Professor Sue Iversen remembered by Emeritus Professor Dick Passingham

Sue Iversen was Head of the Department of Experimental Psychology in Oxford from 1993-2005. So her death at the age of 85 is of note to all of us, even those who never knew her. 

Sue did her PhD in Cambridge with Larry Weiskrantz as her supervisor. As a postdoc she gave supervisions (tutorials) to my wife, Clare. Larry Weiskrantz and Alan Cowey were then attracted to Oxford with the promise of a new building for the department, the Tinbergen Building. As Head of Department, Larry Weiskrantz introduced Experimental Psychology as an undergraduate subject and under his Professorship the department became the equal of the psychology department at Stanford University. 

In 1983 Sue and her husband Les worked on neuropharmacology at the Neuroscience Centre at Merc, Sharp and Dome. When Larry retired as Head of Department in 1993, we were lucky to be able to attract Sue Iversen as his successor. Sue was both lively and caring. For example, she used to call into my room and ask me what I had discovered recently. How could she do that? Well, first she was a very supportive person. But also, the dread hand of bureaucracy had not yet descended on universities. 

Sue became a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Oxford, an elevated position.  As well as serving on the councils of the SERC and BBSRC, she was awarded a CBE in 2005.

Those were the days. Heads of Department had time, and many of the staff used to meet for coffee each morning.  Covid, home-working, the demolition of the Tinbergen Building, the pressure to publish and bring in grants, all these threatened to put an end to the collegiate atmosphere of the Department. I very much hope that in the Life and Mind building it will be possible to bring members of the department together and foster collaborations as happened when Sue our Head.