Walter Birmingham (January 4, 1913 – August 16, 2004) was an educationist and economist who served as the warden of Toynbee Hall. He also worked on economic planning for West Africa in the post-colonial era.

Early life

Birmingham was born in Firozpur, India, in 1913. He took night classes at the London School of Economics, obtaining a degree in economics.

Career

Birmingham taught at several British, African, and American universities and was involved in economic development planning for West Africa. He was professor of economics at the

University of Lesotho The National University of Lesotho, the main and oldest university in Lesotho, is located in Roma, southeast of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The Roma valley is broad and is surrounded by a barrier of rugged mountains which provides magnific ...

Toynbee Hall

In 1964, Birmingham was appointed warden of the Victorian charity

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...

, which had fallen on hard times. Soon after taking post, he took on the disgraced former government minister John Profumo as a volunteer. Profumo would continue to support Toynbee Hall for decades, eventually becoming chairman of the charity.

Personal life

He married twice with a son and a daughter from his first marriage and two sons and one daughter from the second. A sculpture of Birmingham by Betty Jukes is housed at Toynbee Hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham, Walter 1913 births 2004 deaths