Elisabeth Gerver was one of these rare Professors able to instantly radiate professionalism and gravitas.

Having led part of my Masters degree, she poached me from Medical Education in 1995 to a role that I will continue to hold until the end of 2021, remaining in touch with her legacy well beyond that. 

Possibly the best way to provide an insight into her dynamism is to quote directly from her Inaugural Professorial Lecture, given on 12 November 1991 at the University of Dundee, the script of which I proudly own. The talk was modestly entitled "THE FUTURES OF CONTINUING EDUCATION" as, as Elisabeth went on to gushingly explain, many futures were possible. Let me quote the first few sentences to give you a sense of this great lady. 

"In one of his novels, Malcolm Bradbury writes that "a good friend will come to see you in prison, but a really good friend will come to hear your lecture." I am very grateful this evening to discover how many really good friends I have! The word futures is deliberate. It is not the misprint which those who know I have degrees in English kindly assume! It also does not refer to goods and stock sold for future delivery, although such a meaning would be apt for the way in which continuing education prepares learners for present and future change. Nor does it mean that I shall crystal ball gaze, despite standing here in front of you dressed in the colours of a fortune teller".

Elisabeth was of course dressed in her scarlet academic gown, a picture of which I can share from an event some six years later when she hosted the fourth annual ceremony for Dundee's then new Access Summer School - a course we refined together and has lasted to now (2021), helping well over three thousand learners aspire to qualify and prepare to enter the University of Dundee. This was how Elisabeth wrote and spoke, never using two words when a better single one would do.

An example of how her forensic intellect was able to make a detailed request is included, her much loved black ink fountain pen flowing over so many documents I have from the period. 

If ever there was someone who could justifiably say their academic career had truely transformed lives, it was Elisabeth. She was a boss, a mentor, a friend, and the wisest guide I have had the pleasure to encounter. 

I leave you with a photo of Elisabeth looking at my humble younger self, I hope with pride, of the academic she had plucked from a future in Medical Education and put in charge of her most significant project. It captures her perfectly as the brightest of bright academic lights. Just the best role model a young academic could ever wish for, someone I was blessed to call a friend and mentor. 

Dr John Blicharski

University of Dundee