John Gordon Collier FRS (22 January 1935 – 18 November 1995) was a British

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

and administrator, particularly associated with

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

for electricity production. He started as an apprentice at

Harwell Harwell may refer to: People * Harwell (surname) * Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903–1990), American architect Places * Harwell, Nottinghamshire, England, a hamlet *Harwell, Oxfordshire, England, a village **RAF Harwell, a World War II RAF airfield, ...

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (

UKAEA The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ( ...

) and rose to become its chairman.

Life

Collier was born 22 January 1935 in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and went to St Paul's School before joining the UKAEA as an apprentice. He studied part-time for

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s, then went to

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

where he gained a first class degree in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

in 1956.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

accessed 10 January 2009 He returned to UKAEA Harwell, and married a secretary from the establishment, Ellen Mitchell (1935–1998), in 1956. They had two children, Clare and John Douglas. He died in Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire on 18 November 1995.

Work

He left the UKAEA in 1962 for employment in the nuclear power industry in Canada and the UK, but returned to head its chemical engineering division in 1966, then became head of safety and reliability. During this time he published a book ''Convective Boiling and Condensation'' (1972) which became a standard reference. In 1983 he became director-general of the Central Electricity Generating Board CEGB, but returned to the UKAEA as deputy chairman in 1986 and chairman in 1987. Following the breakup of the CEGB in 1990 he became first chairman of the

Barnwood Barnwood is an eastern suburb of Gloucester, lying about from the centre of the city, and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Gloucester, in the Gloucester district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Barnwood was origin ...

-based

Nuclear Electric Nuclear Electric was a nuclear power generation company in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1990 as part of the privatisation process of the UK Electricity Supply Industry. In 1996, it was amalgamated into a new company – British Energy, ...

and was responsible for the creation of

Sizewell B The Sizewell nuclear site consists of two nuclear power stations, one of which is still operational, located near the small fishing village of Sizewell in Suffolk, England. Sizewell A, with two Magnox reactors, is now in the process of being dec ...

, Britain's first

Pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water reactor, light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary ...

Honours

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 1988 and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) in 1990, and received honorary doctorates from

Cranfield University , mottoeng = After clouds light , established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name) , type = Public research uni ...

and the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. In 1995 he took up office as the President of the

Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with over 33,000 members worldwide. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. It has offices in Rugby, London, Melbourne, Wellingto ...

(IChemE),''

The Chemical Engineer ''The Chemical Engineer'' is a monthly chemical engineering technical and news magazine published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). It has technical articles of interest to practitioners and educators, and also addresses current ...

'' 15 June 1995 (no 590) pp 11–12 "The Privatising President" but died the same year, while still in office.www.icheme.org
John Gordon Collier : 1995 In commemoration, the John Collier medal is awarded biennially jointly by the RAE, Royal Society and IChemE.IChemE website
/ref>

Notable publications

*J. G. Collier (1972) ''Convective Boiling and Condensation'' (McGraw-Hill, London) *J. G. Collier and J. R. Thorne (1996) ''Convective Boiling and Condensation'' 3rd edition (Oxford University Press)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, John G. 1935 births 1995 deaths British chemical engineers British chief executives in the energy industry People from Streatham Alumni of University College London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering 20th-century chemists 20th-century British engineers