In memoriam
In memoriam: Joyce Underwood
The Ring
The university lost a dear and valued member of the community on Monday, May 18 with the passing of Joyce Underwood. Underwood was a founding member of the Elders’ Voices program,
which brings the stories, songs, language, culture and traditions of Indigenous communities to life at UVic and at Camosun College. Her involvement helped shape the program, bringing elders
from local communities to guide students, staff, faculty and administration in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. She was well known for having a kind word and a smile for everybody she met,
and supported the spirit, work and life of the university in ways that are difficult to count.
In memoriam: Anthony H. Birch
The Ring
Anthony H. Birch, who was Professor in UVic’s political science department from 1977 until 1989, and Chair from 1981 to 1986, passed away on Dec. 13, 2014 at the age of 90.
Over the course of a long and distinguished career, he published numerous articles and 8 books—all single authored. His Representative and Responsible Government (1964) and
later British System of Government (published in ten editions) remain central texts on UK politics and represent a particular tradition of British political studies, rooted in history and in
the main canons of traditional political theory. He was also a student of comparative federalism, nationalism and regional integration. His books and articles on these subjects have been
very relevant to contemporary debates in Britain about Scottish and Welsh devolution. His last book, The Concepts and Theories of Modern Democracy, was published in a revised third edition in
2007, when Tony was well into his 80s.