Lesley Davis

We have learned, with deep sadness, of the death of Lesley Davis, a much-loved and respected member of the Library Services team, who passed away on 6 January 2025.

• The funeral will take place at Loughborough Crematorium on Thursday 30 January at 4.30pm. All friends and colleagues are welcome to attend, and to join Lesley's family afterwards in The King's Arms, Hathern to raise a glass in her memory.

Lesley joined the University of Leicester in January 2016, from a position as Student Outreach and Recruitment Officer at Loughborough University. She quickly became the driving force behind the development of the University's Maths Help Centre, based within the Leicester Learning Institute. Following the service's integration with the Library in 2017, Lesley began to offer invaluable math and statistics support to students across the University, fostering strong relationships with various schools and organising accessible drop-in sessions.

When the Academic Skills Centre was set up in 2019, Lesley recruited a maths advisor to work alongside her and then began to offer more tailored one-to-one support based in the Library. This continued when the Centre for Academic Achievement was launched in 2023, which saw the team grow and experience significant increase in student engagement across all levels of study. 

Lesley was a respected colleague not only within her team and the Library but with colleagues across the wider University. She will be dearly missed.

Remembering Lesley – a tribute from students, academic staff and colleagues across the University

"Lesley was a force of nature who was kind, warm, funny, and always spoke her mind. She worked tirelessly to help the students who came to her for advice and would always make time for them, no matter what. I always looked forward to catching up with her and hearing all about her adventures with her grandchildren, whom she loved dearly. She was full of surprises; my favourite was finding out how much she was a fan of the boy band Busted! My thoughts are with her family during this incredibly difficult time. Lesley will be deeply missed by all."

"On top of her amazing ability to work with, and create a safe environment for, students from all disciplines and all walks of life, Lesley was also an amazing data wizard! She managed all the statistics for the Academic Skills Centre and then the Centre for Academic Achievement; she was always interested in how the data informed us about the reach of the support."

"My most sincere condolences to Lesley’s family and all the colleagues, near and dear, who knew her well and will bear the loss. May her light and warmth shine on... My deepest sympathies to all."

"After returning to education after 40 years, she was my beacon of inspiration in my first Semester at University studying Politics and Economics. The latter has a lot of Maths involved and when I went to my first Drop-In Session with her, I said “I haven’t got a Maths brain,” She replied, “You have, I just need to unlock it.”  We shared stories about our grandchildren too, who she adored. My heartfelt condolences are sent to her family who she shared stories about with me. I will always be so in awe of her Maths brain and will never forget her amazing positive attitude towards me, who only scraped a Maths O-level, but she told me “I will get you doing a PhD in Maths!!” 

"Lesley provided exceptional support to those students who needed it most within the School of Economics. Her willingness to support students and academic staff will be remembered for years to come. We are sorely missing the loss of a kind and exceptional educator."

"Working with Lesley to find the best ways to support our students was a truly inspiring experience – I learned so much from your wisdom and generosity."

"I will always remember Lesley as a colleague who provided exceptional professional support and ‘maths’ expertise to students and staff, all through the lens of empathy. Empathy enabled her to always have the interests of the student at heart and I’m sure this was what helped build the connections she made. The Library and our community will really miss her. Deepest condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues."

"We will remember Lesley with fondness and respect. She always stood for what she believed in and was always advocating for students. Her dedication and passion for maths education will be deeply missed by all who knew her. She has left a lasting impact on countless students who will remember her always."

"Lesley was always happy to support wherever she could and so many students will have succeeded in getting the graduate jobs they wanted thanks to her help with the numerical reasoning tests they struggled with. It was a pleasure and an honour to work with her and she will be deeply missed."

"I worked with her for five years and Lesley was the best manager you could ask for: caring, kind, and stubborn as anything when it came to doing what was right for both staff and students. Working for her was my first job after a career break from teaching I had taken so I could transition, and she never once made me feel different or othered. She respected me more than I did myself and made me feel as though I belonged again in the higher-education community. For most of those five years, we were the whole maths support team, particularly during the lockdown. Under those conditions, I wouldn't have been able to keep teaching if not for her steadfast support. We celebrated successes as our team grew and commiserated when we faced setbacks. She was a great friend and mentor, and a good person right to her core. Working with her to support the students of this university has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. She will be sorely missed by myself and every single life she touched. She was a bastion of wisdom; to say she helped thousands of students in her long career is an understatement of the impact she had. I have no doubt there is much more light in the world for her having lived. Thank you Lesley, you were amazing."