Robert Press, CB,

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 ...

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(22 February 1915 - 30 August 1984) was a British scientist and government adviser. Educated at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, he was a research physicist at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, from 1938 to 1940 (completing a PhD there); after a brief spell teaching, he became a physicist in the government's employment during the Second World War. He was then adviser to the War Council and then, from 1948, the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

. He was an adviser at the British embassy in Washington, DC, from 1951 to 1955 and later worked for the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. Appointed a chief scientific officer in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

in 1967, he was promoted to Deputy Secretary in 1971; after the resignation of Sir

Alan Cottrell Sir Alan Howard Cottrell, FRS (17 July 1919 – 15 February 2012) was an English metallurgist and physicist. He was also former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University 1977–1979. Early ...

as Chief Scientific Adviser in 1974, he assumed responsibility for advising the government on scientific and technological questions, retiring in 1976."Cabinet Science Adviser Chosen", ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 3 April 1974, p. 1. He chaired the Council of Science and Technology Institutes from 1978 to 1980."Dr Robert Press", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 3 September 1984, p. 12 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Press, Robert 1915 births 1984 deaths British physicists Chief Scientific Advisers to HM Government Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire