Dr Terry Pearson A leading light in chemistry who helped create Huddersfield University and supported numerous causes

ERRY Pearson was a leading light in the growth of the university’s chemistry department, helping to transform Huddersfield College of Technology to the Polytechnic and then the university.

He was also a leader of the local section of the Royal Society of Chemistry, both regionally and nationally.

Terry was born in 1935 in Manchester and brought up in Glossop and Shirebrook, in Derbyshire.

His passion for football grew by being a teammate of Ray Wilson in Shirebrook. He attended St Bede’s School in Manchester and Queen Elizabeth’s in Mansfield. On leaving School he worked for the National Coal Board in Cheltenham as a Junior Scientist while also studying A-levels, Ordinary National Certificate and Advanced National Certificate.

Terry was awarded a Coal Board Scholarship to study for a degree in Chemistry at Cardiff University, where he was awarded a BSc Hons in 1959. He stayed in Cardiff to undertake research in Physical Chemistry and gained a PhD in 1962.

Terry and Jo met in Cardiff and were married in 1962. They then moved to the USA, where Terry was a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. There he was a consultant at the Camille Dreyfus Laboratory investigating polymer chemistry and became a sports pioneer, launching the first soccer squad at Durham Boys club.

In 1964 the couple moved to Huddersfield, where Terry was appointed as a lecturer, then senior lecturer, in physical chemistry at the former Huddersfield College of Technology. It is possible that had it not been for the prestige of chemistry at Huddersfield at this time that the college would not have been considered as a centre suitable for higher education.

In 1958 only Chemical Technology and Dyeing were approved for the new BTec degree at Huddersfield. The only Diploma in Technology (DipTech) course approved in Huddersfield was Chemistry.

On formation of the polytechnic, Terry became a principal lecturer and Head of Physical Chemistry until his retirement in 1995.

Such was the esteem in which he was held that Terry was a BTEC Moderator for Higher National courses in Pure and Applied Sciences in 12 different colleges over a period of a decade. Terry’s expertise was in chromatography and thermal analysis, areas in which he supervised numerous PhD students.

He was active at the national level through the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), being a member of various review panels. Terry was treasurer of the Huddersfield Section of the RSC from 2002 until 2016. Although retired, Terry continued to be an active supporter of the RSC regionally and nationally.

Terry was heavily involved with promoting Huddersfield as a place of study for overseas students, mainly from Asia and Africa, and more recently from Europe and Indonesia through his role as Higher National Diploma course leader.

In the 1990s he undertook two trips to Nigeria with the British Council, helping to develop university courses and building chemical engineering laboratories.

Terry and Jo had two children, Andrew and Gareth, and four grandchildren. With his two sons, he was a regular supporter of Huddersfield Town and a season ticket holder from 2006.

Terry was committed to supporting local organisations, particularly through fundraising, for example, for The Friends of Holme Valley Hospital. He was chairman of the ParentTeacher Association at Holmfirth High School, where he was also a Governor. With Jo he volunteered at Lindley Library and was a keen supporter of Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Terry died on February 25, 2018.