Michael Swann

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

FRSE
Swann in 1987
Born
Michael Meredith Swann

(1920-03-01)1 March 1920
Died2 September 1990(1990-09-02) (aged 70)
NationalityBritish
Education
Known forThe mechanisms of cell division and fertilisation
Spouse
Tess Gleadowe
​
(m. 1942)​
Children4
Scientific career
Institutions

Michael Meredith Swann, Baron Swann,

cell biologist
. He was appointed chairman of the BBC, awarded a knighthood and subsequently a life peerage.

Early life

Swann was born in Cambridge, the eldest of three children of pathologist Meredith Blake Robson Swann and his wife, Marjorie Dykes.[2]

Swann was educated at

independent school for boys in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, where he was an Exhibitioner. He then studied zoology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated MA and PhD.[1]

Life and works

He served with the

Mentioned in Dispatches.[4] From 1946 Swann lectured in zoology at the University of Cambridge, his alma mater.[5]

He moved to

Royal Society of London.[6]

His academic work was on the mechanisms of

Victor Rothschild
in experiments on changes in membrane structure during fertilisation.

From 1965 to 1974, he was the principal and vice-chancellor of

Edinburgh University. In 1968, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from the University of Leicester.[7] During his term as principal, he encountered difficulty with students led by Gordon Brown, who had unusually been elected as rector of the university.[8] He received a knighthood in the 1972 Birthday Honours,[9] having the honour conferred by the Queen herself on 5 December 1972.[10]

He was chairman of the governors of the

Coln St Denys in the County of Gloucestershire on 16 February 1981.[12][13] In 1980 Swann became Provost of Oriel College,[14] although he resigned after nine months,[15] and was also Chancellor of the University of York from 1979 until his death.[16] In 1981, he was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.[17]

In 1969 he led the Swann Report "on The Flow into Employment of Scientists, Engineers and Technologists". In 1985 he led the Swann Report "Education for All", a report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups.

He died in London on 22 September 1990.

Legacy

The Michael Swann Building of the

Kings Buildings
is named after him. It continues to be used for work on cell division and fertilisation to this day.

Family

In 1942, he married Tess Gleadowe (died 2009). They had two sons and two daughters.

The Swann building is the main home of biological sciences at the Edinburgh University.
  • Brother,
    the queen
  • Uncle, Brigadier Vivian Dykes, chief combined secretary British Joint Staff Mission Washington, 1942
  • Stepfather, Sir Sydney Castle Roberts, secretary of Cambridge University Press, author; vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge
  • Brother-in-law, Monsignor Graham Leonard

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 70752369
    .
  2. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40021. Retrieved 3 May 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  3. ISBN 978-0-9507528-0-8
    .
  4. ^ "Lord Swann, 70, Former Chief of BBC And Educator, Dies", Associated Press via New York Times. 24 September 1990.
  5. ^ Profile, University of York. York.ac.uk; retrieved 2 June 2014.
  6. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  7. ^ Honorary Graduates, le.ac.uk; retrieved 2 June 2014.
  8. ^ Lady Tess Swann obituary, The Independent, 13 October 2009.
  9. ^ "No. 45678". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1972. p. 6256.
  10. ^ "No. 45849". The London Gazette. 12 December 1972. p. 14743.
  11. ^ BBC Chairmen listing The BBC
  12. ^ "No. 48529". The London Gazette. 19 February 1981. p. 2441.
  13. ^ Heraldic Media Ltd., Patrick Cracoft-Brennan Cracroft Peerage Database v5.2
  14. ^ "Who, Where and When: The History & Constitution of the University of Glasgow Oxford" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2008.. University of Glasgow
  15. ^ Sisman, Adam (2010). Hugh Trevor-Roper: The Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 451.
  16. ^ Greg Dyke to be Chancellor of the University of York. BBC. 11 November 2003
  17. ISBN 1-871408-07-5
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Swann.
Media offices
Preceded by Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors
1973–1980 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by
Principals of the University of Edinburgh

1965–1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of University of York
1979–1990 		Succeeded by
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