Basil Perrin Hicks, the man in whose memory the Basil Hicks Lectures are given, was the younger son of the University of Sheffield’s founding Vice-Chancellor, Professor William Mitchinson Hicks FRS, and his wife Ellen Perrin.

Basil Hicks was a Lieutenant in the Royal Berkshire Regiment, but was tragically shot and killed whilst leading his men against the German trenches on the morning of 15th September 1915, the first day of the Battle of Loos.