My father, Geoff Morris, who has died aged 82, had a distinguished career as Cambridgeshire’s chief education officer between 1976 and 1991. During his term of office the county became a leading education authority with innovations that achieved national acclaim.
Geoff was born in the Lancashire town of St Helens to Mary (nee Berry), a teacher, and her husband, Thomas, who owned and ran a confectioner’s shop, as well as a cafe, in the town. He went to Ampleforth boarding school, Yorkshire, before studying at Cambridge University in the 1950s.
He began his career as a teacher near Liverpool and moved into local government in the early 60s. After working in London and West Hartlepool, he became an education officer for the city of Cambridge in 1966, living there for the rest of his life.
He joined Cambridgeshire county council’s education department in the early 70s and held several posts there before being appointed chief education officer.
In that role he pioneered the idea of the local management of schools (LMS), which gave them more autonomy and allowed them to control their own budgets. The innovation gave him great satisfaction but he also regretted how LMS was later hijacked by central government as a way of encouraging schools to opt out, something he considered divisive.
It was a high pressure job with long hours and, in 1991, at the age of 55, he decided to take a change of direction that would give him a bit more free time while he was still relatively young.
He found a new vocation as a careers counsellor. Geoff finally retired aged 65, after which he enthusiastically pursued many interests, including sport, jazz, languages and travel.
A man of great warmth and humanity, at the age of 80 he made a solo trip around Argentina and Chile – a journey that typified his spirit of adventure and determination to live life to the full.
He married Janet (nee Duggins), a teacher, after they met in the 50s at a jazz club in Cambridge. She died in 2015. He is survived by their four children, Hannah, Laura, Tom and me, and four grandchildren.
