Dr Willis Pickard was editor of the

Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

Scotland for twenty two years until he retired in 2001. 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 ...

recognised his contribution by awarding an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

in 2002. Willis Pickard was features editor of

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

. Whilst TES Scotland Editor, he was also a broadcasting commentator on the educational scene and pursued a wide range of public commitments. His appointments include member of the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

from 1982 to 1988 and of its Literature Committee, chairman of Book Trust Scotland, member of the Board of Scotland in Europe and Chair of Theatre Objektiv, a drama company. He was Rector of Aberdeen University from 1988 to 1990. He works for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on the appointments committee to the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, and in 2005, was appointed Trustee of the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

. With John Dobie, he has written ''The Political Context of Education after Devolution''. A lifelong member of the

Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1 ...

, Pickard stood in two general elections as a candidate for North East Fife.

Footnotes

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Scottish newspaper editors {{Editor-stub Rectors of the University of Aberdeen