Bill Jordan, a university lecturer and prolific author whose work shaped the training and professional development of social workers, has died aged 85.
A life dedicated to social work and academia
Bill wrote more than 30 books on social work practice, social policy, migration, and political and economic theory. Many of these have been translated into various languages. He taught sociology and social policy at the universities of Exeter, Huddersfield, and Plymouth.
In 1986, he co-founded the Basic Income Earth Network, an organisation that campaigns for all citizens worldwide to receive a regular, unconditional cash payment from their government, regardless of employment status or wealth. While no country has fully implemented such a scheme, several have introduced pilot programs.
Early life and education
Born in Dublin, Bill was the eldest of four children of Rose (nee Gwynn), a teacher, and Radford, a solicitor. He spent his first five years in Ireland before moving to South Africa, his father's homeland. After his parents' divorce in 1955, he moved to England with his mother and siblings, settling in Shaftesbury, Dorset. He attended Shaftesbury Grammar School and went on to study philosophy, politics, and economics at Christ Church, Oxford (1959-62), where he earned a first-class degree.
Career in social work and academia
Bill began his career as a prison officer at Ley Hill, Gloucestershire. He then moved to a probation service job in Devon and obtained a social work qualification at Exeter University. He worked as a probation officer in Devon from 1965 to 1974, during which he wrote his first book, Client-Worker Transactions (1970). He later served as a social worker for Devon County Council from 1975 to 1985.
From 1969, he worked part-time as a lecturer in social policy at Exeter University. In 1991, he moved into full-time academia as a lecturer at Huddersfield University, eventually becoming a professor of social policy until 2007. He also held professorships at Exeter (1998-2004) and Plymouth University (from 2004 until his death).
Bill was a visiting professor at universities in Amsterdam, Aalborg, Bremen, Bratislava, Budapest, Cologne, and Prague. He also held a European professorship of social policy at Comenius University in Bratislava, funded by the European Union.
Personal life and interests
In his spare time, Bill was a talented cricketer, playing in the Minor Counties Championship as a bowler for Devon from 1969 to 1971. He also enjoyed cross-country running well into his 60s, winning the Great West run for his age group and competing regularly in the annual Whimple Village Day run in east Devon.
His marriage in 1961 to Jane Laws, a secretary, ended in divorce. His second wife, Jean Packman, a researcher, whom he married in 1982, died in 2016. He is survived by three children from his first marriage: Tom, Henry, and a daughter; six grandchildren; and a son, Joe, who predeceased him in 2007.
