Comment 010 December 1985

Page 1

King's College London (KQC) newsletter

THA KS TO

YLES TEMPA Y

t the end of this year Myles McDermott Tempany retire a College Secretary, to take on the new role of Vice-Principal (E ternaJ Affairs in January 1986. General Sir John Hackett offer the following appreciation of hi achievement . In addre ing myself to the welcome task of writing about Myles Tempany I believe J cannot do better than to make free use in the first instance of what has recently been aid of him by a long-standing friend and colleague of his in the Finance Departmen t of King' ollege, Michael Harris. Mr Harris write as follows:

To this should be added, for the re ord, that Myles was awarded a more than usually well earned OBE in 19 4. He had already been given a Papal Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in 197'2 in recognition of hi ervices to the com-

When I came to King' in 196 . Myles, on the College staff in the counts Department ince 194 , had recently been appointed sistant ccountant under R. A. Chappell. It was easy to di cern in the able and lively young Irishman, capabilities likely to burgeon. We got on very well together, helped perhaps in the early tage of our acquaintance by conne tion acros the Irish Sea. My own family had long been ettJed (though no longer) in

.. ~lyle is first and foremost a 'finance man'. His long years in the Finance Department and his understanding of the ,",orl-ing of the .nivcrsity Court Department have toad the allege in good tead in times of tinancial difficulty. He cultivated and enjoyed good relations with Hamish Stewart when he wa Clerk of the Court and with Stewart's successor Peter Holwell, both of whom sub equently became Principals of the niversit J . During the last ten year Myles has been an extremely active and effective fund raiser, utili ing a very diverse and enviable range of contacts in industry and commerce to secure donations for the ollege through the Development Trust. He was instrumental in establishing the ollege's links with the University of Texas at Houston and Austin and accompanied Lord Cameron on visits to that institution during a brief tour of the USA in 1982. He wa honoured by the University of Texas recently. He ha also been the prime mover in the setting up of the K L Association in USA and Canada and undertook a hectic tour of Canada earlier this year. The five years of his Secretary hip have been amongst the most eventful in the history of the College. The successful resistance to the Flowers Report proposals; the reunification with the School of Medicine and Den tistry; the a bortive proposal for merger with Bedford College; the KQ merger; all took place against the background of the severest financial crisis which the universities have ever faced. Myles has played a central role in all these affairs and it is a measure of the man that throughout this period he retained his in tere t and influence in all aspect of College life."

munity, particularly in non-denominational homes for the elderly and infirm. This was to be followed in 1977, with his elevation to Knight Commander of the same order, and in 1983 he wa created a Knight of S t. Gregory, the highest ecular honour the Vatican bestows. It was in 1983, on 1st July, that Myles Tempany, already Head of Admirustration and Bursar, assumed the Secretaryship of the College in succession to Hugh Patterson, and took on bigger responsibilities than any he had borne before. My own association with him went a good deal further back.

Tipperary but I knew the West well, particularly Sligo, where Myles was born, and Mayo where he grew up. We knew and liked many of the same things and there developed between us a degree of confidence and trust which made working together easy, and from which, 1 believe, the ollege gained benefit. In 1973 he became, to my great satisfaction, Finan e Officer and Accountant, and it was clear that he was going further. Here I permit myself an indiscretion. I had decided to step down myself as Principal in 1975, with the possibility of further tenure, but in the conviction that it must be pos ible in seven years to do all for any institution that lies


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