THE life of one of a city's premier citizens will be celebrated at a service at Durham Cathedral, next month.

Former vice-chancellor at Durham University, Sir Derman Christopherson, died in November, aged 85, and a service to mark his contribution to the city will be held on Sunday, March 18.

Past and present staff of the university will join members of the Christopherson family at the service.

Sir Derman was vice-chancellor between 1960 and 1979. He is credited with transforming the university from a small traditional institution to a major research college.

The research engineer had studied at Oxford and held posts at Cambridge, Leeds and Imperial College London universities before going to Durham. It was under his leadership that Durham University divided into two, creating Newcastle University.