Edward Charles Gurney Boyle was born on 31 August 1923 and educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1948 he was President of the Oxford Union. From 1959 to 1970 he was Member of Parliament for the Handsworth division of Birmingham. During this time he held numerous parliamentary appointments including Minister of Education from 1962 to 1964. He was Pro-Chancellor of Sussex University from 1965 to 1970 and Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University from 1970. A man of wide-ranging interests he served on many national and international committees and published work on education, politics and philosophy. Many universities awarded him honorary degrees and, in 1975, he was presented with an Honorary Fellowship on the occasion of the College's annual general meeting being held in Leeds. He died on 28 September 1981.