Obituary: Barry Gooch
Barry Gooch, head of the University's administration as Registrar & Secretary from 1996-99, died on 13 January.
Barry came to Sussex from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he was Secretary and Registrar.
This followed a period as Academic Secretary at the University of Essex, a post he took up after 12 years at Imperial College, where he started as Admissions Officer, moving eventually to Planning.
The Vice-Chancellor at the time of Barry’s appointment at Sussex was Professor Gordon Conway, who interviewed him for the post.
Professor Conway remembers: “He proved to be an excellent registrar – tough as registrars have to be, good at steering through reforms with fairness and honesty.
“He was a man of high integrity. I found him to be a loyal colleague and a good friend.”
Professor Alasdair Smith, Professor Conway’s successor as Vice-Chancellor in 1998, recalls: “Barry Gooch was a first-class university administrator.
“Behind his stern and even forbidding appearance was a man of warmth, humour and great culture.
“I recall one occasion when we were together dealing with a student occupation and he was much amused to find that we had both been on the other side in our earlier days.”
Professor Margaret McGowan, former Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor, says: “In the short time he was at Sussex, Barry was always eager to help promote academic developments. He supported ideas for change and progress with careful attention to detail and rapid response to our needs.
“He was also concerned about ensuring that we preserve the history of the early days at Sussex.”
With the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, Barry took early retirement from the University in 1999.
Professor Conway says: “When his illness forced him to leave Sussex, it was a considerable loss to us all.”
Professor Smith adds: “It was a matter of very great regret to me that the huge contribution he was making to Sussex was cut short by ill-health.”
In retirement, Barry concentrated on painting and writing poetry. He published his first volume of poems in 2009, shortly before his illness became irreversible.
The funeral will take place on Wednesday (29 January) in Woodbridge, Suffolk.