Ken Sutton passed away last Wednesday. Much too young to do so, being in his early seventies.
Ken was with the University a long time, and in the School of Psychology when Aviation and Psychology were merged into one School in the restructure in the late 1990’s. He was a great Course Coordinator and teacher. Very organised, detailed, and very student focussed. Our SCIM course, a large service course for the Faculty and the School, struggled badly until the then PVC Bill Hogarth gave the course to Ken with the instruction “fix it”. And Ken did. Student Feedback on Course always greater than 4 under Ken.
Ken completed his PhD, supervised by Andrew Heathcote and myself, in 2011. He also had a Bachelor and Masters degrees in Education. He developed a psychometric test of cognitive special ability and several publications, collaborations and grants flowed from this.
Ken ‘retired’ in 2015, but it was hard to tell the difference. As a Conjoint Senior Lecturer he continued to supervise research students at all levels and was Course Coordinator for the School’s new Work Integrated Learning (WIL) course. The WIL course ran both semesters and required significant outreach to organisations who could provide suitable placements. I was concerned at the time demands this placed on Ken but, to quote him, he used to say “That’s OK. It’s my way of giving back.”
Ken met Yvonne when he was 17 and she 16. Yvonne passed away last year. They had been married for over 50 years. Ken was a quiet and private man, but we used to chat. I know Ken loved the university. But not as much as he loved his family.
