Jim Watters, 63, fondly remembers brother-in-law Daniel, his sister’s husband, who he credits with giving him the vision to study with the OU.
Jim said: “Daniel was a paraplegic as a result of an industrial accident. He was an ‘A’ year student – one of the very first students of this new university backed by Harold Wilson and Jennie Lee. Although academically able, his physical health was taking a serious toll and the new OU seemed an obvious choice to enable him to further his education.”
Daniel took two foundation courses in Science and Maths, but died of a heart attack in 1974 aged just 44 before being able to graduate.
Jim added: “I used to have discussions with Daniel about this new University of the Air, and it was he who had the vision and gave me the inspiration to sign up, and hopefully ‘live’ out some of his dreams post mortem.”
But he says his qualifications were certainly life changing for the better.
“I was extremely lucky because the Ministry of Defence, who I worked, partly funded my courses which were broadly in line with my technical career.
“I gained enormously from my studies: in confidence, in my career and now in retirement. I had the privilege of working with many excellent scientists and some specialists in their chosen fields. All have been most complimentary about the OU and the opportunities it brought, especially in the 70s and 80s.”
Jim is now retired, but very active in many aspects of education having spent 20 years as chairman of the governors at a local school – something he says would most definitely have eluded him had it not been for his OU background.
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