Sir Duncan McDonald (20 September 1921 – 23 February 1997) was a Scottish engineer and businessman closely associated with

Northern Engineering Industries Northern Engineering Industries plc (NEI) was a British engineering firm, which for over 10 years was one of the largest employers on Tyneside. Its headquarters were based at the Regent Centre at Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne. History The com ...

. He specialised in the development of ultra high voltage transformers. He pioneered the use of computers within the design process, and was one of the first to realise the potential of the Pacific Rim in business.

Life

He was born in

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an imp ...

, under the shadow of the

Forth Rail Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

, the son of Robert McDonald, a cable-jointer with the South of Scotland Electricity Board, and his wife, Helen Orrick. He was raised in

then attended Dunfermline High School. He then went to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

graduating in Electrical Power Engineering in 1942. His first job was with British Thomson-Houston in Rugby, working (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 opposi ...

) on radar research. In 1952 he developed Britain's first 275,000 volt transformer for the National Grid. In 1954 he returned to Scotland to join Bruce Peebles & Co. Ltd. (later Parsons Peebles) as their chief transformer designer. By 1962 he was Managing Director of the company. Through company amalgamations he became Chief Executive of Reyrolle Parsons Group and from there Chief Executive of the NEI group. In 1969 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir John Toothill, William E J Farvis and Oppenshaw Taylor. He received honorary doctorates from both Heriot-Watt University and Newcastle University. In 1983 he was made 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 ...

for services to British Exports 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 later life he was a non-executive director of both

General Accident General Accident plc was a large insurance business based in Perth, Scotland. It merged with Commercial Union in 1998 to form CGU plc. History The Norie-Miller years The Employers' liability act of 1880 opened a new area of insurance and one ...

and the

Northern Rock Building Society Northern Rock, formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, was a British bank. Based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, Northern Rock was originally a building society. It demutualised and became Northern Rock bank in ...

. He retired in May 1986 and died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

on 23 February 1997.

Family

In 1955 he married Jane Anne Guckian. They had three sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Duncan 1921 births 1997 deaths British electrical engineers 20th-century British businesspeople Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire