Paul Preece, 1947–2025

PAUL PREECE, a former head of the chemical engineering department at Swansea University, has died aged 78.

Preece embodied many roles in the imaginations of his students and colleagues during his time at Swansea. To students, he was simply known as “Prof”. Others nicknamed him “Chippy” for his early adoption of computers in teaching and research. One former student remembers him as “a bit of a dude”, who cruised around campus in a retro BMW and leather jacket. What most agree on, however, is his genuine care and passion for people’s careers and education.

Following under- and postgraduate study at Aston University, Preece lectured at the University of Leeds before returning to his native South Wales to head Swansea University’s chemical engineering department in 1989. One of his greatest academic achievements was leading the department to the top spot for teaching in the Guardian’s universities guide in 2000. Preece was particularly proud of the department’s record in recruiting students from less advantaged backgrounds. “A lot of our students come from educationally deprived backgrounds,” he told the newspaper. “Many have been educationally disenfranchised until they come to us, we can take them and make them grow.”

Elen Jones is an HES engineer at Valero’s Pembroke refinery and was taught by Preece during his final years before retirement in 2002. She remembers him as one of her most caring teachers. “If any of us were struggling he made it his business,” she says. “I really felt in the department we were like his children.”

A fond memory for many students and staff is the annual departmental barbecue that Preece and his wife Jean organised at Caswell Bay, alongside the biochemical engineering brewing group which supplied wine and beer. The couple also made a tradition of inviting final-year students into their home for lunch and drinks.

Preece was ahead of his time in many ways. He had been using computers in research since the 1960s and refereed both men’s and women’s Varsity rugby matches. He is widely regarded as having been a champion of diversity and inclusion long before EDI frameworks became commonplace in universities.  

His research interests centred on process simulation. Alongside his academic work, he founded a company, Procede, which developed chemical process modelling software. He used some of the profits to fund international exchanges for students – although this did not prevent him benefiting from his commercial success, telling the New Scientist in 1996 he believed Procede had made him a millionaire. 

Suzanne Kresta, now the dean of engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada, is another former student who remembers Preece’s kindness. “He was so aware of people’s dignity and being inclusive and creating spaces for people to thrive,” she says.

Kresta came under Preece’s wing in 1987 when he was a lecturer at the University of Leeds. She and her then-husband were accepted onto Commonwealth-funded master’s programmes and remained close to Preece and Jean after returning to Canada. “They were like a second set of parents to me,” she remembers. Kresta went onto an illustrious career in academia, becoming the first female dean of engineering in two Canadian provinces – Saskatchewan in 2018 and Prince Edward Island in 2024 – while winning over a dozen awards, including IChemE’s Moulton medal in 2004. Preece was “absolutely central to my ability to keep going,” she says.

Preece died in October 2025. He is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Jean and children Rebecca and Ben.