I was a student of Prof. Dorward at Wye in 1998. I treasure his kindness and support as a teacher. The teaching of course was superlative, challenging concepts delivered with pragmatism and humility from real world experience. Knowledge and training that I carry with me today. Thankyou Prof Dorward.

Andrew and I shared an academic life, first at Wye and then at SOAS. He enriched my thinking on our area of development through his deep research and many thoughtful conversations. I remember fondly his delivery of constructive criticism (frequently, in my case!) in a soft, relaxed voice with a very wry smile. As we both made the difficult move from Wye, I was inspired by his determination to bring teaching and research to our new institution and I valued so much his continuing presence and support. Our last collaboration, on the Sustainable Development Goals, was in 2015, and an experience I will not forget. He brought such clear thinking and humility to the challenge of making a better world.

From Stephen Atkins: Words cannot express well enough the depth of sadness I feel about Andrew’s passing; he was a remarkable man in so many ways and I thought it appropriate to share with you some recollections of the association and friendship I had with Andrew over almost 50 years, albeit along fragmented timelines – and in the final analysis, it was a friendship I am so proud to have had and can honestly call Andrew a trusted friend; he was a good man. So let me begin with our initial meeting period during the last quarter of 1978 in Malawi. Andrew and I were both young Monitoring and Evaluation officers working on World Bank Rural Development projects, Andrew in Mzuzu and myself in Lilongwe. We were cohorts of a group of enthusiastic graduates scattered throughout Malawi, brought together by different agencies; Andrew was supported by the Overseas Development Institute from London, and I was supported by the then Ministry of Overseas Development of the British Government. I recall Andrew brought very serious debate and invaluable professionalism to our efforts to establish systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the aid programmes we were connected with – indeed many of the systems our group developed were still being used during my last professional spell in the country between 2014 until 2017. Andrew joined Cerys and myself, and many other youngsters in our gregarious social group on weekend outings and during holiday periods – Christmas one year on Nyika Plateau where Andrew excelled at fly fishing and supplied us all with fresh trout nearly every morning during our stay in the Park. Then later, I recall we went camping one weekend in Dzalenyama Ranch, a beautiful Brachystegia forest reserve and cattle ranch on the Mozambique border close to Lilongwe. At that time the civil war was raging across the border and the Malawi Army had a contingent of men patrolling the area – having set up camp and turned in for the night we were woken up after midnight and informed that contrary to the ranch Manager having granted us permission to camp there – we had to break camp, pack up our equipment and drive back to Lilongwe immediately. The experience was quite unnerving at the time but part of the thrill of living and working in Malawi. We frequently, met in the Viphya Forest, south of Mzuzu where Andrew was based and spent many hours hiking and birdwatching there – fond memories linger of those care-free days. In the August of 1980 Cerys and I and our baby son Rhodri left Malawi for the UK, and Andrew made his way to Reading where he pieced together a PhD which reviewed and analysed the findings from his work at Mzuzu – and a very professional piece of research was made by Andrew, work which propelled him into a serious academic career. Cerys and I next met Andrew accompanied by Sam Ling, at the London University’s Wye College in Kent. During this time the Atkins family moved into a home in the village as I had taken up a position working for the Commonwealth Development Corporation in London. I recall one Sunday evening the Dorward family paid us a visit for tea, during which our daughter Ffion had climbed on to the top banister up three flights of stairs but then fell 10 feet on to a landing. I recall Andrew and Sam Ling handling the situation calmly and professionally – we took Ffion to the local hospital where miraculously she was found to be unhurt. Shortly afterwards Andrew and Sam Ling along with Jienchi and Leejiah were then posted to the Corporation’s Mananga Management Centre in Swaziland. Ironically, about three years later the Atkins family were posted to the same institution by the Corporation. When I arrived at Mananga, it was very obvious that Andrew had his feet firmly under the table and gave a lot more to the Mananga community than was expected of academic staff. He was held in high esteem by professional and support staff. The whole community interacted with each other – either weekend visits to nearby game lodges, picnics with the many overseas students who passed through the Centre’s doors, and interacting with the broader lowveld community at the regular weekly Saturday tennis games and braai’s. Then, I cannot move on from Mananga without mentioning that Andrew saved my professional bacon. For some time prior to my arrival at the Centre, the Academic Director had taken delight in upsetting the calmness of the academic staff by singling out individuals to show his authority. On one particular occasion, I was the one to come under the Director’s gaze. Andrew noticed and was not having any of it. He assembled a portfolio of evidence that professionally pulled the rug from under the Director’s feet, showing that while the director purported to have held a PhD; in fact he did not, and that by association Andrew’s own academic achievements were being undermined. Needless to say, the academic fraternity agreed with Andrew’s findings which resulted in my continuation at Mananga and the then Academic Director being forced to resign and leave. Some years later I embarked on a PhD research programme which Andrew encouraged me to continue and to complete. Time marched on, and Cerys threw a small 60th birthday party for me in Kent, to which Andrew and Sam Ling joined us. We were particularly pleased to hear of Jienchi and Leejiah’s career choices and successes, and indeed it was obvious that both Andrew and Sam Ling were very proud of the boys’ achievements. Finally, moving on to August 2014, I was then working as a Policy Adviser in the Ministry of Economic Planning in Malawi when Andrew gave a key-note speech at an international conference in Lilongwe. Andrew’s papers were very well received by the many people who attended the conference, including myself. I was able to use the analyses and his insights in my work at that time. I feel proud that I was associated with Andrew throughout my professional life – I learnt much from his calmness, his intelligence and his being. Sam Ling, Jienchi and Leejiah you have every right to be very proud of Andrew. May he rest in peace. With very fond memories of a great man. Stephen.