Obituary: Dr Anthony (Tony) William Warren
A graduate of Birkbeck's Department of Geography, Dr Anthony (Tony) William Warren, passed away peacefully on Friday 10 August 2018.
Tony - at the time, a Warder at HM Wormwood Scrubs Prison - enrolled on the Master's in Natural Environments and Plant Growth in 1985, graduating in 1987. He then registered for a PhD by part-time study, completing a thesis under my supervision entitled ‘The self-mulching properties of soils’. This was examined in March 1994 and he graduated either that year or the next.
Tony epitomises what Birkbeck stands for. He had left school before gaining qualifications, and, after life as a merchant seaman, agricultural labourer and prison warder, had completed an OU Bachelor's degree before enrolling for the Master's degree at Birkbeck and going on to crown his achievements with a doctorate.
The friendships Tony made while at Birkbeck were enduring and he and others of his Master's cohort continued to meet regularly until his death, some 31 years after graduating, such is the binding force for those who make Birkbeck part of their lives.
- Ian Reid, Former Professor of Geography at Birkbeck