Sir Geoffrey Holland, KCB (9 May 1938 – 20 April 2017) was an English career civil servant who became

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 ...

of the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

from 1994 to 2002, when he was succeeded by Professor Steve Smith. Holland Hall, a large student hall of residence which opened in 2004 on the Exeter campus is named after him.

Early life

Holland was born on 9 May 1938 to Frank Holland CBE and his wife, Elsie Freda Holland. His father was a civil servant for London County Council. Both parents came from the Potteries in north

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. He was educated at

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Merchant Taylors' School is an 11–18 boys Public school (United Kingdom), public day school, founded in 1561 in London. The school has occupied various campuses. From 1933 it has been at Sandy Lodge, a site close to Northwood, London, Nort ...

on a scholarship and spent two years in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

for

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, becoming a Second Lieutenant. He received a first class BA honours degree in Modern Languages from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

Career

He joined the Ministry of Labour in 1961, working as a civil servant until the 1990s in the Department of Employment, becoming the Permanent Secretary at the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

(DFE) from 1993-4. He was knighted in 1989. In 1994 he became VC of the

. He was a member of the

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned b ...

that published an influential report in 1997. In August 2003, he was appointed Chair of the Learning and Skills Development Agency. In 2006, he was appointed Chair of the Quality Improvement Agency. From 1998-2000 he was President of the IPD. In 2008 he became President of the

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel Hil ...

Personal life

In 1964 he married Carol Challen. He died on 20 April 2017 at the age of 78.Sir Geoffrey Holland KCB
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External links

MTSN

LSDA

XPedia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Geoffrey 1938 births 2017 deaths Civil servants in the Ministry of Labour Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Employment Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Vice-chancellors of the University of Exeter Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood