Sir Geoff Palmer (1940-2025) in 1989 became the first black professor in Scotland and in 2014 was knighted by the Queen, not just for his scientific and brewing contribution but for his charity work and campaigns around equal rights. In 2021, he became Heriot-Watt University’s chancellor. The many accolades he received included, last year, admission to the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry. To me though he was always Uncle Geoff.
Geoff arrived in London from Jamaica in March 1954 and joined his Mum, Ivy, in north London. Ivy’s plan was immediately to put her son to work, though prevailing labour laws meant that as it was a month before his fifteenth birthday he had, to his Mum’s despair, to go to school. That month changed his life because, despite being declared educationally sub-normal on account of his skin colour, his prowess at cricket meant he was poached by the local grammar school, where he met my Dad.
Often facing appalling racism in search for work or better accommodation, Geoff also met numerous people with goodwill towards him. He went on to complete his A levels, obtained a degree in botany and taught brewing at Sussex. He then moved to Heriot-Watt, where he was a beloved figure within the University’s global community. Geoff was known for his warm, approachable manner and his deep personal commitment to supporting and championing the success of students at every stage of their journey.
As an impoverished student in the mid-1980s at Durham I would regularly get the short train journey to Edinburgh to see Uncle Geoff. He would take me around the many breweries of the city back then. On arrival he would be greeted like a God by the brewery top brass. There would be quizzical looks however, when behind this besuited academic trailed a pasty face dishevelled student with the arse hanging out of his jeans. “Oh that’s my nephew“, Geoff would explain – he is a poor student that likes beer. They immediately got the message and let me have free rein in their tap rooms, as they talked barley and malt.
I will miss him so much.
Paddy Green