My colleague Roy Parker, who has died aged 85, was the first professor of social work and social administration at Bristol University, appointed in 1969. His department quickly gained a national and international reputation for its research and teaching.
He contributed to a number of major social policy initiatives, including the Seebohm report of 1968, which laid the foundations for modern social services, and the Wagner report of 1988 on the future of residential care.
Born in south-east London, Roy was the son of Alfred, a train driver, and his wife, Ellen, who had lived in a workhouse when she was young and later fostered a little girl. This generated in Roy an interest in services for poor children.
After attending Dartford grammar school, he studied social sciences at the London School of Economics. He did his national service with the RAF in Libya and Egypt. Thereafter came posts as a childcare officer, a school and college teacher and a lecturer at the LSE in 1961. Alongside this, he undertook research into foster care for which he gained a PhD, making him among the first academics to investigate this topic.
He published papers on decision-making in children’s care and the welfare of young people with disabilities. In addition, he served on committees of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation, the Social Policy Association, British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, the Economic and Social Research Council and the University Grants Committee. He was also scientific adviser to the Department of Health on child welfare, social security and local government and director of studies of its summer schools for senior staff.
After retirement in 1997, he worked with the Dartington Social Research Unit as a fellow of its Centre for Social Policy. This enabled him to complete his study on the shipment of poor children to Canada (1867-1917) and the overview Change and Continuity in Children’s Services (2015).
Roy was a superb teacher whose lectures were meticulously prepared and, like his writing, were precise, lucid and compelling. His observations and advice were critical when necessary but always encouraging to his students and colleagues.
He is survived by his wife, José, whom he married in 1954, four children, eight grandchildren and a sister.
