Sir John William Atwell

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 ...

PRSE 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 ...

FREng Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...

FIMechE (24 November 1911 – 5 July 1999) was a Scottish engineer

Life

Born in Glasgow in 1911 the son of William Atwell (d. 1953) and his wife, Sarah Workman, John Atwell attended

Hyndland Secondary School Hyndland Secondary School is a non-denominational state comprehensive school in the Hyndland area of Glasgow, Scotland. The school provides secondary education for children from the local area, although there are many children from other areas ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He then served an apprenticeship with

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also o ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

, Glasgow. In 1939 he received an MSc from

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

(where he was a Caird Travelling Scholar). He then began working as a manager at Stewarts & Lloyds, who were one of Britain's largest shell manufacturers 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 ...

. In 1963, 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 ...

. His proposers were Sir

Samuel Curran Sir Samuel Crowe Curran (23 May 1912 – 15 February 1998), Royal Society, FRS, FRSE, was a physicist and the first Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde – the first of the new technical universities in Britain. He ...

John Currie Gunn Sir John Currie Gunn (13 September 1916 – 26 July 2002) was an influential Scottish mathematician and physicist. Early life and education Gunn was born at 19 Kelvinside Gardens East, Glasgow, the son of Richard Robertson Gunn, a tailor an ...

, Sir David Stirling Anderson and Frederick Malloch Bruce. From 1977 to 1982 he served as their Treasurer and from 1982 to 1985 was the President. In 1992 he was awarded the RSE Bicentenary Medal. From 1968 to 1970, he was Chairman of the

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an e ...

. In 1973 he received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from

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 ...

. He was awarded a

in 1970 and knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in 1976. He died in

. His remains were cremated.

Family

In 1945, he married Dorothy Baxter, sister of his friend, Allan Baxter.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atwell, John William 1911 births 1999 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Scottish knights