Dr Ernest Joseph Brent played a leading part in the development of higher education in South Wales.
Born in Vienna, he was an only child brought up by his mother, although his father, a lawyer and an active Social Democrat, kept in touch throughout his life.
As Jews they were dramatically affected when Nazi Germany marched into Austria. One of the hardships was that Ernest was not allowed to attend school. After a year, fearing for their lives, he and his mother came to Britain in 1939. Not all his family were as fortunate.
He rarely spoke of these events and decided that he would fully integrate into British life. As he spoke no English the first task was to learn the language, which he did by listening to radio.
His education was again interrupted when all non-British nationals were interned on the Isle of Man. After a screening process he and his mother were allowed to go to Manchester, where he began his secondary education. By the age of 19 he was accepted as a student at the University of Manchester.
After graduating he taught at schools and colleges around London. By then he had married Jean, whom he met at university. In his spare time he worked on his MA and PhD degrees.
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His first principalship was at Garnett College, Roehampton. From there, in 1976, he was appointed to the principalship of a new college of higher education to be established in Cardiff.
The Robbins Report of 1963 had stressed the need for higher education to be available to all those who qualified. This resulted in the rapid expansion of colleges which did not always conform to the old patterns. Ernest was one of a small cohort of people who worked to establish these new institutions with no precedents nor experienced mentors.
The proposal in Cardiff was to merge six colleges into the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education. This was a daunting task with a local authority unsure of its position and many staff resistant to change.
Due to Ernest’s vision and perseverance, it become inevitable that the new Institute would become independent of the local authority. He was instrumental in laying the groundwork for it to be able to award its own degrees. By 1990 he had a budget equivalent today of £43 million, a staff of over a thousand, and 7,709 students. At its inception, the Institute ran five courses at degree level. By the time Ernest retired there were 53 courses.
From this Cardiff Metropolitan University was established. The fact that the university is so successful today is due in no small part to Ernest.
In 1992 he retired and he and his wife moved to Romsey to be nearer their two children and five grandchildren. He volunteered for the Citizens Advice Bureau, Unity, the Abbeyfield Retirement Home, and as a school governor. He was a committed member of the Rotary Club of Romsey and was its President during its Golden Jubilee anniversary celebrations.
He enjoyed a full family life and this year celebrated his platinum wedding anniversary.
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