Dudley Maurice Newitt FRS (28 April 1894 – 14 March 1980) was a British

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

who was awarded the

Rumford Medal The Rumford Medal is an award bestowed by Britain's Royal Society every alternating year for "an outstandingly important recent discovery in the field of thermal or optical properties of matter made by a scientist working in Europe". First awar ...

in 1962 in recognition of his 'distinguished contributions to chemical engineering'. Newitt was born in London and started working as an assistant chemist for

Nobel Nobel often refers to: *Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel Nobel may also refer to: Companies *AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994 *Branobel, or ...

in Scotland. In the First World War, he served in the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

and was awarded the Military Cross. He married Aliex Schaeffer in 1919, but she died in childbirth in 1923, and the baby was stillborn. In 1933, he married Doris Garrod, and they had a son and a daughter. In 1921, he gained a first class Bachelor of Science in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from the Royal College of Science in London, and went on to postgraduate studies in chemical engineering at Imperial College, London. During the Second World War, he was scientific director of Special Operations Executive responsible for the development of technology for sabotage and espionage. During this period he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1945, he was appointed as professor of chemical engineering at Imperial College. By 1952, he was made the Head of Department, being responsible for the new building (completed 1967). He was appointed pro-rector of the college in 1956 until his retirement in 1961. He died 14 March 1980 in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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