Colleagues remember David, who died in August.
David Collard combined a distinguished academic career as an economist with a wide range of interests and an irreverent view of both authority and fashion. Born in 1937 and educated in Tiverton, Devon, he secured a scholarship to study at Queens' College, Cambridge where he secured a first class degree in Economics.
After lectureships at Cardiff and Bristol, David was appointed Professor of Economics at the University of Bath in 1978, becoming emeritus on his retirement in 2002. His scholarship ranged across welfare economics, public finance, the history of economic thought and intergenerational justice. His most widely cited book was Altruism and Economy, published in 1978, and he was also a leading authority on major figures in the history of economics, publishing on the economic contributions of Walras, Edgeworth, Hicks and especially Pigou.
While at Bath he held a range of leadership positions, including Head of the Political Economy Group (1979-1995), Head of the School of Social Sciences (1982-1985) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (1989-1992). According to George Lunt, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, David “vigorously promoted synergies between world leading research and high-quality teaching and strengthened the status of the social sciences (including economics) in an institution historically dominated by science and engineering.” David carried his official roles lightly, and was quick to fold up any committee he deemed redundant, being more interested in ideas, conversation, questioning accepted wisdom, and upholding a common humanity.
Outside the academic world, David advised government departments on the costs of tax compliance, worked on ethnic relations and discrimination, and collaborated with colleagues across numerous disciplines. On retirement ‒ and having helped to cultivate fair trade links with the village of K V Kuppam in Tamil Nadu earlier in his life ‒ he enjoyed keeping bees, sheep and fruit trees, and deepened his involvement with political, historical and cultural activities in and around Usk – ensuring, for example, that Alfred Russel Wallace, was commemorated for his seminal contributions to evolutionary biology by erecting a bust in his birthplace in Usk.
David also wrote a play “King Henry VII” and was a talented poet, although sadly his ballad celebrating the Economics Department’s plucky triumphs in the 1995 Teaching Quality Assessment seems to have been lost. We celebrate a life well lived and send our deepest sympathies to his wife Stella, his daughter Jaki, son-in-law Tony, grandchildren Oliver, Celene and Bill, and great grandchildren Otis and Fern, remembering also Jaki’s two brothers, Peter and Paul, who died in 1981.