Sussex’s first Registrar Ted Shields died 21 years ago this week on 9 June 1991.

Appointed on 1 January 1960 by founding Vice-Chancellor John Fulton, he was Sussex’s second-ever member of staff. 

Here is an extract from the original article published in the Bulletin on 18 June 1991:

Ted Shields

Ted Shields, the founding Registrar of the University, died on Sunday, 9 June, suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack whilst rambling in Kent. Ted was John Fulton’s first appointment and for almost a year from the day he took up the appointment on 1 January 1960 the two of them were the University of Sussex; they laid the foundations of the University from drafting the Charter to selecting the first undergraduates. Prior to his appointment at Sussex, Ted had a distinguished career in public administration in India and Africa, and when he left Sussex in 1973 it was to go to Australia as the Registrar of the University of Adelaide. On his retirement from Adelaide he was the longest serving Registrar in the Commonwealth, and he and Barbara returned to live in Sussex…

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