My friend and former line manager Paul Ayris, who has died aged 68 of cardiac failure, was an influential university library leader and a formidable force in the movement for “open science” to make scientific research freely accessible.
Paul began his career in 1978 as a graduate trainee at Cambridge University Library, later becoming the founding head of IT services. There he oversaw major shifts in automation and early adoption of web technologies, laying foundations for systems that would support the university’s large and complex network of libraries.
In 1997 he moved to University College London, where he became director of library services and subsequently pro-vice-provost with responsibility for libraries, museums, theatres and open science. Paul embodied the ideals of radical thinking and widening access to higher education. He led modernisation programmes, championing innovative learning spaces such as the UCL Student Centre and strengthening a culture of service built around user needs. His vision was crystallised in the launch in 2015 of UCL Press, the first fully open access university press in the UK, which now has a global reach with 30 million downloads.
Paul was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of Irene, a shop assistant, and Walter, who co-owned a decorating business. After leaving the town’s Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school, he enrolled at Selwyn College, Cambridge, to study theological and religious studies and went on to complete a PhD on Thomas Cranmer. His lifelong engagement with Reformation history culminated in the posthumous publication in January 2026 of Thomas Cranmer’s Register, a first-hand record of administration and power dynamics in the Church of England under Henry VIII. In 2019 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Paul’s leadership extended far beyond UCL. As president of LIBER (the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries), and later through LERU (the League of European Research Universities), he travelled tirelessly and played a decisive role in shaping Europe’s approach to open science. In recent years, he also contributed to conversations on the development of open science in China to benefit the global south.
He was known across the sector for his generosity with his time and advice. On one occasion, in 2012, when I mentioned I worked at UCL to European colleagues, they expressed their awe at my director’s remarkable work ethic – “Tout de suite, he replies!”
Warm, energetic and endlessly collegial, Paul mentored and encouraged library leaders to share his belief in openness, collaboration and ambitious thinking to effect change. He inspired a generation of librarians through his clarity of purpose, intellectual curiosity and commitment to excellence.
Paul loved fine wines, good food and medieval music. He enjoyed listening to classical music at home and in his office, especially to the Gesualdo Six.
He is survived by his twin brother, Stevan.
