8 The Linguist Vol/56 No/6 2017
www.ciol.org.uk
IN MEMORIAM
1947-2017
CIOL's President, Dr Nicholas Bowen
HonFCIL, died on 17 September. He had
been President since 2012, bringing
enthusiasm, imagination and unfailing geniality
to the many roles that he undertook. Nick was
Chair of Council (1992-96), a member of the
Examinations Review Board and later its Chair.
He was a founder Trustee-Director of the new
IoL Educational Trust (IoLET) in 2001, and its
Vice-Chair from 2005 until he took on the role
of CIOL President. Members of the Institute
who have attended AGMs chaired by Nick
will remember his imperturbable good
humour, sometimes in contentious situations.
Nick went to Lancing College, followed by
a degree in economics at the London School
of Economics. He then took a Master's at
Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, and spent
some time teaching economics at Kent State
University, before starting his PhD on
Anglo-American and Argentine relations at
Cambridge. In America, he met and married
Joan Schaeffer, with whom he had three
sons: Phillip, Alex and Chris.
After a period at the Regent School of
English, Nick moved to the European Business
School (EBS), at that time part of City
University and now a constituent school of
Regent's University. At his retirement, he was
Principal Lecturer in International Business, and
shortly before his death he was awarded an
Honorary Senior Fellowship by the university.
In 1983, Nick contacted the Institute
seeking language examiners, as the EBS had
campuses in London, Paris, Frankfurt and
Milan. That was the beginning of a long and
fruitful association. He never shrank from
difficult tasks, such as the review of the
innovative Examinations in Languages for
International Communication (ELIC), which
had caused serious financial problems on
their introduction in 1990. His analysis was
delivered with characteristic sensitivity and
clarity. In 2013, Nick chaired and guided the
governance review that has paved the way for
the changes which are ongoing across CIOL.
Nick was a thoroughgoing European. He
co-authored International Business: Challenges
and Choices (OUP, 2010) with Alan Sitkin. One
of his notable achievements was travelling to
eastern Europe, months after the fall of the
Berlin Wall, to open up opportunities for a
new generation of students, and he continued
to be involved in internationalism and
education after his retirement, as a member
of the European Government Business
Relations Council. He will be sorely missed.
Words from Joan Bowen
Nick was very proud of the work that the
Institute does in promoting internationalism
and cooperation through languages. The
Institute stands for everything that Nick
believed in and promoted in his life,
academically, socially and personally.
Dr Nicholas Bowen
CIOL
IMAGES
©
CHRIS
CHRISTODOULOU
