Dr Paul Ayris, Head Librarian, University College London, UK
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Dr Paul Ayris, Head Librarian, University College London, UK
Q: What led you into your chosen profession?
A: A belief that education is the foundation of a civilised, rational and humane society.
Q: What book are you reading right now?
A: Diarmaid MacCulloch's Reformation, a masterly exposition of the movements in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe which shaped developments in political, social and ideological thought, of which we are the inheritors. Diarmaid is Professor of Church History at Oxford, and also a personal friend.
Q: Who do you admire the most (past or present) and why?
A: The Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has had the most profound affect on global civilization. With a first degree in theology from the University of Cambridge, I can see that many of the written records about His life are imperfect. Nevertheless, rarely has such an individual had such impact on global society.
Q: What was the first music record you bought?
A: A recording of Handel's Messiah, because as a schoolboy our school choir in Lincolnshire used to perform Messiah as its Christmas concert.
Q: If you could have any career other than your chosen profession, what would you choose?
A: A medical doctor. Most doctors are the offspring of doctors and, as a young boy, I was never encouraged to aspire to be something my class were not - northern working-class children, on the whole, did not expect to have professional careers. Now, I am glad to say, Society is more open and so a medical doctor is what I would be.
Q: If you could have dinner with any 3 people, living or dead, who would they be?
A: That's easy because my Ph.D. degree was on the sixteenth-century English Reformation. And so I would want to dine with Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury [the subject of my Ph.D. thesis], Martin Luther and Elizabeth I. They would make interesting dining companions, full of life and interest - but I doubt that they would agree about very much.
Q: Money no option, where would you like to go on vacation?
A: A round-the world cruise, first class.
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