Paul Gerard O'Prey was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Roehampton in south-west London, where he is also Professor of Modern Literature. He was appointed in 2004 and left his post in 2019.
Life and career
O'Prey was born in Southampton in 1956, the youngest of five children. He attended St George Roman Catholic Comprehensive School until the age of 16, when he transferred to King Edward VI School, Southampton, then a grant maintained grammar school. He won a place to study English Language and Literature at Keble College, Oxford. He obtained his PhD from the University of Bristol, where his supervisor was Charles Tomlinson. In 1977, O'Prey left Oxford University to work for the author Robert Graves at his home in Deia, Mallorca. Professor O'Prey assisted him in various ways, most notably working with Graves' wife, Beryl, on the creation of a major archive of Graves's papers which is now housed at St John's College, Oxford. That work led him to publish a biographical study of Graves told through his letters with other eminent writers such as Siegfried Sassoon, T.S. Eliot and Gertrude Stein, published in two volumes: In Broken Images and Between Moon and Moon. O'Prey's edition of Graves's Selected Poems, published just after Graves's death in 1985, reinstated a number of poems which Graves himself had previously suppressed, including some of his youthful war poetry written during World War I. O'Prey's other books include First World War: Poems from the Front, published in 2014 by the Imperial War Museum, to coincide with the centenary of the war. It takes a new approach in focusing on a small number of poets who saw active service on the Western Front, including three women. O'Prey translated with Lucia Graves the first English translation of the Spanish nineteenth century classic novel, Los Pazos de Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan. The book was later serialised by Channel 4. O'Prey wrote the first full critical study of the novels of Graham Greene, and edited the Penguin edition of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. He edited the first collection of poems by the American First World War nurse and novelist Mary Borden. His media appearances include BBC Two's War of Words: Soldier Poets of the Somme, broadcast in 2014 and a Channel 4 programme on drugs and art.
Prior to joining the University of Roehampton as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive when it gained independent university status in 2004, O'Prey spent 16 years at the University of Bristol, where he worked in a variety of capacities, latterly as Director of Academic Affairs. At Bristol he played a seminal role in the introduction of Entrepreneurship as an academic discipline and in the establishment of Enterprise and Knowledge Transfer as key themes in the University's mission. He played a key role in the development of the University's Research Strategy and Education Strategy, and in the development of initiatives to improve access to the University for students from non-traditional backgrounds. He was also warden of the University of Bristol hall of residenceGoldney Hall until 2004. According to the University's website, during O'Prey's tenure as Vice-Chancellor, the University of Roehampton has adopted a strategy to establish a strong academic reputation. In 2014 Roehampton was ranked the most research intensive modern university in the UK, with two-thirds of research rated 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent'.
Awards
In 2011, O'Prey received honorary doctorates from the University of Bristol and Manhattanville College.
