Classes of the 70s

"My seven years at Dundee were hugely important and influential in my life and I am forever grateful for them. After leaving Dundee with a PhD in Maths in 1974 I worked for the Scientific Civil Service for five years, realised it was not my vocation and so embarked on a teaching career for 34 years. What an amazingly rewarding job it proved to be.

"In retirement I have founded a Social Supermarket called The Nest in Weymouth (you can check it out on social media) which helps people on benefits to put three meals on the table. We have had over 1,750 households sign up since we opened five years ago. We have two shops (150+ shoppers a week) and a cafe open to everyone but where Nest members get a huge discount. Another main aim of The Nest is to make available good food which would otherwise be thrown away. We have discovered the staggering amount of food which is wasted and have had the task of educating some local shops and supermarkets to allow us to collect it so that our shoppers can benefit from it.

"So be encouraged. Retirement can be the beginning of some new (ad)venture you have never considered. You learn on the job, use skills you have acquired in the 50 years since graduating and help thousands of people who are struggling. Why not give it a go?"

"I graduated with an LLB (History and Jurisprudence) in 1976. I worked for thirty years at Nottingham Trent University, where I am now professor emeritus. My book, Religion and National Identity: Governing Scottish Presbyterianism in the Eighteenth Century, was published in paperback by Edinburgh University Press in April 2026. Since retiring I have been extending my work on Scottish history, influenced in no small measure by my studies at Dundee."

Compared with the other stories, I have lived a fairly boring life.

No big game hunting.

No raiding with the SAS.

No honours (apart from my degree!).

I arrived, by train from King's Cross, at Dundee, in the autumn of 1966.

I took a taxi to the appalling, slum-like digs that I had been allocated by the Accommodation Office. When I gave the driver the address he said, "You will be fine and handy for the hospital". Hmm, I thought.

I had endured six years of boarding school which, in comparison, was like staying in the Hotel Splendido in Amalfi!

Also forced to share the room with the most boring person on the planet. We did not bond.

Anyway, I survived all that, had a lovely time and made great friends. But not my roommate.

I graduated with my Geography degree and had an unspectacular career in insurance.

Now retired, I sit writing this at our cottage on the Rideau waterway in Ontario with my dear wife of 53 years, Anne, and our family.

Mr. Adrian C. Grant, local author and alumnus, has recently published "Fife - Genesis of the Kingdom". This work investigates the enigmatic origins of Fife, exploring topics such as the true meaning of the name "Fife", Shakespeare's portrayal of Macduff, and the fascinating story behind the arrival of St. Andrew's bones.

Adrian's earlier works include "Scottish Clans: Legend, Logic & Evidence" (2012), a two-volume set that uses heraldry, DNA analysis, and place names to dispel myths surrounding clan histories, and "Arthur: Legend, Logic & Evidence" (2017), an evidence-based study of King Arthur’s true identity, the locations of his legendary battles, and the origins of Arthurian lore. All three of Adrian's books can be borrowed from the University library, following his generous donation.

"I graduated General Science 1974 – should have been 1973 but failed Economics subsidiary which I had to retake the following year.

"After graduating, I spent 42 years working in the private sector across four continents. Apart from the UK, I’ve lived in Hungary and the USA and spent time in Manufacturing Management, Business Consulting & IT Industry Services Sales. I retired in early 2015 with my final role being Sales Director at Hewlett Packard.

"I’ve spent most of the last 10 years travelling and like to visit where few others venture."

I qualified as a Chartered Accountant then moved, firstly into business and latterly as a consultant travelling the world. Just before Covid, I decided to return to the University to complete my doctorate in business administration (2023). As I have advised small businesses for many years, I decided to combine my practical and academic experience by producing my first book. I am currently working on a second book on leadership for entrepreneurs.

I am delighted to announce that my book, 'Next Move: How Entrepreneurs turn Uncertainty into Opportunity', has now been published, based on and developed from my doctoral thesis at the University.

After more than forty years working with business owners around the world, one truth has never changed: every enterprise is different, and every context demands its own answers. Yet most advice to small business owners is still built around templates - models that assume stability in a world that is anything but stable. The past few years have made that painfully clear. Survival and growth now depend less on having a perfect plan, and more on developing capabilities: to notice change early, to act decisively, and to adapt without losing your core. That’s why I wrote 'Next Move: How Small Businesses Survive, Adapt and Grow'. It’s about building dynamic capabilities for a restless world. The future doesn’t belong to the biggest or the loudest. It belongs to the most adaptable.

Saadoun has had a career that covers a period of more than fifty years in the engineering world. He joined Dundee through an Iraqi Ministry of Oil Government Scholarship and obtained an MSc in Structural Design in November 1973.

Being a Design Structural Engineer for 35 years out of 40 years in Government work in the State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) for so many projects and another 10 years in Project Management for so many projects at the same time

Design Engineers represent about 15 to 20% of all engineers, where their work is to design in accordance with international codes and standards.

Project Management works is to make sure that project is constructed in accordance with approved drawings and specifications

A consultant Engineer is acting as a judge between the client and the contractor to make sure that the contractor has completed the work in accordance with issued for construction drawings and specifications so the client or the owner can release the invoice for the approved work done as per contract.

Saadoun has spent more than fifty years in the engineering world carrying different works from irrigation projects, oil and gas projects, different types of buildings, high rise towers and skydive inflight building in addition repairing so many projects damaged due any kind of incidents and events.

He wrote 42 Engineering Scientific Books in English for different topics covering the experiences gained during those 50 years, hoping they can be helpful to the new engineers that can be considered an Engineering Encyclopaedia.

In addition, Writing 20 Poem Books in romance moments in Arabic except one in English for those falling in love that can fulfil to be a Legend Dream as other big poets.

In both issues whether in engineering or poems he followed the say (The Best of Leftovers are the Compilations)

In addition, playing Piano at leisure times based on memorisation by heart.

The secret of success to be a Good Engineer is to have self-confidence and take the right decisions and never make mistakes no matter whatsoever is the best advice.

Charles graduated from the University of Dundee in 1974 with a degree in History and Politics, launching a career that would span decades in the legal profession. After leaving Dundee, he continued his studies at the College of Law in Guildford and qualified as a solicitor, later specialising in leasehold property, dispute resolution, and trusts.

Now retired from legal practice, Charles has embraced a new chapter as a writer. Under the pseudonym Baz Wade, he has published his debut novel, KARIM, KING OF ENGLAND. The book has been well received, earning a number of five-star reviews online and marking an exciting turn in his post-retirement life.

While the long hair of his student days may be gone, Charles’s creative spirit is very much alive - and he continues to credit his time at Dundee as a meaningful foundation for everything that followed.

Duncan graduated from the-then Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and began his career as a graphic designer in the Department of Educational Technology at Clydebank College, where his role spanned everything from educational television graphics to promotional materials. In 1978, he transitioned to the private sector, joining Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited as a graphic designer and artist.

After a brief sabbatical in Devon, Duncan returned to Scotland in 1981 and launched a successful freelance design business. In 1982, he began a new chapter in education, joining Cardonald College in Glasgow as a lecturer in graphic design, illustration, and typography.

His passion for education saw him appointed as Senior Lecturer and Section Leader at Cardonald College in 1997, a role he held until 2007 before moving to Dumfries and Galloway College to continue teaching graphic design and design theory.

More recently, Duncan has returned to his roots in fine art, focusing on painting in gouache and watercolour. His work gained widespread recognition, winning the John Green Fine Art Prize at the Paisley Art Institute in 2015, and more recently, the prestigious Sir William Gillies Prize at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour exhibition in January 2025. His paintings have been exhibited regularly with the RSW, including in their 2015 and 2024 shows. Duncan has been elected as a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour where, in 2025, he was awarded the Sir William Gillies prize. In addition, he has also been conferred as an artist member of Paisley Art Institute.

"I was part of the medical course that spent the first three years pre-clinical study at St Andrews before moving to the clinical at Dundee. We were the first combined student year to be taught at the ‘state of the art’ Ninewells hospital that had just been completed.

"When the finals results were posted on the bulletin board, I had not expected to pass and thus had not arranged any hospital posts. However, I was fortunate to hear of a medical house job that had unexpectedly become vacant at Stratford-upon-Avon hospital. I immediately drove there, bumped (not literally) into the consultant in the car park and was offered the job without further ado.

"It was there that I met the ward sister who became my wife for the following 50 years. Thereafter, the combination of luck and serendipity guided the rest of my career and life in medicine.

"After five years in hospital, I became a GP in Colchester and Sudbury with a short, mid-career break as a headhunter for the pharmaceuticals industry.

"In 2022, I had a book published on the history of General Practice, ‘General practice Under the NHS; Past, Present and Future’."

"This year, 2025, I will celebrate 50 years since graduating from the University of Dundee with honours in Structural Engineering and receiving the First Prize from the Civil Engineering Institution. Together with a grant from the University I continued to do an MS in Civil Engineering. That was the best experience of all my life.

"My career started in 1977 working in the Ford Factory in Valencia before being awarded a grant from Instituto Nacional de Industrias (INI) to do research work at Oxford University at the Civil Engineering Department. Between 1979 and 1989 I then moved to the Instituto Nacional de Ingeniería y Tecnología, INITEC, Madrid where I had the chance to work on a Casablanca offshore platform on Mediterranean Sea and Gaviota offshore platform on Cantabrian Sea, a temporary joint venture between INITEC - McDermott Engineering London.

"The later half of my career, from 1989-2012, I worked in the road industry, project managing and providing technical assistance to infrastructure upgrade across Asturias. A career that was satisfying and building from my time right across my time in education, including at Dundee. In 2012 I retired and have been enjoying life ever since."

Rod graduated MBChB in 1976. He is now retired from clinical practice having worked in specialist palliative care for over 30 years in England, New Zealand, and Australia.

In 2003, Rod was appointed New Zealand’s first Professor in Palliative Care at the University of Otago, Dunedin School of Medicine and in 2013 was appointed Conjoint Professor in Palliative Care at the University of Sydney. He left there in 2019 and now holds an honorary position at the University of Auckland.

Having published 140 peer-reviewed articles relating to palliative care in national and international journals, Rod has also written 40 book chapters/books on aspects of palliative care. He is co-Editor in Chief of the Textbook of Palliative Care published by Springer in 2019, with a second edition in 2025.

In 2015 Rod had the honour of being appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

"University life - the Students' Union visits, hall meals, and vibrant social scene - feels like just yesterday, and it's where I gained essential social skills.

"With approximately 3000 students, I felt I got to know most of them over the years. My fortune was to discover Psychology in my second year (and physiology), being particularly encouraged by Alan Kennedy and Philip Burgess as well as Richard Wilton: individuals who would influence my future growth in and dedication to Psychology.

"Following graduation, I spent 18 months at Birmingham University on an MRC psychogenetics project focused on anxiety and stress.

"My career path involved qualifying as a clinical psychologist and behavioural therapist, gaining a doctorate in Psychology, establishing my psychotherapy practice, and pursuing research and writing concurrently. I retired from my practice four years ago at age 68, after a career that included over 250 publications, 13 academic textbooks (authored or edited), and a couple of visiting professorships."