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1 chairman
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2 chairman’s report
chairman’s report or chairman’s statementFina statement included in the annual report of most large companies in which the chair of the board of directors gives an often favorable overview of the company’s performance and prospects -
3 chairman’s statement
chairman’s report or chairman’s statementFina statement included in the annual report of most large companies in which the chair of the board of directors gives an often favorable overview of the company’s performance and prospects -
4 executive chairman
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5 Aubert, Jean
[br]b. 7 February 1894 Paris, Franced. 25 November 1984 Paris, France[br]French civil engineer.[br]Aubert was educated at the Lycée Louis-leGrand in Paris, and entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1913. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, when he served as an artillery officer, being wounded twice and awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1916. He returned to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1919, and from 1920 to 1922 he attended the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées; he graduated as Bachelor of Law from the University of Paris.In 1922 he began his long career, devoted principally to river and canal works. He was engineer in charge of the navigation works in Paris until 1932; he was then appointed Professor in the Chair of Internal Navigation at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, a post he held until his retirement in 1961. From 1933 to 1945 he was general manager and later chairman of the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône; from 1945 to 1953, chairman of the electricity board of the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer français; and from 1949 to 1967, chairman of the Rhine Navigation Company. Following his retirement, he was chairman of the Société des Constructions des Batignolles, and from 1966 consulting engineer and honorary chairman of SPIE Batignolles; he was also chairman of several other companies.In 1919 he published La Probabilité dans les tires de guerre, for which he was awarded the Pierson-Perrim prize by the Académie des Sciences in 1922. During his career he wrote numerous articles and papers on technical and economic subjects, his last, entitled "Philosophic de la pente d'eau", appearing in the journal Travaux in 1984 when he was ninety years old.Aubert's principal works included the construction of the Pont Edouard-Herriort on the Rhône at Lyon; the design and construction of the Génissiat and Lonzères-Mondragon dams on the Rhône; and the conception and design of the Denouval dam on the Seine near Andresy, completed in 1980. He was awarded the Caméré prize in 1934 by the Académie des Sciences for a new type of movable dam. Overseas governments and the United Nations consulted him on river navigation inter alia in Brazil, on the Mahanadi river in India, on the Konkomé river in Guinea, on the Vistula river in Poland, on the Paraguay river in South America and others.In 1961 he published his revolutionary ideas on the pente d'eau, or "water slope", which was designed to eliminate delays and loss of water in transferring barges from one level to another, without the use of locks. This design consisted of a sloping flume or channel through which a wedge of water, in which the barge was floating, was pushed by a powered unit. A prototype at Mon tech on the Canal Latéral at La Garonne, bypassing five locks, was opened in 1973. A second was opened in 1984 on the Canal du Midi at Fonserannes, near Béziers.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsCroix de Guerre 1916. Académie des Sciences: Prix Pierson-Perrim 1922, Prix Caméré 1934. Ingénieur Général des Ponts et Chaussées 1951. Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur 1960.Further ReadingDavid Tew, 1984, Canal Inclines and Lifts, Gloucester: Alan Sutton.JHB -
6 Tizard, Sir Henry Thoms
SUBJECT AREA: Weapons and armour[br]b. 23 August 1885 Gillingham, Kent, Englandd. 9 October 1959 Fareham, Hampshire, England[br]English scientist and administrator who made many contributions to military technology.[br]Educated at Westminster College, in 1904 Tizard went to Magdalen College, Oxford, gaining Firsts in mathematics and chemistry. After a period of time in Berlin with Nernst, he joined the Royal Institution in 1909 to study the colour changes of indicators. From 1911 until 1914 he was a tutorial Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, but with the outbreak of the First World War he joined first the Royal Garrison Artillery, then, in 1915, the newly formed Royal Flying Corps, to work on the development of bomb-sights. Successively in charge of testing aircraft, a lieutenant-colonel in the Ministry of Munitions and Assistant Controller of Research and Experiments for the Royal Air Force, he returned to Oxford in 1919 and the following year became Reader in Chemical Thermodynamics; at this stage he developed the use of toluene as an air-craft-fuel additive.In 1922 he was appointed an assistant secretary at the government Department of Industrial and Scientific Research, becoming Principal Assistant Secretary in 1922 and its Permanent Director in 1927; during this time he was also a member of the Aeronautical Research Committee, being Chairman of the latter in 1933–43. From 1929 to 1942 he was Rector of Imperial College. In 1932 he was also appointed Chairman of a committee set up to investigate possible national air-defence systems, and it was largely due to his efforts that the radar proposals of Watson-Watt were taken up and an effective system made operational before the outbreak of the Second World War. He was also involved in various other government activities aimed at applying technology to the war effort, including the dam-buster and atomic bombs.President of Magdalen College in 1942–7, he then returned again to Whitehall, serving as Chairman of the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy and of the Defence Research Policy Committee. Finally, in 1952, he became Pro-Chan-cellor of Southampton University.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsAir Force Cross 1918. CB 1927. KCB 1937. GCB 1949. American Medal of Merit 1947. FRS 1926. Ten British and Commonwealth University honorary doctorates. Hon. Fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Royal Society of Arts Gold Medal. Franklin Institute Gold Medal. President, British Association 1948. Trustee of the British Museum 1937–59.Bibliography1911, The sensitiveness of indicators', British Association Report (describes Tizard's work on colour changes in indicators).Further Reading1961, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society VII, London: Royal Society.KFBiographical history of technology > Tizard, Sir Henry Thoms
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7 Cadbury, Sir George Adrian Hayhurst
(b. 1929) Gen MgtBritish business executive. Former chairman of Cadbury Schweppes and, in the 1990s, chairman of the Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance.The ultimate business dictionary > Cadbury, Sir George Adrian Hayhurst
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8 chair
Gen Mgtthe most senior executive in an organization. The chair of an organization is responsible for running the annual meeting, and meetings of the board of directors. He or she may be a figurehead, appointed for prestige or power, and may have no role in the day-to-day running of the organization. Sometimes the roles of chair and chief executive are combined, and the chair then has more control over daily operations; sometimes the chair is a retired chief executive. In the United States, the person who performs this function is often called a president. Historically, the term chairman was more common. The terms chairwoman or chairperson are later developments, although chair is now the most generally acceptable. Chairman, however, remains in common use, especially in the corporate sector. -
9 Hampel, Sir Ronald Claus
(b. 1932) Gen MgtBritish business executive. Former chairman of ICI and chairman of the Committee on Corporate Governance 1995–98. -
10 Ayre, Sir Amos Lowrey
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 23 July 1885 South Shields, Englandd. 13 January 1952 London, England[br]English shipbuilder and pioneer of the inter-war "economy" freighters; Chairman of the Shipbuilding Conference.[br]Amos Ayre grew up on the Tyne with the stimulus of shipbuilding and seafaring around him. After an apprenticeship as a ship draughtsman and distinction in his studies, he held responsible posts in the shipyards of Belfast and later Dublin. His first dramatic move came in 1909 when he accepted the post of Manager of the new Employment Exchange at Govan, then just outside Glasgow. During the First World War he was in charge of fleet coaling operations on the River Forth, and later was promoted Admiralty District Director for shipyard labour in Scotland.Before the conclusion of hostilities, with his brother Wilfrid (later Sir Wilfrid Ayre) he founded the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Fife. Setting up on a green field site allowed the brothers to show innovation in design, production and marketing. Such was their success that the new yard was busy throughout the Depression, building standard ships which incorporated low operating costs with simplicity of construction.Through public service culminating in the 1929 Safety of Life at Sea Conference, Amos Ayre became recognized not only as an eminent naval architect, but also as a skilled negotiator. In 1936 he was invited to become Chairman of the Shipbuilding Conference and thereby virtual leader of the industry. As war approached he planned with meticulous care the rearrangement of national shipbuilding capacity, enabling Britain to produce standard hulls ranging from the legendary TID tugs to the standard freighters built in Sunderland or Port Glasgow. In 1939 he became Director of Merchant Shipbuilding, a position he held until 1944, when with typical foresight he asked to be released to plan for shipbuilding's return to normality.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1937. KBE 1943. Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau.Bibliography1919, "The theory and design of British shipbuilding", The Syren and Shipping, London.Further ReadingWilfrid Ayre, 1968, A Shipbuilders Yesterdays, Fife (published privately). James Reid, 1964, James Lithgow, Master of Work, London.Maurice E.Denny, 1955, "The man and his work" (First Amos Ayre Lecture), Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects vol. 97.FMW -
11 Campbell-Swinton, Alan Archibald
[br]b. 18 October 1863 Kimmerghame, Berwickshire, Scotlandd. 19 February 1930 London, England[br]Scottish electrical engineer who correctly predicted the development of electronic television.[br]After a time at Cargilfield Trinity School, Campbell-Swinton went to Fettes College in Edinburgh from 1878 to 1881 and then spent a year abroad in France. From 1882 until 1887 he was employed at Sir W.G.Armstrong's works in Elswick, Newcastle, following which he set up his own electrical contracting business in London. This he gave up in 1904 to become a consultant. Subsequently he was an engineer with many industrial companies, including the W.T.Henley Telegraph Works Company, Parson Marine Steam Turbine Company and Crompton Parkinson Ltd, of which he became a director. During this time he was involved in electrical and scientific research, being particularly associated with the development of the Parson turbine.In 1903 he tried to realize distant electric vision by using a Braun oscilloscope tube for the. image display, a second tube being modified to form a synchronously scanned camera, by replacing the fluorescent display screen with a photoconductive target. Although this first attempt at what was, in fact, a vidicon camera proved unsuccessful, he was clearly on the right lines and in 1908 he wrote a letter to Nature with a fairly accurate description of the principles of an all-electronic television system using magnetically deflected cathode ray tubes at the camera and receiver, with the camera target consisting of a mosaic of photoconductive elements that were scanned and discharged line by line by an electron beam. He expanded on his ideas in a lecture to the Roentgen Society, London, in 1911, but it was over twenty years before the required technology had advanced sufficiently for Shoenberg's team at EMI to produce a working system.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS (Member of Council 1927 and 1929). Freeman of the City of London. Liveryman of Goldsmiths' Company. First President, Wireless Society 1920–1. Vice-President, Royal Society of Arts, and Chairman of Council 1917–19,1920–2. Chairman, British Scientific Research Association. Vice-President, British Photographic Research Association. Member of the Broadcasting Board 1924. Vice-President, Roentgen Society 1911–12. Vice-President, Institution of Electrical Engineers 1921–5. President, Radio Society of Great Britain 1913–21. Manager, Royal Institution 1912–15.Bibliography1908, Nature 78:151; 1912, Journal of the Roentgen Society 8:1 (both describe his original ideas for electronic television).1924, "The possibilities of television", Wireless World 14:51 (gives a detailed description of his proposals, including the use of a threestage valve video amplifier).1926, Nature 118:590 (describes his early experiments of 1903).Further ReadingThe Proceedings of the International Conference on the History of Television. From Early Days to the Present, November 1986, Institution of Electrical Engineers Publication No. 271 (a report of some of the early developments in television). A.A.Campbell-Swinton FRS 1863–1930, Royal Television Society Monograph, 1982, London (a biography).KFSee also: Baird, John LogieBiographical history of technology > Campbell-Swinton, Alan Archibald
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12 Garforth, William Edward
SUBJECT AREA: Mining and extraction technology[br]b. 1845 Dukinfield, Cheshire, Englandd. 1 October 1921 Pontefract, Yorkshire, England[br]English colliery manager, pioneer in machine-holing and the safety of mines.[br]After Menzies conceived his idea of breaking off coal with machines in 1761, many inventors subsequently followed his proposals through into the practice of underground working. More than one century later, Garforth became one of the principal pioneers of machine-holing combined with the longwall method of working in order to reduce production costs and increase the yield of coal. Having been appointed agent to Pope \& Pearson's Collieries, West Yorkshire, in 1879, of which company he later became Managing Director and Chairman, he gathered a great deal of experience with different methods of cutting coal. The first disc machine was exhibited in London as early as 1851, and ten years later a pick machine was invented. In 1893 he introduced an improved type of deep undercutting machine, his "diamond" disc coal-cutter, driven by compressed air, which also became popular on the European continent.Besides the considerable economic advantages it created, the use of machinery for mining coal increased the safety of working in hard and thin seams. The improvement of safety in mining technology was always his primary concern, and as a result of his inventions and his many publications he became the leading figure in the British coal mining industry at the beginning of the twentieth century; safety lamps still carry his name. In 1885 he invented a firedamp detector, and following a severe explosion in 1886 he concentrated on coal-dust experiments. From the information he obtained of the effect of stone-dust on a coal-dust explosion he proposed the stone-dust remedy to prevent explosions of coal-dust. As a result of discussions which lasted for decades and after he had been entrusted with the job of conducting the British coal-dust experiments, in 1921 an Act made it compulsory in all mines which were not naturally wet throughout to treat all roads with incombustible dust so as to ensure that the dust always consisted of a mixture containing not more than 50 per cent combustible matter. In 1901 Garforth erected a surface gallery which represented the damaged roadways of a mine and could be filled with noxious fumes to test self-contained breathing apparata. This gallery formed the model from which all the rescue-stations existing nowadays have been developed.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1914. LLD Universities of Birmingham and Leeds 1912. President, Midland Institute 1892–4. President, The Institution of Mining Engineers 1911–14. President, Mining Association of Great Britain 1907–8. Chairman, Standing Committee on Mining, Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Fellow of the Geological Society of London. North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers Greenwell Silver Medal 1907. Royal Society of Arts Fothergill Gold Medal 1910. Medal of the Institution of Mining Engineers 1914.Bibliography1901–2, "The application of coal-cutting machines to deep mining", Transactions of the Federated Institute of Mining Engineers 23: 312–45.1905–6, "A new apparatus for rescue-work in mines", Transactions of the Institution of Mining Engineers 31:625–57.1902, "British Coal-dust Experiments". Paper communicated to the International Congress on Mining, Metallurgy, Applied Mechanics and Practical Geology, Dusseldorf.Further ReadingGarforth's name is frequently mentioned in connection with coal-holing, but his outstanding achievements in improving safety in mines are only described in W.D.Lloyd, 1921, "Memoir", Transactions of the Institution of Mining Engineers 62:203–5.WKBiographical history of technology > Garforth, William Edward
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13 Gooch, Sir Daniel
[br]b. 24 August 1816 Bedlington, Northumberland, Englandd. 15 October 1889 Clewer Park, Berkshire, England[br]English engineer, first locomotive superintendent of the Great Western Railway and pioneer of transatlantic electric telegraphy.[br]Gooch gained experience as a pupil with several successive engineering firms, including Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson \& Co. In 1837 he was engaged by I.K. Brunel, who was then building the Great Western Railway (GWR) to the broad gauge of 7 ft 1/4 in. (2.14 m), to take charge of the railway's locomotive department. He was just 21 years old. The initial locomotive stock comprised several locomotives built to such extreme specifications laid down by Brunel that they were virtually unworkable, and two 2–2–2 locomotives, North Star and Morning Star, which had been built by Robert Stephenson \& Co. but left on the builder's hands. These latter were reliable and were perpetuated. An enlarged version, the "Fire Fly" class, was designed by Gooch and built in quantity: Gooch was an early proponent of standardization. His highly successful 4–2–2 Iron Duke of 1847 became the prototype of GWR express locomotives for the next forty-five years, until the railway's last broad-gauge sections were narrowed. Meanwhile Gooch had been largely responsible for establishing Swindon Works, opened in 1843. In 1862 he designed 2–4–0 condensing tank locomotives to work the first urban underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway in London. Gooch retired in 1864 but was then instrumental in arranging for Brunel's immense steamship Great Eastern to be used to lay the first transatlantic electric telegraph cable: he was on board when the cable was successfully laid in 1866. He had been elected Member of Parliament for Cricklade (which constituency included Swindon) in 1865, and the same year he had accepted an invitation to become Chairman of the Great Western Railway Company, which was in financial difficulties; he rescued it from near bankruptcy and remained Chairman until shortly before his death. The greatest engineering work undertaken during his chairmanship was the boring of the Severn Tunnel.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1866 (on completion of transatlantic telegraph).Bibliography1972, Sir Daniel Gooch, Memoirs and Diary, ed. R.B.Wilson, with introd. and notes, Newton Abbot: David \& Charles.Further ReadingA.Platt, 1987, The Life and Times of Daniel Gooch, Gloucester: Alan Sutton (puts Gooch's career into context).C.Hamilton Ellis, 1958, Twenty Locomotive Men, Ian Allan (contains a good short biography).J.Kieve, 1973, The Electric Telegraph, Newton Abbot: David \& Charles, pp. 112–5.PJGR -
14 Jobs, Steven Paul
SUBJECT AREA: Electronics and information technology[br]b. 24 February 1955 San Francisco, California, USA[br]American engineer who, with Stephen Wozniak, built the first home computer.[br]Moving with his family to Mountain View, Palo Alto, in 1960, Jobs entered Homestead High School, Cupertino, in 1968. At about the same time he joined the Explorers' Club for young engineers set up by Hewlett-Packard Company. As a result of this contact, three years later he met up with Stephen Wozniak, who was working at Hewlett-Packard and helped him with the construction of the first home computer based on the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. In 1973 he went to Reid College, Portland, Oregon, to study engineering, but he dropped out in the second semester and spent time in India. On his return he obtained a job with Atari to design video games, but he soon met up again with Wozniak, who had been unable to interest Hewlett-Packard in commercial development of his home computer. Together they therefore founded Apple Computer Company to make and market it, and found a willing buyer in the Byte Shop chain store. The venture proved successful, and with the help of a financial backer, Mike Markkula, a second version, the Apple II, was developed in 1976. With Jobs as Chairman, the company experienced a phenomenal growth and by 1983 had 4,700 employees and an annual turnover of US$983 million. The company then began to run into difficulties and John Sculley, a former president of Pepsi-Cola, was brought in to manage the business while Jobs concentrated on developing new computers, including the Apple Macintosh. Eventually a power struggle developed, and with Sculley now Chairman and Chief Executive, Jobs resigned in 1985 to set up his own computer company, NeXt.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFirst National Technology Medal (with Wozniak) 1985.Further ReadingJ.S.Young, 1988, Steve Jobs: The Journey is the Reward: Scott Foresman \& Co. (includes a biography and a detailed account of Apple Company).M.Moritz, 1984, The Little Kingdom. The Private Story of Apple Computers.KF -
15 Morrison, William Murray
[br]b. 7 October 1873 Birchwood, Inverness-shire, Scotlandd. 21 May 1948 London, England[br]Scottish pioneer in the development of the British aluminium industry and Highlands hydroelectric energy.[br]After studying at the West of Scotland Technical College in Glasgow, in January 1895 Morrison was appointed Engineer to the newly formed British Aluminium Company Limited (BAC); it was with this organization that he spent his entire career. The company secured the patent rights to the Héroult and Bayer processes. It constructed a 200 tonne per year electrolytic plant at Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness, together with an adjacent 5000 kW hydroelectric scheme, and it built an alumina factory at Larne Harbour in north-eastern Ireland. Morrison was soon Manager at Foyers, and he became the company's Joint Technical Adviser. In 1910 he was made General Manager, and later he was appointed Managing Director. Morrison successfully brought about improvements in all parts of the production process; between 1915 and 1930 he increased the size of individual electrolytic cells by a factor of five, from 8,000 to 40,000 amperes. Soon after 1901, BAC built a second works for electrolytic reduction, at Kinlochleven in Argyllshire, where the primary design originated from Morrison. In the 1920s a third plant was erected at Fort William, in the lee of Ben Nevis, with hydroelectric generators providing some 75 MW. Alumina factories were constructed at Burntisland on the Firth of Forth and, in the 1930s, at Newport in Monmouthshire. Rolling mills were developed at Milton in Staffordshire, Warrington, and Falkirk in Stirlingshire, this last coming into use in the 1940s, by which time the company had a primary-metal output of more than 30,000 tonnes a year. Morrison was closely involved in all of these developments. He retired in 1946 as Deputy Chairman of BAC.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsCommander of the Order of St Olav of Norway 1933 (BAC had manufacturing interests in Norway). Knighted 1943. Vice-Chairman, British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, Faraday Society, Institute of Metals. Institute of Metals Platinum Medal 1942.Bibliography1939, "Aluminium and highland water power", Journal of the Institute of Metals 65:17– 36 (seventeenth autumn lecture),See also: Hall, Charles MartinJKABiographical history of technology > Morrison, William Murray
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16 Sopwith, Sir Thomas (Tommy) Octave Murdoch
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 18 January 1888 London, Englandd. 27 January 1989 Stockbridge, Hampshire, England[br]English aeronautical engineer and industrialist.[br]Son of a successful mining engineer, Sopwith did not shine at school and, having been turned down by the Royal Navy as a result, attended an engineering college. His first interest was motor cars and, while still in his teens, he set up a business in London with a friend in order to sell them; he also took part in races and rallies.Sopwith's interest in aviation came initially through ballooning, and in 1906 he purchased his own balloon. Four years later, inspired by the recent flights across the Channel to France and after a joy-ride at Brooklands, he bought an Avis monoplane, followed by a larger biplane, and taught himself to fly. He was awarded the Royal Aero Society's Aviator Certificate No. 31 on 21 November 1910, and he quickly distinguished himself in flying competitions on both sides of the Atlantic and started his own flying school. In his races he was ably supported by his friend Fred Sigrist, a former motor engineer. Among the people Sopwith taught to fly were an Australian, Harry Hawker, and Major Hugh Trenchard, who later became the "father" of the RAF.In 1912, depressed by the poor quality of the aircraft on trial for the British Army, Sopwith, in conjunction with Hawker and Sigrist, bought a skating rink in Kingston-upon-Thames and, assisted by Fred Sigrist, started to design and build his first aircraft, the Sopwith Hybrid. He sold this to the Royal Navy in 1913, and the following year his aviation manufacturing company became the Sopwith Aviation Company Ltd. That year a seaplane version of his Sopwith Tabloid won the Schneider Trophy in the second running of this speed competition. During 1914–18, Sopwith concentrated on producing fighters (or "scouts" as they were then called), with the Pup, the Camel, the 1½ Strutter, the Snipe and the Sopwith Triplane proving among the best in the war. He also pioneered several ideas to make flying easier for the pilot, and in 1915 he patented his adjustable tailplane and his 1 ½ Strutter was the first aircraft to be fitted with air brakes. During the four years of the First World War, Sopwith Aviation designed thirty-two different aircraft types and produced over 16,000 aircraft.The end of the First World War brought recession to the aircraft industry and in 1920 Sopwith, like many others, put his company into receivership; none the less, he immediately launched a new, smaller company with Hawker, Sigrist and V.W.Eyre, which they called the H.G. Hawker Engineering Company Ltd to avoid any confusion with the former company. He began by producing cars and motor cycles under licence, but was determined to resume aircraft production. He suffered an early blow with the death of Hawker in an air crash in 1921, but soon began supplying aircraft to the Royal Air Force again. In this he was much helped by taking on a new designer, Sydney Camm, in 1923, and during the next decade they produced a number of military aircraft types, of which the Hart light bomber and the Fury fighter, the first to exceed 200 mph (322 km/h), were the best known. In the mid-1930s Sopwith began to build a large aviation empire, acquiring first the Gloster Aircraft Company and then, in quick succession, Armstrong-Whitworth, Armstrong-Siddeley Motors Ltd and its aero-engine counterpart, and A.V.Roe, which produced Avro aircraft. Under the umbrella of the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Company (set up in 1935) these companies produced a series of outstanding aircraft, ranging from the Hawker Hurricane, through the Avro Lancaster to the Gloster Meteor, Britain's first in-service jet aircraft, and the Hawker Typhoon, Tempest and Hunter. When Sopwith retired as Chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1963 at the age of 75, a prototype jump-jet (the P-1127) was being tested, later to become the Harrier, a for cry from the fragile biplanes of 1910.Sopwith also had a passion for yachting and came close to wresting the America's Cup from the USA in 1934 when sailing his yacht Endeavour, which incorporated a number of features years ahead of their time; his greatest regret was that he failed in his attempts to win this famous yachting trophy for Britain. After his retirement as Chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group, he remained on the Board until 1978. The British aviation industry had been nationalized in April 1977, and Hawker Siddeley's aircraft interests merged with the British Aircraft Corporation to become British Aerospace (BAe). Nevertheless, by then the Group had built up a wide range of companies in the field of mechanical and electrical engineering, and its board conferred on Sopwith the title Founder and Life President.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1953. CBE 1918.Bibliography1961, "My first ten years in aviation", Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (April) (a very informative and amusing paper).Further ReadingA.Bramson, 1990, Pure Luck: The Authorized Biography of Sir Thomas Sopwith, 1888– 1989, Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens.B.Robertson, 1970, Sopwith. The Man and His Aircraft, London (a detailed publication giving plans of all the Sopwith aircraft).CM / JDSBiographical history of technology > Sopwith, Sir Thomas (Tommy) Octave Murdoch
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17 Talbot, Benjamin
SUBJECT AREA: Metallurgy[br]b. 19 September 1864 Wellington, Shropshire, Englandd. 16 December 1947 Solberge Hall, Northallerton, Yorkshire, England[br]Talbot, William Henry Fox English steelmaker and businessman who introduced a technique for producing steel "continuously" in large tilting basic-lined open-hearth furnaces.[br]After spending some years at his father's Castle Ironworks and at Ebbw Vale Works, Talbot travelled to the USA in 1890 to become Superintendent of the Southern Iron and Steel Company of Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he initiated basic open-hearth steelmaking and a preliminary slag washing to remove silicon. In 1893 he moved to Pennsylvania as Steel Superintendent at the Pencoyd works; there, six years later, he began his "continuous" steelmaking process. Returning to Britain in 1900, Talbot marketed the technique: after ten years it was in successful use in Britain, continental Europe and the USA; it promoted the growth of steel production.Meanwhile its originator had joined the Cargo Fleet Iron Company Limited on Teesside, where he was made Managing Director in 1907. Twelve years later he assumed, in addition, the same position in the allied South Durham Steel and Iron Company Limited. While remaining Managing Director, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of both companies in 1925, and Chairman in 1940. The companies he controlled survived the depressed 1920s and 1930s and were significant contributors to British steel output, with a capacity of more than half a million tonnes per year.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, Iron and Steel Institute 1928, and (British) National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers. Iron and Steel Institute (London) Bessemer Gold Medal 1908. Franklin Institute (Philadelphia), Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, and John Scott Medal 1908.Bibliography1900, "The open-hearth continuous steel process", Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 57 (1):33–61.1903, "The development of the continuous open-hearth process", Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 63(1):57–73.1905, "Segregation in steel ingots", Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 68(2):204–23. 1913, "The production of sound steel by lateral compression of the ingot whilst its centre is liquid", Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 87(1):30–55.Further ReadingG.Boyce, 1986, entry in Dictionary of Business Biography, Vol. V, ed. J.Jeremy, Butterworth.W.G.Willis, 1969, South Durham Steel and Iron Co. Ltd, South Durham Steel and Iron Company Ltd (includes a few pages specifically on Talbot, and a portrait photo). J.C.Carr and W.Taplin, 1962, History of the British Steel Industry, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press (mentions Talbot's business attitudes).JKA -
18 Watts, Philip
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 30 May 1846 Portsmouth, Englandd. 15 March 1926 probably London, England[br]English naval architect, shipbuilding manager and ultimately Director of Naval Construction.[br]Since he had a long family connection with the naval base at Portsmouth, it is not surprising that Watts started to serve his apprenticeship there in 1860. He was singled out for advanced training and then in 1866 was one of three young men selected to attend the Royal School of Naval Architecture at South Kensington in London. On completing his training he joined the technical staff, then had a period as a ship overseer before going to assist William Froude for two years, an arrangement which led to a close friendship between Watts and the two Froudes. Some interesting tasks followed: the calculations for HM Armoured Ram Polyphemus; the setting up of a "calculating" section within the Admiralty; and then work as a constructor at Chatham Dockyard. In 1885 the first major change of direction took place: Watts resigned from naval service to take the post of General Manager of the Elswick shipyard of Sir W.G.Armstrong. This was a wonderful opportunity for an enthusiastic and highly qualified man, and Watts rose to the challenge. Elswick produced some of the finest warships at the end of the nineteenth century and its cruisers, such as the Esmeralda of the Chilean Navy, had a legendary name.In 1902 he was recalled to the Navy to succeed Sir William White as Director of Naval Construction (DNC). This was one of the most exciting times ever in warship design and it was during Watts's tenure of the post that the Dreadnought class of battleship was produced, the submarine service was developed and the destroyer fleet reached high levels of performance. It has been said that Watts's distinct achievements as DNC were greater armament per ton displacement, higher speeds and better manoeuvring, greater protection and, almost as important, elegance of appearance. Watt retired in 1912 but remained a consultant to the Admiralty until 1916, and then joined the board of Armstrong Whitworth, on which he served until his death.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1905. FRS 1900. Chairman, Board of Trade's Load Line Committee 1913. Vice-President, Society for Nautical Research (upon its founding), and finally Chairman for the Victory preservation and technical committee. Honorary Vice-President, Institution of Naval Architects 1916. Master of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights 1915.BibliographyWatts produced many high-quality technical papers, including ten papers to the Institution of Naval Architects.FMW -
19 Wood, Henry Alexander Wise
SUBJECT AREA: Paper and printing[br]b. 1 March 1866 New York, USAd. 9 April 1939 USA[br]American manufacturer and inventor of printing machinery, including a stereotype casting machine.[br]The son of a Congressman and mayor of New York, Wood was educated at Media Academy in Pennsylvania, specializing in scientific subjects. The death of his father in 1881 prevented his going on to college and he went to work at the Campbell Printing and Manufacturing Company, of which he became President in 1896. In the meantime, he had married the daughter of J.L.Brower, the previous head of the company. Later business consolidations brought into being the Wood Newspaper Machine Corporation.Wood was responsible for a series of inventions that brought great benefit to the newspaperprinting processes. Most notable was the Autoplate, patented first in 1900 and finally in 1903. This enabled a whole page of newspaper type to be cast in metal at once, saving much time and effort in the forming of stereotypes; this invention earned him the Elliott Cresson gold medal of the Franklin Institute in 1909. Other inventions were the Autoreel, a high-speed press-feeder device, and the Autopaster, which automatically replaced a spent paper roll with a new one in a newspaper press, without the need to stop the press. Wood's improved presses and inventions increased the speed of newspaper production from 24,000 to 60,000 copies per hour, printed and folded.He was also much interested in aviation and was an early member of the Aero Club of America, becoming its Vice-President for six years. He helped to found the magazine Flying and was its Editor from 1911 to 1919. He had predicted the part played by aircraft and submarines during the Second World War and was invited to join a panel of consulting inventors and engineers to assist the development of the US Navy. He was soon at odds with the authorities, however, and he resigned in 1915. After the war, he spent time in vigorous campaigning against immigration, America's entry into the League of Nations and on many other issues, in all of which he was highly controversial. Nevertheless, he retained his interest in the newspaper-machinery business, remaining President of his company until 1935 and Chairman of the Board thereafter. In 1934 he became Chairman of the NRA Code Authority of the newspaper-machine industry.[br]Further ReadingObituary, 1939, New York Times (10 April). Obituary, 1939, New York Herald Tribune (10 April).LRDBiographical history of technology > Wood, Henry Alexander Wise
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20 Barnevik, Percy
(b. 1941) Gen MgtSwedish business executive. Formerly chief executive, and now chairman, of Asea Brown Boveri, where he reduced bureaucracy, decentralized resources and authority, introduced a matrix management structure, and ran a global expansion strategy.
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Chairman — of the Board redirects here. For other meanings, see Chairman of the Board (disambiguation). For the car produced by SsangYong, see SsangYong Chairman. For the Convenor of Crossbench Peers in the House of Lords, see Crossbencher#Convenor. The… … Wikipedia
chairman — chair‧man [ˈtʆeəmən ǁ ˈtʆer ] noun chairmen PLURALFORM [ mən] [countable] 1. someone, especially a man, who is in charge of a meeting or who directs the work of a committee or organization; = CHAIR: • The chairman then declared the meeting closed … Financial and business terms
chairman — I noun chair, conductor, director, head, headman, key man, leader, master of ceremonies, moderator, monitor, overseer, person in authority, presider, presiding officer, principal, qui conventui praeest, speaker, supervisor, symposiarch associated … Law dictionary
chairman — ● chairman, chairmen nom masculin (anglais chairman, de chair, chaise, et man, homme) Président du conseil d administration dans les sociétés des pays anglo saxons. Aux États Unis, professeur d université dirigeant un département. ⇒CHAIRMAN,… … Encyclopédie Universelle
chairman — chairman, chairwoman, chairperson, chair The term chairman, which combines connotations of power with grammatical gender bias, has been a keyword in feminist sensitivities about language. Chairwoman dates from the 17c, but (as the OED notes) it… … Modern English usage
chairman — CÉRMEN/ s. m. preşedinte (al unei şedinţe). (< engl. chairman) Trimis de raduborza, 15.09.2007. Sursa: MDN … Dicționar Român
chairman — [cher′mən] n. pl. chairmen [cher′mən] 1. a person who presides at a meeting or heads a committee, board, etc. 2. a man whose work is to carry or wheel people in a chair vt. chairmaned or chairmanned, chairmaning or chairmanning to preside over as … English World dictionary
Chairman — Chair man, n.; pl. {Chairmen}. 1. The presiding officer of a committee, or of a public or private meeting, or of any organized body. [1913 Webster] 2. One whose business it is to cary a chair or sedan. [1913 Webster] Breaks watchmen s heads and… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
chairman — (n.) 1650s, occupier of a chair of authority, from CHAIR (Cf. chair) (n.) + MAN (Cf. man) (n.). Meaning member of a corporate body chosen to preside at meetings is from c.1730. Chairwoman first attested 1690s; CHAIRPERSON (Cf. chairperson) 1971 … Etymology dictionary
chairman — /ˈtʃɛrmen, ingl. ˈtʃɛəmən/ [vc. ingl., comp. di chair «sedia, cattedra» e man «uomo»] s. m. inv. presidente, capo (est.), boss (gerg.) … Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione
chairman — (or chairwoman) ► NOUN ▪ a person in charge of a meeting or organization … English terms dictionary
