My father, Don Egginton, who has died aged 92, was a professor of accounting at Bristol University and head of the university’s economics department. An outstanding teacher and respected academic, he was also an accomplished artist, creating works in different media over a period of 50 years. His portrait of the economist Alfred Marshall, after Sir William Rothstein’s 1908 painting, hangs in the university.

Don was born in the East End of London to Eileen (nee Burnett) and Albert Egginton. Ellen and Al, as they were known, worked as a cook and driver for the British Army respectively. Don survived their home being bombed in the blitz, and was then evacuated with his family to Norfolk, where they settled. His father made it back from Dunkirk but died as a PoW in Burma.

Attending Hammond’s grammar school, in Swaffham, Don passed 11 of the newly introduced O-level exams, before having to leave school and take a job. In 1957, after working as a banker and completing his national service, he was accepted at the London School of Economics to study economics and accounting based on his O-levels alone.

He married Angela Shirras in 1959; they separated and divorced some 30 years later. They had met in the Conservative club in Dereham although both of them were lifelong Liberal party supporters.

In 1960, Don graduated from the LSE, and trained as a chartered accountant before being appointed lecturer in accounting at Bristol University in 1963. He was to spend the whole of his working life there, becoming professor in 1986 and head of department in 1990. He retired as emeritus professor in 1997.

Community, art and charity were essential to his life. Once of the first Samaritan volunteers, Don was also an active member of the Liberal party, which he joined in 1961, and he stood in council elections as a Liberal candidate. Instrumental in setting up a Bristol community garden that still operates as a designated “town green”, he also kicked off a local rewilding project, which is now protected in perpetuity.

He created a body of art work spanning over half a century, in a variety of media. Don cited Banksy and Picasso as two of his favourite artists, and his own work often surprised viewers with its eclecticism and expressive nature.

Don’s work was exhibited at the Bath Society of Artists and the Royal West of England Academy, and also Clifton Arts Club, of which he was an active member. Ace Arts, in Somerton, Somerset, hosted a 2024 retrospective of his work, Believe in Me and I’ll Believe in You, named after his sculpture of a gold unicorn.

Don will be remembered above all for his kindness. He is survived by his three children, David, Elizabeth and me, and his grandchildren, Sasha and Jack.