Charles Beale, had close ties with the University: his father and grandfather had both served as Pro-Chancellor. He trained as a solicitor, joining the family practice just before the Second World War, when he went on active service, eventually becoming a Major. After the war he returned to his legal practice in Birmingham, where he spent his career. He was active in the University’s administration and ceremonial, serving as Deputy Treasurer, Treasurer, Deputy Pro-Chancellor and, from 1979 to 1985, as Pro-Chancellor.

Norman Hepple was president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1979 to 1983. The National Portrait Gallery holds his Portrait of Francis Evershed, 1st Baron Evershed. Among other work he designed a poster for the London Underground in 1993, entitled Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon.