted university status by Royal Charter as ...

and was awarded his postgraduate degree at the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

. He was well known for his

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectura ...

, his opposition to the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, which began shortly before his death, and his dedication to the cause of making higher education more accessible to students from socially deprived backgrounds. He married twice: to Jocelyn Mumford in 1964 and later to Janette Webb. He had four children—Rachel and Luke by his first marriage, and two daughters Islay (b. 1989) and Catherine (b. 1992) by his second.

References

External links

Article on the life and death of Prof. Colin Bell by the BBCObituary in ''the Independent''

Colin Bell at "Pioneers of Qualitative Research" from the Economic and Social Data Service
English sociologists People associated with the University of Stirling People associated with the University of Bradford 1942 births 2003 deaths Alumni of Keele University Alumni of the University of Wales Vice-chancellors of the University of Bradford {{UK-academic-bio-stub