John Stuart Archer
John Stuart Archer CBE FRSE FREng (15 June 1943 – 9 December 2007) was Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Heriot-Watt University from 1997 to 2006.
John Stuart Archer CBE FRSE | |
---|---|
Principal of Heriot-Watt University | |
In office 1997–2006 | |
Preceded by | Alistair MacFarlane |
Succeeded by | Anton Muscatelli |
Life
Archer was born in London on 15 June 1943 and went to Chiswick County Grammar School.[1] He obtained a BSc in Industrial Chemistry from City University London in 1965 and a PhD from Imperial College London.[2] In 1969 he emigrated to Canada with his wife Lesley and got a job as a Petroleum Engineer.[3] He returned to the UK in 1973, and worked in the European gas fields.[3]
He entered academia as a Reader in Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College in 1980, becoming a Professor in 1986, then head of the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering in 1987.[3] After further senior positions at Imperial College, including two years as Dean of the Royal School of Mines in 1989–91, he joined Heriot-Watt University in 1997 as Vice-Chancellor and Principal, until his retirement in July 2006.[3] He died 9 December 2007 of cancer, survived by his wife and their son and daughter.[4]
Honours and professional affiliations
Archer was appointed a CBE in 2002 for services to Higher Education.[5] He was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[3] He served as President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers for 2005–2006, which included responsibility for the World Congress in Chemical Engineering, held in Glasgow in 2005.[2] He received honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College, City University and Heriot-Watt University.[6]
References
- Frost's Scottish Who's Who Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine John Stuart Archer (accessed 7 March 2009)
- The Chemical Engineer, issue 800 (Feb 2008) page 54
- Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering Obituary
- Times Higher Education 17 January 2008 Obituary by Melanie Newman
- The Guardian 15 June 2002
- Royal Society of Edinburgh Obituary