Following the death last year of Professor Reg Foakes, the School of English and the Gulbenkian Theatre commissioned a memorial plaque in his name. Reg Foakes was the founding Professor of the present-day School of English in 1965 and, amongst his many lasting contributions to the university was the Gulbenkian Theatre, for which he led the campaign to establish.
The unveiling of the plaque took place at the Gulbenkian Theatre on Saturday 20 September 2014 and was attended by members of the Foakes family, friends and colleagues. Professor Mike Irwin, Emeritus Professor in the School of English and close friend of Reg Foakes, presented the plaque, recollected some of Reg’s many achievements and reminisced about his wit, energy and enthusiasm.
The commemorative plaque can now be seen to the left of the Gulbenkian box office, a fitting tribute to the vision of a colleague whose legacy (which has since become the hub of an entire arts complex) is now the cornerstone of the arts scene at the University of Kent, the city of Canterbury and the South East of England.