Jan 15 2024

In Memory of Steen Mangen (1950-2023)

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Photo Steen Mangen at Lake OhridIt is with the deepest sadness that the Department of Social Policy announces the death of Steen Mangen, who passed away suddenly in his home on 10 December 2023. Steen earned his PhD in the Department in 1977 and “re-joined” the Department as a “New Blood Lecturer in European Social Policy” in 1985 – the year European leaders agreed on the Single European Act paving the way for greater economic and political integration. Steen served the School as a member of faculty for 33 years, before retiring in 2018.

Steen was deeply committed to the study of European integration and had, growing up in Stoke-on-Trent as the son of a miner and a factory worker in the local potteries, a long-standing research interest in urban regeneration. At the School, he pioneered the teaching of European Social Policy and established a specialist MSc programme for those with an interest in the social integration of Europe. Steen ran the MSc in European Social Policy with exemplary dedication to his students – many of whom remained in touch with him long after they graduated from the programme.

Among colleagues and students, Steen was known for his extraordinary wit, which brought much laughter to the classroom and the Department’s tea kitchen. He loved the theatre and opera, and had a keen interest in architecture. Only the global pandemic could temporarily “pause” his passion for travel and learning about other countries. Steen was a polyglot who watched daily news programmes in Spanish, French and German. He never lost his active interest in Europe.

Steen’s unexpected death was a great shock, and he will be missed sadly.

Written by Timo Fleckenstein

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Oct 9 2023

In memory of Nick Crafts

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The Department of Economic History is deeply saddened by the death of Professor Nick Crafts, a former Convenor of the Department, and a great friend and colleague. He was generous with his time, and supportive of students and young scholars and, above all, very funny.

Nick was, quite literally, a giant of his field and an inspiration to many. His work with Knick Harley, reinterpreting the British Industrial Revolution remains influential and much discussed.

Nick joined the Department of Economic History at LSE in 1995 and stayed for 10 years before returning to Warwick where he was the founding Director of CAGE.

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Sep 13 2023

In memory of Doris Hermann-Ostrowski

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It is with deep sadness that we are sharing the news that our Language Centre colleague Doris Hermann-Ostrowski passed away unexpectedly on Friday 14 July this year from heart failure at the age of 71.

Doris joined the LSE Language Centre in 2007 and was a highly valued member of the German teaching team. She will be remembered as a very competent and meticulous professional with a passion for teaching who cared deeply about her students. She will be missed by staff and students alike.

Her funeral and cremation took place on 25 August, with family and friends in attendance.

There is a tribute page at https://rodica-dorishermann-ostrowski.muchloved.com/.

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Sep 7 2023

In memory of Christopher Coker

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It is with the greatest sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the death of LSE IDEAS Director, Professor Christopher Coker.

As a Professor of International Relations at LSE for over 40 years, Christopher taught and mentored countless students who remember his unique humour and individuality. Following his retirement in 2019, he continued to serve as the Co-Director of LSE IDEAS, supporting the foundation of the LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum and establishing many other long-standing partnerships.

Professor Coker was a world-renowned academic who dedicated his life to writing extensively on all aspects of war. He was a twice-serving member of the Council of the Royal United Services Institute, a former NATO Fellow and a regular lecturer at Defence Colleges in the UK, the US, Rome, Singapore, and Tokyo. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute for Defence Studies in Tokyo, the Rajaratnam School for International Studies Singapore, the Political Science Department at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok and the Norwegian and Swedish Defence Colleges. His publications include Rebooting Clausewitz (Hurst, 2015), Future War (Polity, 2016), and The Rise of the Civilizational State (Polity, 2019). His most recent book was, Why War? (2020).

Co-Director, Professor Chris Alden, commented in memory of Professor Coker, “Christopher’s originality of thought and sparkling intellect shaped a generation of scholars, policymakers and students studying war in our times. All of us at LSE IDEAS were privileged to know and work with him over the years. His presence will be sorely missed.’’

Centre Manager, Dr Emilia Knight, said, “We will miss Professor Christopher Coker immensely. He was a superb colleague and leader at IDEAS, and the kindest person.’’

We would also encourage you to share memories and messages on our dedicated space hereAt this time, we do not have any further information regarding memorial celebrations but as and when these are organised they will be shared here. 

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Aug 3 2023

In memory of Marion Hancock

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An image of Marian HancockWe are very sad to report the recent death of Marion Hancock, who worked at LSE for many years over the last three decades, in various roles across Student Services including in Undergraduate Registry, in Financial Support and in the Student Services Advice and Reception team. She was a key part of the move from Connaught House to the brand new Student Services Centre in 2001, supporting staff and students to settle into the new premises and routines. Her support for LSE students at times of crisis or in difficulty was recognised by so many people across LSE and had many positive outcomes for our students. Her calm and considered advice for staff across the institution was highly valued. Her attention to detail was well known, but this never affected her ability to care.

Marion left LSE a few years ago and was finally able to indulge her life-long passion for gardening in her work in Kent at a local garden centre, after a post in a hospice charity shop. She successfully dealt with pancreatic cancer a couple of years ago and her death in March 2023 at 63 was unexpected.

She is sadly missed by her friends, her family in Wales and by her husband Chris. If anyone would like to pass their condolences to Marion’s family, please contact Patricia Lawrence (p.lawrence@lse.ac.uk).

We send our condolences to Chris and Marion’s family and friends.

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Jul 21 2023

In memory of Nina Keleher

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Smiling photo of LSE's Nina KeleherNina Keleher, Programme Manager for LSE, died at home in Canada surrounded by family on Tuesday 11 July 2023. Nina joined LSE in 2014 as a temporary administrator in the IT Training team in the IT Services Division (now DTS). She quickly became invaluable, not just to the team but the wider Division, and was appointed to a permanent role within the year. When the Digital Skills Lab was formed in 2018, Nina played a central role in ensuring the new unit was well organised and smoothly run, and she used her considerable networking talents to establish strong working relationships across the School. During her period of illness, her absence was keenly felt – not just for her outstanding work and initiative, but in her ability to bring everyone together, making old and new staff feel welcome and valued. Nevertheless, she stayed in touch with her colleagues, continuing to remind us all to enjoy life amidst the pressures and challenges of work. Even in the midst of her health challenges, she remained a supportive colleague and friend, demonstrating incredible bravery, compassion, honesty and openness from the moment of her cancer diagnosis through to the day she died.

Colleagues remember Nina as the heart of the team, a friendly face who was generous, warm and kind to all. Nina was also embedded in the life of the School, serving as a Fire Warden, Safe Contact,  member of several award-winning Green Impact teams, and active member of the IMT Games Club. As befits a member of LSE, Nina never stopped learning, studying alternative medicine, natural skin care, data analysis, Tunisian crochet and more in addition to her work commitments. Her curiosity and engagement with all aspects of the world and life, and especially with people, made her a wonderful friend as well as colleague and many of those who worked with her remember fondly their conversations and shared passions – from RuPaul’s Drag Race to the best restaurants in London, green spaces to vexillology. Nina’s ability to connect with others in a genuine and effortless way reflected both her wide range of interests as well as her skill in listening to and caring for those around her. Those who knew her describe her as honest and forthright, funny, engaging, confident, positive, compassionate, a big and wonderful personality, with a zest for life.

There will be a celebration of Nina’s life on the afternoon of Monday, 11 September – further details will be shared closer to the time. Her friends and colleagues outside of LSE are invited to contact digital.skills.lab@lse.ac.uk in order to be notified of the time and place once confirmed.

A collection for Nina’s nominated charities is available at: https://ninakeleher.muchloved.com/

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Jun 28 2023

In memory of Stéphanie Beltrando

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It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the death of our colleague and friend, Stéphanie Beltrando. She had been bravely fighting cancer for 8 years.

Stéphanie joined LSE in 2000 and for the next 23 years taught across the range for French language courses at the LSE Language Centre. Before coming to LSE, she studied at the University of Montpellier, The Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris), and took a PGCE in French at Greenwich University.

Stéphanie was a valued member of the French team and was Highly Commended again in the 2023 LSE Class Teachers Awards. She was one of the kindest people and will be missed by all.

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Jun 22 2023

In memory of Oscar Delgado-Molero

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We are very sad to announce that Oscar Delgado-Molero passed away suddenly on 15 June 2023.

Oscar had worked at the School since 2015, as Housekeeper at Grosvenor House, High Holborn and Rosebery Hall and most recently as part of the team in the Marshall Building.

Oscar was a loving father to his son Francisco ‘Paco’, they loved playing football together.  He also enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.

He will be missed by one and all.

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Jun 21 2023

In memory of Tony Hough

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We are very sad to announce that Tony Hough passed away on 15 June 2023 after a short illness.

Tony joined LSE in July 1989 and worked in the Estates Division as a maintenance technician. He was a reliable member of the team, always happy to help others and assist his colleagues whenever he could.

Tony was a keen walker, having walked most of the South Coast path over the years he also walked the Pennine way and many other paths aross the country.  In more recent years Tony and his mates turned to circular walks, always ending at the pub.

He was also a good photographer and carried his camera with him most of the time. In his spare time, Tony made and played guitars. Once he’d made them he would often give them away – there are a couple of people at LSE that have been given them over the years.

Tony will be sadly missed, and our thoughts are with his family.

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Jun 21 2023

In memory of David Billis (1934-2023)

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David Billis was Emeritus Reader in the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics (LSE). He was an organizational theorist whose work engaged with the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Influenced by Weber, he developed a distinctive approach to organizational analysis across three main dimensions: category (the type of work), level (the vertical dimension within the organizational hierarchy), and authority (the management role) to which he also added a conceptualization of individual capacities.

He began his career at Brunel University, where he wrote Welfare Bureaucracies (1984) and Organisational Design (1987), where he undertook collaborative action research with a range of social welfare agencies. He then went on to develop a theory of ‘work levels’, an approach which was adopted by multinational companies and implemented in over a hundred countries. However, it was his work on voluntary organizations for which he became best known. He joined the School in 1987, bringing an innovative voluntary/nonprofit sector management research and teaching agenda that he had started developing at Brunel.

As founder-director of the LSE’s Centre for Voluntary Organization (later the Centre for Civil Society) in the Department of Social Policy, he established a new MSc in Voluntary Sector Organization, which was the first specialised postgraduate course of its kind. His next book Organising Public and Voluntary Agencies (1993) set out a voluntary sector theory of change, which was influential in assisting organizations with navigating changing policy environments and dealing with the management challenges.

He co-founded the journal Nonprofit Management and Leadership in 1990, and in 1995 was awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). His 2010 book Hybrid Organisations and the Third Sector reflected further evolution of his ideas, and his chapter ‘Towards a theory of hybrid organizations’ was published in Shafritz, Ott and Jang’s Classics of Organisation Theory (2015). David Billis will be remembered by colleagues and students as a kind and approachable teacher, a dedicated scholar, and a passionate advocate for the voluntary sector.

Written by David Lewis

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