I met Christine Humfrey when I had just arrived in Nottingham as an international student in 1999. As part of the university’s International Family Programme, Christine introduced me to a retired couple with whom I struck an endearing relationship that lasts to this day.

I met Christine again in 2000 – she made time in her diary to personally inform me that the International Office would part fund my PhD studies. We chatted about life in general and the culture in Mauritius. Christine was always eager to learn about other people and her humanity and compassion touched everyone she met.

Christine will be forever remembered. I extend my deepest condolences to Christine’s family. Your loss is also our loss.

Dev

I am deeply saddened to hear that the wonderful dynamic life force that was Christine is no longer with us . We worked together at Nottingham for many years and I was always struck by her integrity , impressive intellect and extraordinary skills in the art of diplomacy .
She invented an inclusive form of internationalisation that greatly enriched the culture of Nottingham University and hugely influenced the HE sector as a whole . She also had a sparkling sense of humour and was a joy to work with . She was happy to come to Glasgow Caledonian University when I first became a Vice Chancellor to provide advice and guidance and I was forever grateful. She will be sorely missed.

Thank you for this obituary, Christine co-authored a report on UK-US Higher Education opportunities when i was in Washington, that was the baseline for the Global Innovation Initiative which attracted funding by both governments – she was a wonderful, friendly deep pool of knowledge, and will be sadly missed.

I first met Christine at Florence Boot Hall in the mid-70’s – she was my Hall tutor, and a very good one too. Later I was privileged to work closely with her when she became the first Director of The International Office.
I will remember her as a calm, reassuring presence, seldom ruffled and always good-humoured. As a university we owe her a huge debt of gratitude, and without her vision on Internationalisation our world would be a much smaller place.

I remember Christine especially through her work on the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission – she was always so full of life and commitment to supporting our students from across the Commonwealth – and I learnt so much from her, not only in terms of substance, but also about how to work collaboratively. It is so sad to hear of her death, and my thoughts and prayers are very much with those who were especially close to her. She was special, and gret fun to be with.

Condolences to the family and colleagues.

As the former Chief Executive of UKCISA I remember Christine as a huge supporter of UKCISA over very many years and one of our most valued Trustees. She authored one of the earliest reports into the student experience within TNE, in c 2010 as part of PMI 1 (or 2 – I can’t remember), gave us wise advice at Board level and then latterly tutored with her usual flare and enthusiasm on the UKCISA/Nottingham Certificate programme. Much loved and much missed.

The news of Christine’s sudden death came as a huge shock to me. In 1996 we set up the first MA for International Education Professionals in partnership with UKCISA. Christine was so committed to ensuring that those working in the field of internationalisation were well trained and supported as professionals that she funded two members of her own team to take the course. She and I undertook a joint research project together on the role of National Societies in the International Student experience, which was published by UKCISA. In 2012, we began a new partnership with UKCISA and set up a PG Cert for International Student Advisors, and it was really clear that we would need Christine to co-teach the final module, on Managing Complexity. Deepa Chadha (UKCISA) Christine and I had great fun working together, and the students all appreciated Christine’s use of humour (and chocolates) to teach about using data to make a case for change. She would always accompany us to the student’s leaving dinner and bring her humility, wit and wisdom to the fore. This year Christine told us she was unable to cope with online teaching and would therefore not be joining us. We could not imagine teaching the module without her, so I interviewed her on zoom and played extracts over the weekend. She went down a storm even in her absence! I have the video for anyone who would like to see it and be reminded of her huge generosity of spirit, the depth of her wisdom and her beautiful heart. She leaves a huge hole in so many ways, and I miss her a lot.

Christine was warm, welcoming and generous with her time. After retiring from the University, Christine supported Widening Participation outreach, including by volunteering her time to talk about her career journey with young people.
I offer my sincere condolences to her family.

So very sorry to hear of Chris’s death. We both send our sincere condolences to all her family and friends
Chris helped us both in many ways – Jeff when he was an academic at Nottingham from 1977 – 2000 and Jenny from 2000 onwards with regard to counselling and recruiting students from the English speaking Caribbean.
We have lots of good memories, she was a great sport.

I didn’t know Dr Christine personally, but the more I read about her life and her works, the more I wish I had met her
As an international offer holder for the for the 2020/2021 session and a Developing Solutions Scholar from Nigeria, I am grateful for the work that she did to ensure people like me get the opportunity to study at the University of Nottingham.

I offer my condolences to her family and the University community. May her legacy live on.

I had the privilege of working with Christine over many years alongside Belinda Harris. It was one of the greatest honours of my career to have worked with Christine and Belinda – we worked hard, but had so much fun collaborating and teaching together. Christine was such a bright light in this world. She brought her sense of fun, curiosity, hard work, commitment and humility to everything she did, and left a trail of inspiration behind her. I will miss her dearly, and would like to pass on my sincerest condolences to her family.

Christine was a wonderful friend to the University’s Campaign & Alumni Relations Office. A loyal and generous donor, she helped us champion the idea of leaving a gift in a Will to other alumni. She always seemed to find the time to volunteer her help, for example as a panellist on the Cascade Grants Panel. Christine was always a lovely person to work with and we shall miss her very much.