Professor who won ‘Nobel prize of the beer world'

The Herald Scotland

13-06-2025

Died: June 12, 2025
Sir Geoff Palmer, who has died aged 85, earned a reputation as a trailblazer and inspiration within higher education and in wider society as chancellor and professor emeritus at Heriot-Watt University and Scotland's first black professor.
Born in St Elizabeth, he moved to London as a 14-year-old in 1955, where his mother had emigrated some years earlier, as part of the Windrush Generation. A keen cricketer, he earned a place on the London Schools' cricket team and at Highbury Grammar School.
In 1958, upon completion of his schooling, he was employed as a junior lab technician at Queen Elizabeth College while gaining further qualifications studying one day per week at a local polytechnic.
In 1961, Sir Geoff enrolled at the University of Leicester, graduating with a degree in botany.
He then began his long association with Heriot-Watt University when he embarked on a PhD in grain science and technology, which he completed in 1967. This was carried out jointly between Heriot-Watt College, as it was known then, and the University of Edinburgh.
From 1968 to 1977, he worked at the Brewing Research Foundation in Surrey where he used the fundamental research from his PhD studies to develop a pioneering barley abrasion process - efforts which won him the American Society of Brewing Chemists Award of Distinction, an honour dubbed the Nobel prize of the beer world. He also pioneered the use of the scanning electron microscope to study cereal grains. This process was subsequently adopted by some of the UK's biggest breweries.
Sir Geoff returned to Heriot-Watt University in 1977 as a lecturer where, among his many achievements, he secured industry funding to establish the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD), which continues to this day as a unique teaching and research facility.
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In 1989, Sir Geoff became Scotland's first black professor and continued to teach at Heriot-Watt University until his retirement in 2005. He was subsequently appointed Professor Emeritus at the University's School of Life Sciences, and, in 2014, he was knighted for services to human rights, science and charity.
He would return in 2021 to take on the role of Chancellor, a position he would embrace until his death.
A beloved figure within the University's global community, Sir Geoff was known for his warm, approachable manner and his deep personal commitment to supporting and championing the success, wellbeing and growth of students at every stage of their journey.
Sir Geoff met his future wife, Margaret, while they were both students at the University of Leicester. They had lived in Penicuik in Midlothian since the 1970s and he was a well-known figure in and around the town.
Sir Geoff was a board member of many charitable and equality organisations, and a trustee of Penicuik Citizen's Advice Bureau, where the charity named its building Palmer House in his honour in 2021.
In 2023, marking the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush to British shores in 1948, Sir Geoff was named one of ten pioneering members of the Windrush generation honoured by His Majesty The King with a specially commissioned portrait. The artwork has since become part of the Royal Collection, serving as a lasting tribute to the men, women, and children who journeyed to post-war Britain.
In March 2024, King Charles III appointed Sir Geoff a knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle (KT), the highest order of chivalry in Scotland.
In later life, Sir Geoff was diagnosed with prostate cancer and received treatment.
In an interview with Whisky Magazine in 2020, Sir Geoff was asked about his legacy to which he gave this poignant reply: 'One of my daughters just had a wee girl in Glasgow. She and my other grandchildren are my legacy, and I hope that anything I've done they won't be ashamed of.
'My legacy is all of my children, students, my friends and relationships and all the people who helped me.'
Professor Richard A. Williams, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, led the tributes to Sir Geoff. He said: 'Today marks a sad day for this university and for everyone who knew Sir Geoff.
'He was an inspiration not just to me but to colleagues past and present, and countless students around the world. His infectious enthusiasm and passion for education was impossible to ignore and this university was all the richer for having such a strong association with him over the years.
'He will be dearly missed, and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this difficult time.'
Sir Geoff is survived by his wife, Margaret Palmer, their three children, and grandchildren.