Rob Mark, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Adult Education within the School of Education since 2015, and formerly a Masters student of Adult and Continuing education at Glasgow, will shortly join the International Hall of Fame for Adult & Continuing Education at a ceremony at the University of Oklahoma in November 2025.

Rob first came to study in Glasgow in 1979 as a student of town and regional planning, progressing to study adult and community education, Rob has also in recent years served in a voluntary capacity as Learning Cities Coordinator for the PASCAL Observatory, whose European centre is based within the school.

Diversity, inclusion, and a concern for social justice have characterized his career as a teacher and researcher.  His multifaceted research and projects have ranged from access and adult literacies to age social inclusion of excluded groups. His involvement at Queen’s University and the University of Ulster in his native Northern Ireland enabled him to focus on education for peace and reconciliation. He has engaged extensively with practitioners and researchers in other regions of the world experiencing similar issues and problems.

He has championed the “age-friendly university” concept, which has enabled higher education institutions to actively include older adults in educational programmes, research, and campus life.  As Head of the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland (2010–2014), he expanded programmes for adults age fifty and over to reach thousands of participants annually.

Rob is highly respected for his ability to blend research, teaching and practice and improving access to and the quality of lifelong learning for adults at home and in many other parts of the world.

Rob is the sixth member of staff of the University of Glasgow to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of the late Professor Lalage Bown (2009), the late Honorary Professor Chris Duke (2010), former Professor Brian Findsen (2012), Visiting Professor Maria Slowey (2015) and Professor Emeritus Michael Osborne (2022), a number unsurpassed by any other UK university.