Secretariat

Valerie Dunn

Members will be sad to hear of the death, on 6 May 2010, of Mrs Valerie (Val) Dunn, former Senior Accommodation Assistant in the Accommodation Office, Residential and Commercial Services.

Having previously worked in local government, Val joined the University in 1968. For much of her career, she took a leading part in the running of the complex computer system used for recording information about students living in University accommodation, and the production of bills and associated financial information. The system in question was unique in the UK and, it would be fair to say, not without its idiosyncrasies; Vals skills and regular liaison with the US company which had devised the system of which the one used by the Accommodation Office was a customised version were crucial to the provision of a smooth-running and efficient service. Vals detailed specialist knowledge was also to prove invaluable in the preparation of the specification for a replacement system at the end of the 1990s. In 1994, Val was nominated by the University to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

Val took early retirement in 2000. This provided her with more time to indulge a number of her long-standing interests, including photography, walking (particularly in the Dales) and gardening. She also took up watercolour painting in retirement.

Val is survived by her husband, Fred.

Published: 12 May 2010