Joyce Elizabeth Leslie Baird (8 December 1929 – 3 October 2015) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. Baird studied at

The Abbey School, Reading The Abbey School is a private selective day school for girls, in Reading, Berkshire, England. Overview The Abbey School provides education for girls aged 3 to 18 years. The school is based in the centre of Reading, on Kendrick Road. The curren ...

, then at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, before training as a secretary. In 1952, she worked briefly as secretary to Erno Goldfinger, a well-known architect, before taking up a long-term post as secretary to

Austin Robinson Sir Edward Austin Gossage Robinson, (20 November 1897 – 1 June 1993, Cambridge, England) was a University of Cambridge economist. He was an undergraduate at Christ's College, Cambridge, and a fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. A clos ...

, an economist. At the start of the 1960s, Baird moved into teaching, becoming head of geography at

The Hertfordshire and Essex High School The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and since 2004 named as ''The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College'', commonly referred to as Herts and Essex, is a secondary level comprehensive single-sex school with a mixed-sex sixth ...

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

, and serving additionally as deputy headteacher from 1973 to 1975. She became active in the

Association of Assistant Mistresses The Association of Assistant Mistresses (AAM) was a trade union representing female teachers in British secondary schools. The union was founded in 1884 as the Association of Assistant Mistresses in Secondary Schools Incorporated, the last part o ...

, serving as its president from 1976. In 1978, this merged with the Association of Assistant Masters in Secondary Schools to form the Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association, Baird becoming joint general secretary. She was also active in the International Federation of Secondary Teachers. Baird retired in 1990 and became the vice-president of the

National Foundation for Educational Research The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research charity which creates a range of insights on educational policy and practice that aim to strengthen practice in the classroom and inform and influence policymake ...

. In 1991, she was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. She also served on

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour Party (UK), Labour majority control since ...

as a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

from 1992 to 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Joyce 1929 births 2015 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Councillors in Cambridgeshire Schoolteachers from Hertfordshire General secretaries of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors People educated at The Abbey School Trade unionists from Hertfordshire Women councillors in England