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

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. Baird studied at

The Abbey School, Reading The Abbey School is an independent 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 c ...

, then at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 Sid ...

, 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 clo ...

, 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 as Herts and Essex is a secondary level comprehensive single-sex school and a mixed-sex sixth form ...

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

, 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 A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their ...

, 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 The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) was a trade union, teachers' union and professional association, affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, in the United Kingdom representing educators from nursery and primary education to furth ...

, Baird becoming joint general secretary. She was also active in the

International Federation of Secondary Teachers The International Federation of Secondary Teachers (french: Fédération internationale des professeurs de l'enseignement secondaire officiel, FIPESO) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing secondary school teach ...

. 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 organisation which gathers evidence and research to inform educational policy and school services. The foundation is not an examination board, however they provi ...

. 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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. She also served on

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, which governs the City of Cambridge. History Cambridge was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1207, which permitted the appointment of a mayor. The first recorde ...

as a

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

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