Harry Kay (psychologist)

Harry Kay CBE, DSc (1919–2005) was a British psychologist and academic administrator.

Career
Kay attended Rotherham Grammar School and then in 1938 went to the University of Cambridge to read for a degree English. However, World War II intervened and he enlisted in the Royal Artillery, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1946 he returned to Cambridge to complete a degree in Moral Sciences. He remained at Cambridge in the Nuffield Unit for Research into Problems of Ageing.

He moved to the University of Oxford in 1951 as a lecturer in experimental psychology. He continued his research and was awarded a PhD. In 1960, he was appointed Chair of Psychology at the University of Sheffield. It was here that he established the Social and Applied Psychology Research Unit.

In 1973, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter. He remained there until his retirement in 1984.

He was active in the British Psychological Society becoming its president in 1971. In his presidential address, he promoted 'giving psychology away'.

Research
His early research interest was experimental work on motor skills and then moved into the more general area of occupational psychology.

Honours

 * 1971 - 1972 - President, British Psychological Society
 * President, Experimental Psychology Society
 * President, Psychology Section, British Association for the Advancement of Science
 * Hon DSc – University of Sheffield
 * Hon DSc – University of Exeter
 * 1981 – CBE