Posted By IISS at 09/03/2009 12:29:31
The IISS is saddened by the death on 26 February of Consulting Senior Fellow Sir Michael Quinlan, aged 78. Sir Michael had joined IISS in 2004 after a sterling career both in the British civil service, including as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Ministries of Employment (1983-88) and Defence (1988-92), and in academia, including as Director of the Ditchley Foundation (1992-99) and as a writer of several articles books on security matters. His last book, Thinking About Nuclear Weapons: Principles, Problems, Prospects (2009), was launched at Arundel House on 18 February, an event that Sir Michael himself had become too ill to attend. In his last contribution to the security policy debate, he chaired a 4 February IISS panel discussion meeting featuring Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s promotion of the government’s policy information paper on ‘Lifting The Nuclear Shadow.’ Known for his intellectual brilliance, Sir Michael was also a modest and kind mentor to generations of friends and colleagues who sorely miss his advice and friendship. A full obituary will appear in the Spring IISS Newsletter.
