Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.
He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University.
He wrote two cricket books: The Willow Wand (1979) and the classic A Social History of English Cricket (1999), (which won the Cricket Society's Book of the Year Award and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 1999).
He was the founding Rector of Ulster College (later Ulster Polytechnic), and later the founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster. When he retired from education in 1991, he had overseen two decades of massive increases in provision of higher education in Northern Ireland.
| Preceded by Robert Twigger |
William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner 1999 |
Succeeded by Lance Armstrong |
| Preceded by – |
Rector of Ulster College 1970–1984 |
Succeeded by – |
| Preceded by – |
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster 1984–1991 |
Succeeded by Trevor A. Smith |