Students, staff and former colleagues have waved goodbye to Professor Chris Frost, who has retired after working at the university for nearly 15 years.
Prof Frost, who is the former head of the Journalism Department, said: “I will miss the students and the staff most, I’ve got a lot of friends here.
“It’s a real buzz to pass on what you know to other people, and to have a good relationship with the students and see them start their careers and adult life, and to see them winning awards makes me feel like I’ve done my job.”
Previously, Prof Frost taught at Preston for 12 years, giving him over 25 years of experience teaching journalism in higher education.
Before that, he was a newspaper journalist and editor, and was active in the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), where he served on the National Executive Committee.
Mike Rickett, former chair of the Liverpool branch of the NUJ, and former Merseyside branch secretary Mike Studley both paid tribute to Chris’s contribution to the union at an event to mark his retirement.
Jackie Newton, who succeeded Prof Frost as head of the journalism department, recalled meeting him shortly after taking up her first job and being advised to tell the editor she wasn’t being paid enough: “He said it was a mistake and increased my salary.”
Prof Frost also wrote extensively on journalism issues, particularly ethics and regulation, and was frequently called on to share his expertise with government and industry bodies, including the Leveson inquiry into the phone hacking scandal.
He is a founder of the Association for Journalism Education.
He is now looking forward to settling down to retirement, trying his hand at writing fiction – and waking up late.