Nicholas Bowen, Head’s 1960-1964 (July 2017)

Nicholas died aged 70 on 26 July 2017. He spent his working life promoting academic excellence and internationalism, as both a principal lecturer in international business at Regents University, London and as president of the Chartered Institute of Linguists from 2012 until his death. Born in Finchley, north London, Nick spent his childhood living between the Isle of Wight, near his grandparents’ home, and the Middle East, where his father worked for British Petroleum. Nick boarded at Little Appley prep school, Ryde, and Lancing College. Nick graduated in economics at the London School of Economics before going to the US to study for his master’s in Pennsylvania. While there, through mutual friends he met Joan Schaeffer, and they married in 1971. For more than 30 years, Nick inspired thousands of students at the Regent’s University with his lectures on global politics and business and helped create a community spirit in the college through his warm, gentle humour. One of his most notable achievements was travelling to Eastern Europe months after the fall of the Berlin Wall to open up new opportunities for a new generation of students. He was involved in the Chartered Institute of Linguists for more than 30 years and was made an honorary fellow in 1991. He became president of the institute from 2012 until his death. In Broxbourne he was a parent governor and a boys’ football coach for more than 15 years. Nick is survived by Joan, his three sons, Chris, Alex and Philip, his granddaughters, Eleanor and Amelia, and his sister, Jane.