Professor Jeff Bale was the University of Birmingham’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, overseeing the University’s educational agenda until his retirement. He was a member of the University Executive Board and led on issues related to teaching and quality, curriculum, e-learning, student recruitment, widening participation and the student experience. Jeff graduated with a first class honours degree in Agricultural Zoology from Newcastle in 1973 having spent a sabbatical year as President of the Students’ Union. He gained his PhD in 1977 in the area of insect ecophysiology and was then awarded the Lord Adams Fellowship at Newcastle for studies on soil pest species. Jeff was appointed as Professor of Environmental Biology at Birmingham in 1992. He was a member of the government’s Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) until 2012.