Early Life
Smithers was born in the East End of London, the son of a Billingsgate fish porter. His mother worked in a sweet factory, and he claims he lived on fish and Turkish Delight during the war. He was educated at a grammar school then King's College London, gaining a first class honours degree BSc and then a PhD in Plant Physiology in 1966. From the University of Bradford he gained a degree in the psychology and sociology of education MSc and a PhD in Education in 1974. All professors at the University of Manchester are required to be graduates of the University and in 1981 a master of education MEd was conferred. He became a Chartered Psychologist in 1988.
Read more about this topic: Alan Smithers
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