Obituary: Margaret Sutherland, linguist and Emeritus professor of education

Published on Tuesday 12 April 2011 14:34

Margaret Sutherland, linguist and Emeritus professor of education. Born: 19 May, 1920, in Glasgow. Died: 29 March, 2011, in St Andrews, aged 90.

Margaret Sutherland was one of an indefatigable breed of post-war working women who blazed a trail through academia, preparing the way for generations to follow. Recognising that her appointment as a university professor gave her an opportunity to fly the flag for those in her wake, she chose to play a full part in the governance of her university, displaying her collegial spirit and flair for administration through contributions to the senate, extensive committee responsibilities and as chair of the education panel of the Board for Collegiate Academic Awards.

But such multi-tasking was nothing new to the indomitable Miss Sutherland who had already obtained a first in her M. Ed while teaching at various Glasgow secondary schools. The achievement followed her successes at Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School, where she was Dux in 1938, and at Glasgow University where she graduated with first class honours four years later and received the Herkless prize for the most distinguished woman graduate in arts.

She also went on to become an author and Dean of Faculty as well as being recognised by the French government for her contribution to education with an appointment as Chevalier in the Order of the Palmes Academiques.

Born the eldest of three children, to Post Office supervisor George Sutherland and his wife Janet Robertson, she was a naturally studious youngster and consistently brilliant pupil. When she went to Glasgow University to study French and German she was disappointed to be unable to complete her year abroad when the Second World War intervened. Before leaving France, however, she had befriended a young French woman, who was later killed while working for the resistance. Following the war she kept in touch with her friend's sister, nurturing what proved to be a lifelong friendship.

After training as a teacher and gaining a first in education and psychology in 1945, she moved to Queen's University, Belfast as a lecturer in education, marking the start of an association with Northern Ireland that was to last for more than 25 years.

Her academic development there was rapid.She was helped to settle in by her head of department, Professor Stanley Nisbet, who was an important influence on the rest of her career and with whose family she remained a close friend throughout her life.

Having completed her PhD thesis on the development of the imagination in education, she lectured throughout the province on psychology with the Workers' Educational Association and was a leading light in the Belfast Business and Professional Women's Club, the Belfast Soroptimist Club and the United Nations Association's executive committee.

Around this time she also developed a love of foreign travel, visiting the Soviet Union as part of a UK delegation of 15 women in 1954, just a year after Stalin's death, where her command of Russian proved very useful. She also spent 1962-3 as a visiting lecturer at Rhodes University, Grahamstown in South Africa and by the time she retired there was virtually nowhere in western Europe that she had not visited as a scholar.

While at Queen's she was promoted to senior lecturer and then reader but had ambitions to become a professor. In 1971 she published her first book, Everyday Imagining and Education, and soon afterwards was asked to apply for the Chair of Education at Leeds by the then vice-chancellor of the university, Lord Boyle.

She took up the post and the headship of the then Department of Education in 1973, delivering her inaugural lecture with elan - speaking elegantly for an hour and without the aid of notes, on various aspects of girls' education, identifying the position in the UK within the wider European context.

Following a reorganisation, she was appointed chair of the School of Education in 1975-6. Subsequently, she served as dean of the faculty from 1976 to 1978 and as chair of the board of the Faculty of Education from 1978 to 1980. Her academic interests were wide-ranging and included aspects of educational psychology, sex differences in education and comparative education, including a comparative study of the career perceptions of female academics. She received frequent invitations to present papers at institutions and conferences in many parts of the world. At the same time, her collegial spirit disposed her readily to assume extensive committee responsibilities at Leeds.

She spent almost 13 years there, serving in various capacities. In addition to her work with the Board for Collegiate Academic Awards, nationally she served on both the Education Sub-Committee of the University Grants Committee and the University Council for the Education of Teachers. Although she threw herself into university life she maintained strong family links, returning regularly to Glasgow and enjoying many holidays in Scotland with her sister and her family.

She retired to St Andrews in 1986 but her thirst for knowledge did not wane.She developed many friendships and new interests - including an enthusiasm for Gaelic and Northern Studies - continued her educational research and remained active in the Association Francophone d'Education Comparee. She was also a prominent member of the Dundee and St Andrews branch of the British Federation of Women Graduates, serving with distinction as chair of its charitable foundation, and was president of the St Andrews branch of the Franco-Scottish Society.

After her late sister, Helen, was widowed the siblings formed an even closer bond. Helen had also been Dux, the holder of a first-class degree and honoured by the French government. One of the few regarded by her sister as her intellectual equal, the pair enjoyed vigorous debates on the merits of various authors and novels. A woman of tenacity and perseverance, Sutherland leaves a towering academic record of achievement in education, recognised by the flying of the flag at half mast in her memory, over the building housing Leeds University's language centre, on the day of her funeral.

Margaret Sutherland is survived by her brother, George, sister-in-law Jean, her niece and four nephews.