Dame Tamsyn Imison, DBE (1 May 1937 – 18 September 2017) was a prominent

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

educator and "educational strategist" whose first career was as a scientific

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

. Imison was educated at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

. After having a family of three, she went into teaching science in 1972 and taught for nearly 30 years. Between 1984 and 2000, she was

Headteacher A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

of the

Hampstead School Hampstead School is a large comprehensive school in the London Borough of Camden, England. The school building is one of the oldest in the borough. It has about 1,300 students between the ages of 11 and 19 attending the Lower School (Year 7 thro ...

in north

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Imison wrote, researched and lectured on numerous topics related to academia, including Leadership, ICT, Comprehensive Schooling, Creativity, Learning, Schools of the Future, Post 16 and Women Leaders. She chaired various committees and was made an Honorary Fellow of

Queen Mary, University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, and the

Institute of Education, University of London IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to ...

. She retired in 2005 to Halesworth Suffolk. There she devoted a large part of her time improving the natural environment in the town. She helped found and run 'Halesworth in Bloom' achieving her goal of becoming best small town in 2015. She also helped the park gain green flag status and created a new Hooker Trail within to celebrate the famous botanist Sir

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

who once lived in Halesworth. In June 2017, she organized a weekend long celebration of his bicentenary. Imison died of cancer, aged 80.

References

External links

TES interviewScience Education — is there a crisis?

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imison, Tamsyn 1937 births 2017 deaths Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford British educational theorists British illustrators Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Place of birth missing Schoolteachers from Suffolk