Sir Geoffrey Holland, KCB (9 May 1938 – 20 April 2017) was an English career civil servant who became

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

from 1994 to 2002, when he was succeeded by Professor

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics *Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager *Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, a ...

. Holland Hall, a large student

hall of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

which opened in 2004 on the Exeter campus is named after him.

Early life

Holland was born on 9 May 1938 to Frank Holland CBE and his wife, Elsie Freda Holland. His father was a civil servant for London County Council. Both parents came from the Potteries in north

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He was educated at

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Small things grow in harmony , established = , closed = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = , type = Independent day school , religion = Church o ...

on a scholarship and spent two years in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

, becoming a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. He received a first class BA honours degree in Modern Languages from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

Career

He joined the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

in 1961, working as a civil servant until the 1990s in the Department of Employment, becoming the Permanent Secretary at the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

(DFE) from 1993-4. He was knighted in 1989. In 1994 he became VC of the

. He was a member of the

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned by ...

that published an influential report in 1997. In August 2003, he was appointed Chair of the

Learning and Skills Development Agency The Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) was a publicly funded body in the United Kingdom that supported further education in England. At the end of March 2006 its functions were divided into the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and the ...

. In 2006, he was appointed Chair of the

Quality Improvement Agency The Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) was a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government whose remit was to support those institutions that provide education, but which are not schools or universities. This covers a broad range of i ...

. From 1998-2000 he was President of the IPD. In 2008 he became President of the

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel Hi ...

Personal life

In 1964 he married Carol Challen. He died on 20 April 2017 at the age of 78.Sir Geoffrey Holland KCB
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External links

MTSN

LSDA

XPedia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Geoffrey 1938 births 2017 deaths Civil servants in the Ministry of Labour Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Employment Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Vice-Chancellors of the University of Exeter Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood