Jim – as he was known to all – was born in Glasgow in 1936 and went to Paisley Grammar School, where among other things he acquired a strong work ethic and a sense of independence and self-reliance; and from his father, who was the first Industrial Relations Officer in the UK, he learned the foundational issues in industrial relations and personnel from an early age.

At Paisley College of Technology he studied chemistry, but soon changed his course to the military, joining the Royal Army Education Corps where he taught junior soldiers. He subsequently went to Strathclyde University to study personnel management, earning an advanced diploma (the equivalent of an MBA) while also working full-time as a Personnel Manager at British Steel.

At Strathclyde he was awarded a Turnbull Travelling Scholarship, enabling him to conduct research into training and apprenticeships in the European Coal and Steel Community. While in Paris, he renewed his acquaintance with a French family he had first met on holiday aged 13 – a reconnection that resulted in his marrying their daughter, Nicole, in 1964, and the birth of two sons, Henry and David.

After a spell as Personnel Director at John Laird, Jim came to Bristol at the age of 33 to become a Divisional Personnel Manager at E G & A Robinson, and rose to a series of positions within the company which in 1966 became the Dickinson Robinson Group (DRG), a worldwide corporation operating in 22 countries with 167 businesses and 30,000 employees. As Personnel Director Global, he travelled extensively and helped to modernise the operations of this huge company.

At DRG, Jim worked closely with Moger Woolley, another future Chair of University Council at Bristol. Moger became Chief Executive of the company, and both were involved in handling the unfortunate repercussions of a highly leveraged buy-out of DRG in 1989. Jim spent six months dismantling the business before leaving in 1990, but quickly found a new post as Senior Director for the Chemical Industries Association, with a brief that included national bargaining for 450,000 employees, as well as government and media relations.

Jim also served on various sector bodies including the CBI’s Social Affairs Committee (which he chaired) and as a board member of the Chemical Industry Education Centre at York University. He retired in 1997, but his old friend and colleague Moger Woolley was soon in touch. Moger, who was about to become Chair of University Council at Bristol, responded to its need for additional expertise in human resources by bringing Jim in as a member. Jim was to become Chair of the Staff Committee, then Vice-Chair and a Pro-Chancellor, and in 2006 became Chairman – a role he held until 2009.

Jim’s many honours included an honorary life membership of the national University Safety and Health Association in recognition of his service as Chair of the Higher Education Safety and Health Forum, which he set up in 2004 and involves employers, trade unions and the Health and Safety Executive. In 2010, the University was privileged to award him an honorary degree for his devoted support and stewardship of the University and its governing body.

In his oration at the ceremony, the University’s then Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Sir Eric Thomas, described Jim’s advice and counsel as 'experienced, wise and frequent’. Sir Eric went on: ‘His most vital input was during the changes to our pay and grading structure and also at times of tension in our industrial relations. He was also very willing to enter the debate about the more general strategic challenges facing the University.

‘None of our Council members are paid – this is done for altruism, so we were benefiting from all this advice and work for free. I asked why he gave so much to our University. He replied that as a family they were very interested in education and this was something he could share with Nicole, that education and training had woven in and out of his career and that he had both lectured at and been associated with universities in his career. Universities were a natural place for him to end up.

‘He went on to say that the real reward was that it presented an opportunity for him to meet extremely interesting and usually very nice people, that he could experience the fantastic things that were happening at the very edge of knowledge, that it was all about looking forward and finally, and best, he got to meet the young students who are our future and who are so stimulating. He summed it up by saying that his answer when someone asked him why he did so much for us for “nothing” was that he didn’t get nothing, he actually got a huge amount out of it – it was what “made him alive”’.

Jim Foulds’ many contributions to the University of Bristol live on, both in the positive operational changes he oversaw and in the day-to-day running of the institution and its Board of Trustees (the successor to University Council). Moger Woolley passed away a few weeks before Jim; Sir Eric Thomas in November 2023. The University owes a debt of gratitude to them all.

Nicole passed away in 2009, and Jim spent his latter years living in Clevedon before passing away peacefully in February. We send our heartfelt condolences to his friends and family and those who were dear to him.