Mary Tuck

Mary Tuck, CBE (née McDermott: 5 May 1928 – 20 October 1996) was a British criminologist, psychologist and civil servant. She was appointed a CBE in 1989. Early life Mary McDermott was born on 5 May 1928 in St. Helens, Lancashire. Hers was a devout Roman Catholic family and she attended the Convent School of Notre Dame, where her aunt was the headmistress and her mother a maths teacher. Mary studied at the University of Liverpool for a year and through an open scholarship at St Anne's College, Oxford (1946–49). Here she received a Fulbright scholarship and went on to study at the University of Pittsburgh. Apart from her studies there, she also taught Freshman composition. Career McDermott was first appointed to the Government Communications Headquarters but in 1952 she became an assistant editor of Vogue. Later, she worked as a copywriter and marketing consultant independently and for organisations, including J. Walter Thompson. She received her second degree in social psychology from the London School of Economics and was influenced by the ideas of American psychologist Martin Fishbein. In 1975, she was recruited as a direct entry principal for the Broadcasting Department at the Home Office. The next year, she was transferred to the Research and Planning Unit and was made its chief in 1985, a post she held till her retirement in 1989. She worked to improve the unit's role in research and policy-making. She was made CBE in 1989.