Here, dr John Steers, NSEAD General Secretary (1982-2012), pays homage to one of NSEAD's longest serving members.
Mike Yeomans, a former president of the Society and after 63 years perhaps its longest standing member, died on 12th June 2021, peacefully at his home in Portaferry, Northern Ireland.
After graduating from the Slade School of Fine Art at UCL as a painter and etcher in 1955, Mike started a teaching career in comprehensive schools in London and Essex. He gained further experience teaching evening classes and in a prison. A growing interest in further and higher education resulted in his securing posts at the Salford School of Art and Industrial Design and later in the Department of Environmental Design at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University).
Mike continued to be a practising and exhibiting artist throughout his life. He was also an accomplished musician who was awarded an Associateship of the Royal College of Organists in 1964.
Mike’s enduring concern was to bridge the gap between the various levels of art and design education. This he sought to do, not only through membership of the Society, but also by developing links between school teachers and the institutions in which he worked.
Mike’s contribution to the work of the Society was immense. He was a member of the executive committee of the then NSAE and continued to act as one of the three NSEAD trustees until his recent death.
Mike Yeomans will be greatly missed by the Society as one of its most loyal servants.