Michael Ullmann

He was a modest man with a very strong faith which was kindled at a Billy Graham rally during the 1950s and transformed his life.

He was born in Glasgow the only son of Professor Stephen Ullman professor of languages at Leeds University, where a foyer is named after him. The family moved to Leeds in 1953 and Mr Ullmann was educated at Miss Davies's Far Headingley Prep School – now known as Richmond House School – and Leeds Grammar School, before training to be a teacher at Beckett Park College, now Leeds Metropolitan University.

He then taught at West Leeds Boys' High School until he moved to the West Midlands in 1973 to teach in Birmingham and then Stourbridge before, in 1980, he went to Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire, where he settled at Hockerill Anglo European College, one of the top performing schools in the country.

He became director of the language school, and it was his vision which led to the creation of the school's bilingual section allowing pupils to be taught history and geography in French and German, and to take them as subjects for their International Baccalaureate.

He modestly described the idea as "a silly notion", but it helped the school to become a model for bilingual education in the United Kingdom.

Throughout his life he was heavily involved in charity work,

underpinned by his strong faith. During his time at Hockerill he organised partner schools and exchanges with them in Romania – where pupils a 0– and Rwanda, and at the time of his death had started connections with India.

Mr Ullmann was an almost reluctant recipient of the National Secondary Teacher of the Year Award in 2005 and did not know he had been nominated until he won the regional award, which led to his entry nationally.

The citation said he had been an outstanding influence on the school during which time he had transformed the approach and practice of teaching languages.

He was said to be an exceptional teacher, an inspirational leader and educational visionary, with his headteacher describing him as a

pioneer.

As a young man in Leeds, he was a member of Blenheim Baptist Church where for some years he organised summer schools for young people at the church and the surrounding area, taking them to the greener parts of the city such as Roundhay Park, which many of the children had never seen.

He was a Sunday School teacher, head of a youth group and a great organiser of events such as concerts, as well as a member of the Scouts.

Mr Ullmann was an ardent follower of Leeds United and, although very ill during the last weekend of his life, he was thrilled to hear that the team had won promotion.

He is survived by his wife, his son and daughter, his mother and two sisters.

His funeral was held on Monday in Bishop's Stortford.