My mother, Joyce Lishman, who died aged 73 of bronchopneumonia, was a leader in social work education and research.
In 1993 she was appointed the first female professor at Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen, where she led the school of applied social science until her retirement in 2011. In 2000, Joyce set up a long lasting partnership between RGU, Strathclyde University and other organisations to form the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care.
She wrote Communication in Social Work (1994), which has become a standard for students and newly qualified practitioners, and the Handbook for Practice Learning in Social Work and Social Care (1991). She was also the general editor of the Research Highlights in Social Work series of books. Joyce was a board member of the Lloyds TSB Foundation, Aberlour Child Care Trust and Voluntary Services Aberdeen.
A chair of the Partnership Drugs Initiative, Joyce was a founding member of Inspiring Scotland, reflecting her commitment to promoting the third sector in provision of welfare. She was a council member of the Scottish Social Services Council, and for a number of years she was chair of the heads of social work education group in Scotland. In 2018 she was awarded an honorary degree by Edinburgh University.
She was born in Castleford and remained a proud Yorkshirewoman. The daughter of Stanley Major, a salesman, and Kathleen (nee Leicester), a French teacher, she was the first pupil from her grammar, Normanton girls’ high school, to go to Oxford, where she studied philosophy, politics and economics at St Hilda’s College, graduating in 1968.
She chose a career in social work, trained at Edinburgh University and practised as a social worker for many years. In Edinburgh she met and married Roly Lishman, then a PhD student in computing science, and they moved to Aberdeen in 1977.
In 1984 she became a social worker for the Malcolm Sargent Fund, developing a new social work service for children with cancer or leukaemia and their families. In 1985 Joyce started working as a lecturer at the Robert Gordon Institute of Technology.
She graduated with a PhD from Aberdeen University in 1986; her groundbreaking research was a study of social work practice in which she used video to analyse social work interviews. She was especially proud of combining her PhD and research part time with being an active mother for her small children, my brother, Ben, and me.
An avid reader of the Guardian, Joyce was known for her integrity, quiet tenacity and a sharp intellect. She will be remembered for her warmth, empathy, generosity and hospitality.
Joyce is survived by Roly, Ben and me, and three grandchildren, Zander, Clara and Isaac.
