| Administrative History | Thomas Alexander Fraser Noble, the son of a schoolmaster, was born in Cromdale, Morayshire, in 1918. His father died when he was eight and, along with his brother and mother, he moved to Nairn, where he attended the local academy. At the age of sixteen Fraser Noble became a student at Aberdeen University and graduated with a first in classics in 1938; he then completed an accelerated degree in political economy, graduating in 1940 and joining the war effort as part of the Black Watch. He was soon drafted into the Indian Civil Service, where he served seven years in the administration of the North West Frontier. After his return to Scotland he was unsure about his future career: he completed a teacher-training course at Aberdeen Training Centre but in 1948 he was offered, and accepted, a lectureship in political economy at Aberdeen University. In 1957 he left his lecturer's post to become Secretary and Treasurer of the Carnegie Trust, where he worked for five years liaising extensively with the higher education sector in Britain and North America. This experience was beneficial to him when he became Vice-Chancellor of Leicestershire University in 1962; he distinguished himself in the role of Vice-Chancellor and was knighted (1971) and appointed Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (1970-1972). He returned to Aberdeen as Vice-Chancellor and Principal in 1976 but his five-year tenure was not entirely happy owing to extensive cutbacks in higher education under Margaret Thatcher's government. He died at Nairn in 2003. |