Robin Isles Loftus Guthrie (27 June 1937 – 12 April 2009) was a British teacher, public servant and chairman of several charities.

Biography

Early life

Guthrie was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

and attended

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

. He gained a certificate in education from

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and a MSc in Economics from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Career

Guthrie became head of

Cambridge House Cambridge House is a Grade I listed former townhouse in central London, England. It sits on the northern side of Piccadilly at number 94, in the fashionable district of Mayfair. , the property is being converted into a luxury hotel and seven r ...

in 1962. In 1969 he became the social development officer for the New Town in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. In 1975–1979 he was the assistant director of the social work service at the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. Hi ...

and in 1979 became director of the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust. In 1988 he returned to London as the Chief Charity Commissioner in a bid to update the department. His work in the department helped lead to the Charities Act (1993). In 1992 he was appointed director of Social and Economic Affairs at the Council of Europe. He was a Trustee of the Thalidomide Trust UK, a founding chairman of the York Early Music Foundation and the founding chairman of

York Museums Trust York Museums Trust (YMT) is the charity responsible for operating some key museums and galleries in York, England. The trust was founded in 2002 to run York's museums on behalf of the City of York Council. It has seen an increase in annual foo ...

when it was formed in 2002, a governor of

York St John University , mottoeng = They may have life and have it more abundantly , established = , type = Public , administrative_staff = 618 , chancellor = Reeta Chakrabarti , vice_chancellor = Professor Karen Bryan , student ...

and chairman of York-based charity Jessie’s Fund.

Death

Gurthrie died suddenly in hospital. His funeral was held at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

on 1 May 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Robin 1937 births 2009 deaths People from Cambridge Trustees of York Museums Trust British civil servants British schoolteachers Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the London School of Economics Council of Europe people