Ian MacDonald Campbell,

CVO CVO may refer to: Science and technology * Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington, US * Chief veterinary officer, the head of a veterinary authority * Circumventricular organs, positioned around the ventricular system of the brain * Co ...

, FREng, FICE, FCIT (13 July 1922 – 1 April 1994) was a British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. He served as chief executive of the British Railways Board (1978–80) and chairman of the Scottish Board of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways (1983–88).

Early life, family and education

Ian MacDonald Campbell was born on 13 July 1922, the son of John Isdale Campbell."Campbell, Ian Macdonald", ''Who Was Who'', vol. 9 (London: A & C Black, 1996), p. 84. He attended

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in engineering in 1942.''The Railway Gazette'' (1963), p. 219.

Career

Railways

After graduating, Campbell was employed by the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

, and then served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. On demobilisation, in 1947 Campbell began working for

ways; he was employed in engineering design and construction.
New Civil Engineer
' (1975), p. 1. In 1952, he spent a year in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

studying management technology. He co-wrote an account of his experience in the US which was published in the Institution of Civil Engineers's proceedings in 1954. After returning to the United Kingdom in 1953, he was appointed assistant district engineer,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

; he was later promoted to be district engineer at Kings Cross, and then in 1963 assistant civil engineer for the Scottish Region. In 1965, Campbell was appointed chief civil engineer for the

Scottish Region of British Railways The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation o ...

. He was appointed assistant general manager of the

London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

in 1968 and general manager of the

Eastern Region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to: * Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain *Eastern Region, Ghana *Eastern Region (Iceland) *Eastern Region, Nepal *Eastern Region, Nigeria * Eastern Region, Serbia * Eastern Region, Uganda * Eastern Region of ...

in 1970, serving until 1973 when he became an executive director of British Rail. In 1977, he became a member of the British Railways Board (BRB) with responsibility for engineering and research, and was appointed chief executive in June 1978, taking over from David Bowick. He was replaced as CEO by Bob Reid in March 1980. Thereafter, he was vice-chairman of the board from March 1980 until January 1983. He then served as chairman of the Scottish Board from 1983 to 1988, and left the BRB in 1987.

Other appointments and honours

In addition to his career with British Rail, Campbell was a member of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

's Economic and Social Committee between 1983 and 1990. He was also a member of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Territorial & Army Volunteer Reserve's Engineer and Railway Staff Corps, an unpaid, volunteer unit that provides technical expertise to the armed forces. With the serial number 485885, he was initially a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

; his promotion to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

was gazetted on 3 May 1970, to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

on 1 August 1974. and to be Colonel Commanding the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps on 21 July 1981. His ''supernumeracy to establishment'' was dated 30 April 1986 and Col. Christopher Terrel Wyatt took command of the corps. He was also vice-president (1978–81) and then

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

(1981–82) of the Institution of Civil Engineers.. Campbell was appointed an Officer (Brother) of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

in 1973. He was also appointed a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(CVO) in the

1977 Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours The 1977 Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours were announced on 11 June 1977 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee and Birthday in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, Mauritius, Fiji, the Bahamas, Grenada, and ...

.https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/47234/supplement/7084/data.pdf (11 June 1977). He was elected a fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

(FREng) in 1980, and was also a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE) and the

Chartered Institute of Transport The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) is a professional body representing the transport and logistics industries worldwide. It is a membership-based organisation with over 30,000 members in over 30 countries. This i ...

(FCIT).

Later life

Campbell died on 1 April 1994. He was survived by his wife, Hilda Ann (''née'' Williams), and their son and three daughters.

References

Bibliography

*; * Terence Richard (Terry) Gourvish, ''British Rail: 1974–97: From Integration to Privatisation'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002. . (705 pages); {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Ian Mcdonald 1922 births 1994 deaths British civil engineers Scottish civil engineers Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Engineers from Edinburgh British Rail people Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers Alumni of University College London Royal Air Force personnel of World War II