Walter Laing MacDonald Perry, Baron Perry of Walton (16 June 1921 – 17 July 2003) was a Scottish academic. He was the first Vice Chancellor of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

Life

Perry was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, son of Flora and Fletcher Perry, and educated at

Ayr Academy Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is an 11–18 non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is the sixth largest secondary school in South Ayr ...

and the High School of Dundee. He studied medicine at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, graduating with an MB ChB in 1943, MD in 1948 and a DSc in 1958. Between 1944 and 1946 he worked as a Medical Officer in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He later worked as a

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

for institutions like the Medical Research Council. In particular he became an expert on

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

. He had a reputation for following the

scientific method The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...

rigorously. He developed his career at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

as Professor of Pharmacology, later Dean of Medicine and Vice Principal. In 1959 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh. In 1969 he became Vice Chancellor of the Open University and made that university into an effective institution proving that sceptics had been wrong. He was mainly responsible for deciding that the Open University would not compromise on academic standards – he was determined that its qualifications should be of equal academic value to non-distance learning universities. Perry worked further to develop distance learning through the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Perry was appointed 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 ...

in the 1957 New Year Honours and was knighted in 1974. He entered the House of Lords upon being created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baron Perry of Walton, of Walton in the County of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

on 9 February 1979. He joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as a founder member in 1981, and was one of the signatories to the Limehouse Declaration. When the SDP merged with the Liberals in 1988 he chose instead to become a member of the anti-merger 'continuing' SDP, and was deputy leader of the new party's peers from 1988 to 1989."Jenkins to lead SLD", ''The Times'', 18 March 1988, p. 4. He later took the Liberal Democrat whip, and served on the committee dealing with science and technology. He kept working right up to his death in 2003. Perry married (1) Dr Anne Elizabeth Grant in 1946 (2) Catherine Hilda Crawley in 1971. His second wife's sister Mary married Alun Michael and her brother married Christine Crawley, Baroness Crawley. A collection of Walter Perry's papers, containing work relating to the

, other distance education institutions and work for the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, are preserved in the Open University Archive.

References

External links

Open University Library Perry papers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Walter 1921 births 2003 deaths People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society People associated with the Open University Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990) peers Perry of Walton People educated at Ayr Academy Politicians from Dundee Academics from Dundee Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh