Ernest Ronald Oxburgh, Baron Oxburgh, (born 2 November 1934) is an English

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

and politician. Lord Oxburgh is well known for his work as a public advocate in both academia and the business world in addressing the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and develop alternative energy sources as well as his negative views on the consequences of current oil consumption.

Early life

Oxburgh was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on 2 November 1934. He remained there with his family throughout

World War II 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 ...

, despite Luftwaffe air raids. He attended

Liverpool Institute High School for Boys The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on ...

from 1942 to 1950. He is a graduate of the

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

(PhD) (1960) where he worked on the emerging theory of plate tectonics with the famous geologist

Harry Hammond Hess Harry Hammond Hess (May 24, 1906 – August 25, 1969) was an American geologist and a United States Navy officer in World War II who is considered one of the "founding fathers" of the unifying theory of plate tectonics. He is best known for his th ...

Career

Oxburgh has taught

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

and

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

at the Universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. At Cambridge he was Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology, head of the Department of Earth Sciences and

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 ...

Queens' College Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

. He has been a visiting professor at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, and

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. From 1988 to 1993, Lord Oxburgh was

chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence The Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK's Ministry of Defence is responsible for providing strategic management of science and technology issues in the MOD, most directly through the MOD research budget of well over £1 billion, and sits as a full m ...

, and Rector of

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

from 1993 to 2000. He was a member of the

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned by ...

that published an influential report in 1997. During 2004–05 Oxburgh was a non-executive chairman of Shell, the UK arm of

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

. His tenure was remarkable in that while chairing a fossil fuels giant he expressed his "fears for the planet" because of climate change, sought new energy sources, and urged the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lord Oxburgh was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council (Singapore), as of 1 January 2002, and is a member of the International Academic Advisory Panel of Singapore and the

University Grants Committee (Hong Kong) University Grants Committee of Hong Kong is a non-statutory advisory committee responsible for counselling the Government of Hong Kong on the financing and expansion needs of its subsidised higher education institutions. Appointed by the Ch ...

. He is honorary president of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, chairman of Falck Renewables, a wind energy firm, an advisor to

Climate Change Capital Climate Change Capital was a private asset management and advisory group founded in 2003 by Lionel Fretz and James Cameron to support efforts to develop solutions to climate change and resource depletion. Fretz left Climate Change Capital at the e ...

. He was chairman of D1 Oils, plc, a biodiesel producer, in 2007, and a director of GLOBE, the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. In March 2010, he was appointed as the chairman of an inquiry into the research conducted by the

Climatic Research Unit The Climatic Research Unit (CRU) is a component of the University of East Anglia and is one of the leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change. With a staff of some thirty research scientists and s ...

following the

Climatic Research Unit hacking incident The Climatic Research Unit email controversy (also known as "Climategate") began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) by an external attacker, copying thousa ...

. The report, released 14 April 2010, found that "...work has been carried out with integrity, and that allegations of deliberate misrepresentation and unjustified selection of data are not valid." Critics asserted Oxburgh's ties with businesses that stood to profit from the decision created a conflict of interest. The University of East Anglia did not see any conflict of interest, stating,

"The choice of scientists is sure to be the subject of discussion, and experience would suggest that it is impossible to find a group of eminent scientists to look at this issue who are acceptable to every interest group which has expressed a view in the last few months. Similarly it is unlikely that a group of people who have the necessary experience to assess the science, but have formed no view of their own on global warming, could be found.

Personal life

While at Princeton, Oxburgh was joined by his fiancée, Ursula, whom he married in the university chapel. They have three children. An outdoorsman, Oxburgh enjoyed orienteering and running marathons until knee surgery limited him to mountain hikes with his wife.

Awards and honors

*He was appointed

Knight 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 ...

(KBE) in the

1992 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published i ...

and made a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Oxburgh, of

in the County of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

on 27 July 1999, where he sits as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

on the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Select Committee on Science and Technology and is an officer of the All-Parliamentary Group for Earth Sciences. *He is an honorary fellow of

St Edmund Hall St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...

and

. *He received the 2007 Platts Life Time Achievement Award. *He is a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. *He is a Corresponding

fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy. ...

. *He is an Honorary

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

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 ...

and a Foreign member of the US

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

as well as the Australian Academy of Science and the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

. *He is an Honorary Fellow of

Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...

. *Degree of Doctor of Science, ''honoris causa'', from

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

conferred 21 July 2009 *Singapore Honorary Citizenship, from the President Tony Tan Keng Yam of Singapore, conferred 2 October 2012. *He was awarded the

Melchett Medal The Melchett Award is an honour awarded by the Energy Institute for outstanding contributions to the science of fuel and energy. It was created by and named for Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, the 20th century businessman and philanthropis ...

by the British

Energy Institute The Energy Institute (EI) is a professional organization for engineers and other professionals in energy-related fields. The EI was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Institute of Petroleum (dating back to 1913) and the Institute of Energy (d ...

on 2 December 2014 Melchett Medal awarded to Lord Oxburgh

Events Guide, 2 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015

Selected bibliography

* Oxburgh, E.R. (1968) ''The Geology of the eastern Alps'', London: Geologists' Association, 127 p. * Oxburgh, E R. (1974) ''The plain man's guide to plate tectonics'', The eleventh Geologists' Association special lecture delivered 2 February 1973, Oxford: Geologists' Association., Reprinted from the ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'', 85 (3) * Moorbath, S., Thompson, R.N. and Oxburgh, E.R. (1984) "The relative contributions of mantle, oceanic crust and continental crust to magma genesis: Proceedings of a Royal Society discussion meeting held on 23 and 24 March 1983", ''Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London'', 310 (1514), 342 p., London: Royal Society, * Oxburgh, E R., Yardley, B.W.D. and England, P.C. (Eds) (1987) ''Tectonic settings of regional metamorphism'', Proceedings of a Royal Society discussion meeting in association with IGCP project no.235 on 'Metamorphism and Geodynamics' held on 29 and 30 January 1986, London: Royal Society, * Butler, R. Sir, Oxburgh, R. Sir and Field, F. (1996) ''Social business'', Newchurch lecture series, London: Newchurch & Company, * Oxburgh, E.R., Baron (Chairman) (2004) "Chips for everything: follow-up: report with evidence": 1st report of session 2003–04 / House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee, House of Lords papers 15, London: Stationery Office, * Oxburgh, E.R., Baron (Chairman) (2004) "Radioactive waste management: report with evidence: 5th report of session 2003–04 / House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee", ''House of Lords papers'' 200, London: Stationery Office, * Oxburgh, E.R., Baron (Chairman) (2004) "Renewable energy: practicalities ; 4th report of session 2003–04 / House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee", ''House of Lords papers'' 126, London: Stationery Office, * Oxburgh, E.R., Baron (Chairman) (2004) "Science and the RDAs: follow-up: report with evidence: 2nd report of session 2003-04 / Select Committee on Science and Technology", ''House of Lords papers'' ''103, London: Stationery Office, * Oxburgh, E.R., Baron (Chairman) (2004) "Science and treaties: 3rd report of session 2003-04 / Select Committee on Science and Technology", ''House of Lords papers, 110, London: Stationery Office,

References

External links

Ernest Ronald Oxburgh ProfileThe right climate for business: Ron Oxburgh
talk at the

Ron Oxburgh: "I'm really very worried for the planet"
from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''
Ron Oxburgh: Honorary Fellow
of

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...

Shell boss Ron Oxburgh "Fears for the planet"
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 12 October 1999

''The Independent'' *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708164802/http://www.climatechangecapital.com/news-and-events/ccc-in-the-news/climate-change-capital%E2%80%99s-lord-oxburgh-wins-platts-life-time-achievement-award.aspx Climate Change Capital’s Lord Oxburgh Wins Platts Life Time Achievement Award] {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxburgh, Ronald 1934 births Living people Alumni of University College, Oxford People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Princeton University alumni Presidents of Queens' College, Cambridge Rectors of Imperial College London Crossbench life peers Scientists from Liverpool Chief Scientific Advisers to the Ministry of Defence Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the British Science Association Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Honorary Citizens of Singapore Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Life peers created by Elizabeth II Professorship of Mineralogy and Petrology (Cambridge)