Obituary: Professor Howard Elcock*

Howard Elcock has passed away, aged 75, while at his holiday retreat in Tolo, Greece, in early summer 2017. He was Professor Emeritus of Government at Northumbria University, UK. He was educated at the Priory School for Boys, Shrewsbury and The Queen’s College Oxford, gaining a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1964 and a B Phil (now M Phil) in Politics in 1966. He took his MA in 1968. He lectured in Politics at the University of Hull between 1966 and 1981, being promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1977. He served as a member of Humberside County Council between 1973 and 1981, becoming Planning Committee Chairman in 1975 until 1977, his tenure corresponding to sometimes difficult work on the iconic Humber Bridge. He moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in April 1981 to become Head of the School of Government at the then Newcastle Polytechnic, later to become Northumbria University. He was a Visiting Scholar at Fredonia State College, New York, USA between September 1993 and July 1994 and again between September 1997 and May 1998. While in the USA, he also famously fought off the attentions of would-be muggers in a pedestrian underpass in Chicago. Nothing ever seemed to overcome his work ethic and his positive attitude to life. Howard retired from full time work in April 1997 but remained an active researcher and writer. Howard was the author of numerous books and articles, including a study of administrative tribunals and public inquiries, which was reported in Administrative Justice (Longman, 1969), followed by a study of the Paris Peace Conference: Portrait of a decision: The Council of Four and the Treaty of Versailles (Routledge, 1972). Later books included Local Government (3 editions, Routledge, 1982, 1986 and 1994), Change and Decay? Public Administration in the 1990s (Longman, 1991) and Political Leadership (Edward Elgar, 2001). In 1987, Howard established, along with Professor John Fenwick and the late Ken Harrop, the Northern Network for Public Policy which served as a vehicle for public sector management development in the region. His more recent research Public Policy and Administration 2018, Vol. 33(1) 118–120 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0952076717731257 journals.sagepub.com/home/ppa