George Bain (academic)

Sir George Bain FRSA CCMI FBAM
10th President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast
In office January 1998 – February 2004
Chancellor	Sir David Orr George J. Mitchell
Preceded by	Sir Gordon Beveridge
Succeeded by	Sir Peter Gregson
1st Chair of the Low Pay Commission
In office 2008–2009 (interim)
Minister	The Lord Mandelson
Preceded by	Paul Myners
Succeeded by	David Norgrove
In office 1997–2001
Minister	Margaret Beckett Peter Mandelson Stephen Byers Patricia Hewitt
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Adair Turner
Principal of London Business School
In office 1989–1997
Preceded by	Peter G. Moore
Succeeded by	John Quelch
Chairman of Warwick Business School
In office 1983–1989
President	Jack Butterworth Clark L. Brundin
Preceded by	Thom Watson
Succeeded by	Robin Wensley
President of the Manitoba New Democratic Party
In office 1962–1963
Personal details
Born	George Sayers Bain (1939-02-24) 24 February 1939 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Citizenship	Canadian British
Alma mater	University of Manitoba Nuffield College, Oxford
Occupation	University administrator industrial relations scholar railway worker
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Canadian Naval Reserve
Years of service	1957–1963
Rank	Lieutenant

Sir George Sayers Bain FRSA CCMI FBAM (born 24 February 1939) is a British-Canadian academic. He was President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2004.

Early life

Bain was born and brought up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was educated at Miles Macdonell Collegiate. He studied economics and political science at the University of Manitoba. He then proceeded to Nuffield College, Oxford, where he took a Doctor of Philosophy degree in industrial relations.

He served as President of the Manitoba New Democratic Party from 1962 to 1963.

Academic career

Bain began his academic career at Nuffield College; the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology; the University of Warwick, where he was Chairman of the School of Industrial and Business Studies between 1983 and 1989; and finally the London Business School, where he was Principal between 1989 and 1997.

He was a member of the Committee of Inquiry into Industrial Democracy chaired by Lord Bullock in 1976–1977, of the Senior Salaries Review Body during 1993-6, and was Chairman of the Low Pay Commission during 1997–2002, the Work and Parents Taskforce in 2001, and the Independent Review of the Fire Service in 2002.

He is a non-executive director of Bombardier Aerospace, Canada Life Group (UK) Ltd, the Canada Life Capital Corporation, Electra Investment Trust Plc, and Iain More Associates Ltd.

He holds eleven honorary doctorates and was knighted in 2001.

Career at Queen's

Bain's gregarious and extrovert personality was in marked contrast to the sombre leadership offered by his predecessor Sir Gordon Beveridge. The latter's tenure was marked by an acrimonious dispute within, and without the University over symbols and the use of the national anthem at graduations ceremonies. Bain pushed Queen's further up the research league table, the RAE but as this was achieved in part by the axing of long-standing departments like Geology, Classics and Irish Studies he suffered from a letter-writing campaign in the Belfast press from supporters of the staff whose posts were closed.

Perhaps the most public disappointment of his time at the helm of the university was the failure of the £60 million "Lanyon II" campaign to create a new 'student village'. The self-styled pressure-group "QUB Watch" also kept him under relentless scrutiny over the closure of the Armagh campus, and over what it considered his failure to reduce the number of cases of religious discrimination being taken against the university by members of staff.

His tenure at Queen's was also notable for a successful fundraising campaign for the Seamus Heaney Poetry Centre and for a new Library building.

Independent Review of the Fire Service

Bain was asked to chair a government-funded Independent Review of the Fire Service in 2002, it was wide-ranging and placed fire and rescue services in the UK under close scrutiny – it led to strike action by firefighters, shortly before the report's publication, although the FBU and fire and rescue services had been in tense negotiations for a year before. Sir Anthony Young and Sir Michael Lyons co-authored the review. The Bain Review was presented to the Deputy Prime Minister on 16 December 2002, but a position paper was delivered earlier. Bain said "Taking into account the very generous pension entitlement, the holiday arrangements, the good job security, firemen are actually not badly rewarded. The recruitment and retention figures back this up. There's about 40 applications for every vacancy in the fire service."

See also

• Fire services in the United Kingdom

External links

• Catalogue of Bain's papers, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick