OBITUARY FOR JOHN BENYON (1951-2016)
Bill Tupman*
* Bill Tupman is Visiting Professor of Criminal Justice at BPP University, Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University, and University Fellow at University of Exeter, UK. Contact: watupman@gmail.com
BORN MARCH 10TH 1951
DIED MAY 19TH 2016
JOHN BENYON, THE FOUNDER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER’S DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY, FORMER DIRECTOR OF LIFELONG LEARNING, AND TREASURER OF THE POLITICAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION, DIED ON THURSDAY 19 MAY 2016 AFTER A SHORT BUT BRAVE BATTLE AGAINST CANCER.
I was sorry to read of John Benyon’s death recently. He and I were old sparring partners, he at the Scarman Centre at Leicester, and me at the Centre for Police and Criminal Justice at Exeter. We shared a passion for educating grown-ups, an interest in police education and a sense of mischief.
In 1982, I first met him at Scarman and After Conference, an astonishing event that brought together people from all over the country specialising in researching and improving policing. The speakers John assembled were amazing and the book of the Conference provided teaching and research material for all of us for years to come.
He had a good grasp of the discipline and the place of research within the changing university scene. He was Treasurer of the Political Studies Association until recently which gave him a good viewpoint of the national perspective and he grasped the truth that, however much you might bring in for you university in teaching fees, from the late 80s on it was research money that mattered. He built a great community of researchers around him and enjoyed the consequent support of the vice-Chancellor, whose personal note on his passing is well worth reading.
We acted as external examiner for each other from time to time over the years, regaling each other with tales of our triumphs and disasters. It was always good to share experiences and sound off about the oddities of the academic world, although recently I only kept up with him on Facebook. I shall miss him greatly.
