Tributes to Professor Sally Macgill

Sally was a good friend and mentor. I was a student in the Geography
Dept at Leeds from 1981-84, and she was an inspiring teacher. As a
student I was privileged to work with her on a number of her research
projects. Our friendship was reinforced when I came back to the
Geography Dept to teach for a year in 1989-90 - she encouraged me to join her swimming club at Guiseley but I could never keep up with her in training, she was such a strong swimmer.

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I am sure you will get lots of similar messages from others affected by
Sally's loss - she had so much to give and was so very talented and
awe-inspiring. It is a tragedy that her life and that of Alice have
been cut short.

--- Kathy O'Leary
(BA Geography 1981-84, Lecturer in Geography 1989-90)

I am a graduate of 2001 from Sally's BA in Environmental Management
course. Those of us that have kept in touch since graduation from the
course are deeply saddened by the terrible loss of Sally. As an
individual I shared her enthusiasm for her work in risk management
particularly and she encouraged me to move into an environmental
career.

--- David Longden

An overwhelming sense of sadness and loss is felt by everyone in the School.
But this is mixed with a determination to build upon Sally’s achievements.
None of us (in our Institute) would be here if were not for her, after all. On
a personal level, I would not be the person I am now if it were not for the
faith she put in me and the opportunities she gave me. Her speech at the re-
naming launch of the Sustainability Research Institute has incredible power
now, as the whole event was a celebration of her greatest achievement. Now we
must all do our best to live up to her expectations and cement SRI’s place as
a global leader. At the same time as trying to make sure the students don’t
get too badly affected in terms of teaching, there is new resolve to produce
research outputs and build upon the vision that Sally initiated. Her memory
will live on in all of us, and will continue to inspire people through the
future teaching and research of the institute she founded.

--- Mark Reed

I am a graduate of 2001 from the BSc Environmental Science course. I can only echo Dave’s message and am deeply saddened by the news of the loss of Sally and her daughter. She was an inspiration to many of us (if not all!), even if some of us didn’t always understand her risk management lectures! With something as big as the tsunami disaster you expect to know someone affected, but it is such a waste that someone as knowledgeable and forward thinking as Sally (and, of course, her daughter) were lost.

---Alan Clark