My friend Gavin Poynter, who has died aged 76, studied the transformation of east London following the collapse of the traditional dockland industries.
Gavin joined the University of East London in 1988, and became head of the school of social sciences in 2000. Andrew Calcutt, a former colleague, recalls that as a senior academic manager, “he spoke softly but with great authority”. As chair of the London East Research Institute, Gavin worked with a range of partners in evaluating the impact of the London Olympics in 2012, publishing several edited collections.
