Michael Swanston, former vice principal of Abertay University, who played significant roles in the wider cultural and academic life of the region, has died aged 75.
He is credited with creating the educational programmes that attracted the student numbers to help the former Dundee Institute of Technology gain university status.
Mike, as he was known, had studied for his PhD in Dundee under renowned visual scientist Nicholas Wade.
His research interests were in the visual perception of space, and the measurement of pain.
Passion for golf
Outside work, Mike was a golf devotee. He was captain of Dalhousie Golf Club, Carnoustie, in 1999/2000, played the championship course as often as he could and was instrumental in moving the club’s facilities from the now-demolished clubhouse to Carnoustie Golf Hotel.
At the Open at Carnoustie in 1999, he was in the scorers’ box to record the score of a very frustrated Tiger Woods who had fallen foul of the high rough and fast greens.
Public service
Mike also served on many public bodies. He had been vice-chairman of the board of governors of Dundee College; a director of Dundee Ice Arena and had been vice-chairman of the board of directors of Dundee Science Centre.
Educated at Ludgrove and Rugby Schools, he passed the Cambridge University entry exams at the prodigious age of 15.
After a year out travelling the world with his best friend and cousin Graeme, who was tragically killed soon afterwards in a motorbike accident, Mike completed an honours degree in natural science at Cambridge.
During this time, he met the love of his life, Georgina, in Elie, Fife. They married in 1968 and celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2018.
Their eldest daughter Elizabeth was born in June 1968, followed by Isabella in June 1972, and Duncan in December 1977.
After graduating, Mike was employed at RAF Farnborough as a scientist, however, his ferocious intellect and passion for research compelled him to pursue a PhD under Nicholas Wade in Dundee.
Move north
The family moved to Carlogie Road, Carnoustie in 1972, and stayed there for 43 years.
During his years in academia he published more than 50 research papers in prestigious journals. He also secured numerous grants and awards from bodies ranging from the Medical Research Council to NATO. He and Nick also co-authored a successful textbook on vision, now in its third edition.
At Dundee Institute of Technology, Mike worked as a research professor and then became head of social and health sciences.
He was vice-principal of what became Abertay University from 2002 until 2008. There, his oversight of quality assurance frameworks helped to maintain the upward trajectory that the university has enjoyed.
From the time Mike and his family moved to Carnoustie he had been closely involved in golf in the town.
Champion
Mike joined the Dalhousie and won the club championship in 1980. He played the championship course every Saturday, sometimes more often, until his mid 60s when ill health forced him to stop.
In 2016, Mike and Georgina moved from their home in Carnoustie to Newburgh in Aberdeenshire to be closer to family.
A private family ceremony will take place on Saturday March 11 at Parkgrove crematorium, Froickheim. This will be followed by a celebration of his life at Carnoustie Golf Hotel at 12noon. All friends and family are welcome to attend the celebration at the hotel. The family would be grateful for charitable donations at the funeral rather than flowers.