51³Ô¹ÏÍø

A tribute to Professor Sinclair Goodlad, former Director of the Humanities Programme at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, innovator in education and technical communications.

Generations of alumni and staff will look with gratitude on the life of Professor Sinclair Goodlad, who died on 5 August 2026, at the age of 88, peacefully and at home. Goodlad was influential at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø for his vision in seeing the benefits of a STEM education firmly entwined with the humanities, the social sciences and the modern languages.  

Sinclair Goodlad grew up in Lincoln, the son of a psychiatrist. He graduated from Cambridge with a BA degree in English Literature and obtained his doctorate from the London School of Economics in the sociology of television. He then spent a year teaching in St Stephen’s College, Delhi, before returning to the UK. He was drawn for a while to ordination to the priesthood of the Church of England.  His lively interest in education, and his ability to make connections, however, led him to an opportunity to teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) instead.

Goodlad began his career at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø when he was recruited as a lecturer by Professor Arnold Tustin  in 1962, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, to help improve spoken and written skills of undergraduate students in the Department. While in Electrical Engineering, he pioneered many innovative programmes to broaden the minds of his students. One notable example was the introduction of group projects and summer placement programmes.  It was one such group project that led to the creation of the Pimlico Connection in 1975, an initiative that places 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students to tutor students on mathematics and sciences at local schools. More than fifty years on the programme continues to flourish: to date 3500 students have mentored 33,000 pupils across 70 schools.

Goodlad stayed at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø throughout his career, rising through the rank of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and then Professor of Sociology of Higher Education. He was a strong advocate for separate department focussed on non-technical teaching at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, and this ambition was realised in 1973, when he left Electrical Engineering to join the newly-formed Department of Associated Studies. Goodlad served as the Director of the Humanities Programme (successor to the Department of Associated Studies, and today the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication) from 1992 until his retirement in 2002: a career at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø that spanned four decades. He liked Nehru’s notion of ‘the scientific temper’, believing the life of science could be enhanced by the insights and challenges of history, ethics, philosophy, art, or the study of a modern language.  Goodlad argued that humanities be taught in a STEM university not simply to ‘broaden the mind’ but that these disciplines enhance your critical abilities: they make you a better scientist. He argued his point in a stream of publications and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students agreed, enrolling into the Humanities Programme in ever greater numbers. 

Another impactful contribution from Goodlad was the introduction of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) in 1980.  UROP was first conceived at MIT, offering students the chance to work with a research team at the College, “experiencing the demands of theory and practice, and of social constraints on individual insights¹ ”.  This programme, still thriving at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø today, remains one of the extracurricular activities that our undergraduates students enjoy. 

Goodlad’s contributions benefited not only students, but also academic colleagues.  In the late 1970’s, he started organising internal workshops to train new academics how to teach effectively.  His legendary ‘Workshop D’, where new lecturers were videoed explaining some technical point, as though to a packed lecture hall, with Sinclair then providing sage feedback, is remembered by many. Typical of Sinclair’s kindly style, those somewhat challenging workshops were always followed with a good lunch, and good conversation, at 170 Queen’s Gate. 

Goodlad is legendary for the tenaciousness and grace with which, over several decades, he wove together the ‘STEM-humanities tapestry’. In getting his way Goodlad’s style was obvious: he was persistent to an extraordinary degree; he was quick-witted in his understanding of what we might mean by the term ‘a well-trained scientist’; and he was generous and attentive to colleagues and students. He will be greatly missed by his many colleagues, friends and former students. 

Goodlad was a Fellow of the Society for Research into Higher Education.  In recognition of his contributions at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, he was awarded the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College medal in 2013.  He is survived by his daughter Emily, son-in-law Toby and his two grandchildren. 

Anyone wishing to leave their own tributes, stories or photographs taken with Sinclair, please visit the .

¹ 'Research Opportunities for Undergraduates', Sinclair Goodlad, Studies in Higher Education, vol 23, no 3, pp349-355, 1998.