Prof Donald Cecil Pack

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FEIS FIMA (1920–2016) was a 20th-century British mathematician who worked on supersonic airflows. He was one of the persons responsible for

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

receiving its university status and was its Vice Principal 1968 to 1972. He was one of the first to study the science associated with the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

. In 1964 he was a joint founder of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA).

Life

He was born on 14 April 1920 at

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated populati ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

the son of John Pack and his wife, Minnie. He was educated at the local primary school then at

Wellingborough School Wellingborough School is a co-educational day independent school in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. It was established in 1595 and is one of the oldest schools in the country. The school today consists of a Prep school ...

. He won a scholarship at studied mathematics at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

graduating MA in 1941. Upon graduation he went to do wartime research on anti-aircraft ballistics at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. In 1943 he transferred to the

Armament Research and Development Establishment The Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Pune, it is the main DRDO lab involved in the development of conventional armaments. History A ...

Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of Dstl, an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. From 1944 to 1946 he served as a captain with the

British Army on the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

and began working on supersonic airflows. In 1947 he began lecturing at Queen's College in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

(then linked to

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

). In 1953 he replaced Prof Albert Price in the 1812 Chair in Mathematics at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

(aged only 33) and was succeeded by Gary Roach in 1985. In 1954 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. From 1968 to 1976 he was Chairman of the

Scottish Certificate of Education The Scottish Certificate of Education (or SCE) was a Scottish secondary education certificate, used in schools and sixth form institutions, from 1962 until 1999. It replaced the older Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) and the Scottish Leaving Cer ...

Examination Board. From 1974 to 1977 he was Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry into Truancy and Indiscipline in Schools in Scotland from which developed "The Pack Report" (named in his honour). From 1977 to 1981 he was Governor of Hamilton College of Education. In 1978 Queen Elizabeth II created him a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. He retired in 1982 and died at Antonine House in

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...

on 3 December 2016.

Family

In 1947 he married Constance ("Connie") Gillam (d. 2010). They had three children. They were married for 63 years.

Publications

*''On the Formation of Shock-Waves in Supersonic Gas Jets,'' The Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1948, Pages 1–17 *''A Short History of the Department of Mathematics'' by D C Pack, pamphlet published by The University of Strathclyde, 1975

References

1920 births 2016 deaths People educated at Wellingborough School Alumni of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of Strathclyde Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Higham Ferrers British Army officers 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Northamptonshire {{UK-mathematician-stub