Derek Birley

Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.

He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University.

He wrote two cricket books: The Willow Wand (1979) and the classic A Social History of English Cricket (1999), (which won the Cricket Society's Book of the Year Award and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 1999).

He was the founding Rector of Ulster College (later Ulster Polytechnic), and later the founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster. When he retired from education in 1991, he had overseen two decades of massive increases in provision of higher education in Northern Ireland.

External links

• Derek Birley's Obituary, The Guardian
• Death Of Sir Derek Birley, University of Ulster News Release
• University of Ulster Opens £6.5m Sir Derek Birley Learning Resource Centre, 11 October 2002 , News Release

Preceded by Robert Twigger	William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner 1999	Succeeded by Lance Armstrong
Preceded by –	Rector of Ulster College 1970–1984	Succeeded by –
Preceded by –	Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster 1984–1991	Succeeded by Trevor A. Smith

Persondata
Name	Birley, Derek
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Short description
Date of birth	31 May 1926
Place of birth
Date of death	14 May 2002
Place of death