Robin Huws Jones, President of IASSW from 1976 to 1980, lived a life of challenge and change. Born in Wales in 1909, he often remarked that learning to speak Welsh at age two was such a challenge that he didn't bother to learn English until he was six. The death of his mother when he was three led to the first of many changes in a life that was not easy in the formative years. Robin remained in the care of his father while his sister became the ward of two aunts. With his father, a draper's assistant, he left Wales to live in a crowded boarding house in Liverpool.

Learning English did indeed pose a challenge. He managed the spoken language, but his efforts to apply the very different phonetic principles of the Welsh language to English spelling led to his undoing at age 15 when the time came to be considered for education beyond the required minimum. His headmaster would not let him sit as a candidate, far less take the examination leading to higher education. However, a job in the library of the Central Young Men's Christian Association in Liverpool fortunately gave him the opportunity to read widely and begin a successful programme of self-education. It was in this position, too, that he began to display the talents and temperament characteristic of his life work in forging social policy and promoting social action. He organised discussion groups and summer camps for unemployed young dock workers who turned up at the library, and befriended the homeless old men who came to get warm and read the newspapers, often visiting them when they ended, ill and alone, in hospitals.

Academic achievements

Omnivorous reading in his idle hours at the library finally prepared him to take examinations that led to a BSc external degree from the University of London. This was just the beginning of his self-directed academic achievements. With the encouragement of the Director of Statistics at Liverpool University, who recognised his potential, he embarked on a three-year course leading to an MSc in social science, while maintaining himself through part-time teaching at the University.