The University is saddened to hear of the death of former member of staff Bill Hammond. Bill was chairman of Creative Arts at Warwick from 1978 when Coventry College of Education merged with the University to form the Arts Education Department, which Bill went on to chair in the 1980s. Bill retired from Warwick in 1990.

Bob Jackson, from the Institute of Education, pays tribute to his former colleague:

“Bill Hammond was a delightful man, passionate about drama in education, Shakespeare and children's model theatres (which he collected). As chairman, he steered the Creative Arts Department and then the Arts Education Department through some of the early years of the post-merger period, and was always supportive to colleagues, taking a particular interest in the professional development of younger staff. He was a key person in the tradition of drama education started at Coventry College of Education and still continuing at the University of Warwick through the research of Professors Jonathon Neelands and Joe Winston and their colleagues.”