A fond farewell to Dr Abigail Hind

Today we say farewell to a long-standing member of Harper staff, Dr Abigail Hind, who is retiring after making a significant contribution to the university over almost thirty years.

Abigail joined Harper Adams in 1990, following experience in the agricultural marketing sector. Lecturing in agri-business, Abigail began to take an interest in course management, later developing her career by completing her PhD part time at Aberystwyth while continuing to teach on campus. In 2000, she was seconded to the post of Head of Educational Development and Quality Assurance for two years before taking on the position full time.

Within this role she helped Harper Adams to flourish, and contributed to many successes, including the development of the Aspire Centre, one of the projects she most enjoyed working on during her time with the University.

Abigail became a QAA auditor in 2010 and Academic Registrar in 2012, before acquiring the title of Director of Academic Services and Academic Registrar to represent the full breadth of her Department’s activities. Having been in this role for seven years, there are countless moments that highlight her contribution to the institution. However, most significantly, she has been key in maintaining the happiness and success of our students who enjoy their time at Harper Adams.

As a member of the Senior Management team, Abigail worked closely with those striving to help the University provide the very best educational experience for its students. Dr David Llewellyn, Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams, commented: “Abigail has played a hugely important role in the University over many years and in a variety of posts. The senior team will miss her contribution to our work, and we wish her all the very best for a long and happy retirement.”

As well as the work undertaken in her role, Abigail also sought to help others to be successful in their own. Mentoring as part of the Aurora programme for leadership development in Higher Education, her knowledge and friendship has been incredibly meaningful to Kimberley Chadwick, Outreach Manager. She said: “Abigail has been such an influential member of staff at Harper Adams and, from my perspective, has hugely helped to drive our initiatives forward when it comes to aspects like our Access and Participation Plan.

“She's been incredible. From the moment I started at Harper, we got on really well and I found that she took the time to understand my way of working and adapted to suit that. She has consistently pushed me - sometimes outside my comfort zone - which has been invaluable for my progression within my role.

“She agreed to mentor me this year through my Aurora programme, and has been honest, transparent, encouraging and has always been genuinely engaged in my sessions and through conversation.

“In addition to helping me personally, she’s been a fantastic advocate for what we do across the marketing department and has always supported our events from open days to the Field to Fork Festival!

“She really is one of a kind and Harper will not be the same without her. She will be incredibly missed by many across campus.”

Celebrations were held virtually to thank Abigail and to recall memories of experiences shared together. The staff at Harper Adams send their best wishes to Abigail and hope she enjoys her well-deserved retirement when she can tend to one of her gifts, a Harper Adams rose, while planning her future travels.