I have featured former college secretary John Smith in a previous blog that you can see here. However, that recording, which was part of the college’s 2007 centenary events, was his recollections of his time working at Imperial. This interview that I discovered in the STOIC video archive includes some fascinating details about his life prior to coming to Imperial as college secretary.
Not many may have known that he was Governor of the former Gilbert and Ellis Islands and had authored a number of books. The book mentioned in this interview (right) can still be found on Amazon.
In this 13 March 1980 black and white interview, former STOIC Chairman Mike Prosser is speaking to John Smith in the College TV Studio.
Colin Grimshaw May 2026