Albert Irvin was generous towards fine art students and their courses through his membership of the fine art board of the former Council for National Academic Awards during the late 1970s and 1980s. While expressing some lack of confidence at first regarding the demands of degree-course validation, Bert quickly proved himself to be a shrewd, well-informed and sympathetic judge of quality, both of the courses themselves and of the staff teaching them.
It was a pleasure to see Bert in action, speaking informally with students about their experience of their courses. Quite apart from his reputation as an artist, which naturally impressed them, they much appreciated, too, the interest he took in their work.
