My husband, Jack Forrester, who has died aged 84, had a successful career in research, management and consultancy before, in his retirement, putting his energy into encouraging state school children to succeed at Cambridge University.
Born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, Jack was the eldest child of John Forrester, the headteacher of Houghton secondary modern school, and his wife, Leonora (nee Galley).
Jack attended Houghton grammar school and won a scholarship to study natural sciences at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He gained an MA in 1959 and moved to University College London, to complete a PhD in crystallography under the supervision of Kathleen Lonsdale. Having previously played football for Bishop Auckland, he captained the Corpus Christi XI and also played for the University of London.
In 1960 Jack and I married and we moved to California for three years, where he worked at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) at the University of California in Berkeley. Weekends were spent travelling around the US, camping and sightseeing. On one memorable trip our tent was attacked by a grizzly bear and Jack made the heart-stopping run to the car to chase the bear away.
In 1964 he became part of the “reverse brain-drain” when he joined ICI and settled in Cheshire. He worked in research and production management for more than 20 years before taking early retirement from the company.
He then embarked on a new career as northern region manager of the Coverdale Organisation, a management consultancy. He focused on teamwork, leadership and organisational change and his clients included BAE Systems, BNFL, Rosyth Dockyard and Shell.
Jack loved DIY and gardening, taking on a huge project to transform three cottages into the family home near Chester. Once he retired from consultancy we moved to Pontefract, West Yorkshire, where he joined the North and West Yorkshire branch of the Cambridge Society (of Cambridge alumni).
He served as its chair from 2008 to 2011 and championed “Welcome to Cambridge” events in the region, introducing state-educated A-level students who had gained a place at the university to local undergraduates.
He is survived by me, by our children, Karen and David, two granddaughters, and his sister Leonora.
