Obituary

for Dr Lynne Millward

Lynne, who was a Reader in the psychology department, joined the University in 1993 initially as a research fellow working with Glynis Breakwell and Chris Fife-Schaw before taking up a lectureship in October of that year. She had previously worked as an occupational psychologist in a consulting capacity for Walpole Ltd after having taken her PhD at Kent and BA Exeter.

One of her first tasks as a lecturer was working with Dr Peter Wood to set up the MSc in Occupational and Organisational Psychology which, by virtue of their gaining BPS accreditation, became a very popular course with students and a great success that still runs nearly 20 years later. In recent years she took over as Course Director for the undergraduate psychology degree injecting new energy into the course and steering it through the major restructuring task of converting it into 15 credit format.

Lynne put a lot of effort into both her teaching and research but it is for her relationship with colleagues and students that she will be most remembered. She was extremely generous with her time and support and determined that students grow and develop. This was evident in the way she prioritised the students and made sure they had a good, fair and just experience whilst at Surrey. Lynne often did qualitative social research which relies on using quotes from research participants to make points: a couple of examples of these students’ comments say more about this than I can:

“She was a huge part of my university career and we frequently met up to discuss both academic and personal issues. She was not just a member of staff to me, but a friend..... Lynne was an amazing woman whom I came to love dearly.”

“Lynne was held in very high regard not only by our year group, but by everyone that I knew who had the pleasure of meeting her and I hope she rests in peace. She was known for going out of her way to assist students in any way that she could and always seemed a genuine, friendly and approachable member of staff. I remember an occasion last year when I received an emailed reply from Lynne at 11.30pm offering advice on an issue I had with a paper I was working on. I was not expecting her to reply at that hour and had not demanded an immediate response, but she went out of her way to provide guidance at a time that was completely out of her working hours. It was just what she did and went above and beyond in such a humble way. She was one-of-a-kind, and although I did not know her as such, I am very saddened by this news.”

Lynne was a fantastic colleague who was great fun, enthusiastic about life and had an energy that was infectious.

Lynne was a single parent and leaves behind three children, Oli, Darcy and Oscar.

She is very much missed by colleagues and students alike.

There is a book of condolence in the foyer of the psychology department for those who would like to leave a message