Business lecturer dies aged 56

Tributes have been paid to a Tipton-born professor and author who worked at one of the most prestigious business schools in Europe.

Professor Michael William Brookes, who had been living in France for more than 30 years, has died aged 56.

Professor Brookes attended Tipton Green Infants and Junior School and later Tipton Grammar School and Alexandra High School before being accepted to study Medieval French at Exeter University. He was the lead chorister under Abraham Gill at St Matthew's Church in Tipton.

His academic achievements included a BA from Exeter University, a master's degree from Paris X Nanterre and a doctorate at the Sorbonne in 1982.

In 1988, he created a language department from scratch at the University of Versailles. He was head of department from 1988 to 1996.

In 1996 he moved to the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris. He was a professor there for 15 years. Mr Brookes died on August 4 while back in the Black Country to visit his mother and was laid to rest at Ogerous in France on August 23. He leaves a wife, Dominique, three sons and two grandchildren.