Brian Groombridge, who has died aged 89, championed the cause of lifelong learning as a researcher, writer, broadcaster, director and academic. His encouragement of ways through which adults of all ages might develop their talents and interests was a big influence on the development of adult education in the UK and internationally.
From 1960 he was a freelance writer and presenter of educational programmes for BBC radio and ABC television, and from 1964, as its deputy director, he increased the involvement of the National Institute of Adult Education (then NIAE, now Niace, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) in broadcasting. He was on the planning committee of the Open University, the world’s first successful degree-giving distance-learning body, which in its early years made great use of BBC radio and television at either end of the day. In common with the social activist Michael Young and the prime minister, Harold Wilson, Brian wanted to expand the opportunities of people who had not gone to traditional campus universities: realising their vision started in earnest in 1967 with the establishment of the planning committee, and four years later the first students were admitted.
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