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Roger Tayler

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It is with great sadness that we report the death of Roger Tayler in the Royal Marsden Hospital on Thursday 23 January. Roger was appointed Professor of Astronomy in 1967, just after the foundation of the Astronomy Centre, and was an outstanding Director of the Centre for three six-year stints, ending with his retirement in 1995. He was a wise and well-respected Dean of MAPS from 1974-78 and, through his nearly 30 years on Senate, was well-known and universally liked throughout the University. Before coming to Sussex, he held research positions in the UKAEA, where he undertook some of the first important work on the stability of plasmas in fusion reactors, and research and teaching positions at Cambridge, where he collaborated with Fred Hoyle and Stephen Hawking.

Many of his Sussex graduate students now hold academic positions themselves. He was successively Secretary, Treasurer and President of the Royal Astronomical Society, was for 20 years the Managing Editor of its major journal, and served on a host of university, national and international committees. He was awarded the OBE in 1990, and elected FRS in 1995. He was an excellent teacher, who continued to teach after his retirement and it was characteristic of him that he made up all his examination questions during his final spell in hospital. All who knew him will mourn a fine man who contributed an immense amount to the University. His funeral will be in St Anne's Church, Lewes, at 2pm on Friday 7 February. Family flowers only. Donations to the Royal Marsden Hospital Myeloma Research Fund, c/o Cooper & Son, Funeral Directors, 42 High Street, Lewes, tel: 01273 475557.

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Friday January 31st 1997