Sir Austin "William" Pearce (1 September 1921 – 21 March 2004) was the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

from 1980 until 1987. He was educated at

Devonport High School for Boys Devonport High School for Boys is an 11–18 boys grammar school and Academy (English school), academy in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has around 1,150 boys, and its catchment area (human geography), catchment area includes southwest Devon and s ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. In 1942 he left university with a degree in Chemical Engineering and joined the Petroleum Warfare Department working on incendiary devices at the same time as his doctorate. He began his industrial career with the Agwi Petroleum Corporartion. When this became part of

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

he rose rapidly, eventually becoming

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

in 1968. In retirement he continued to hold important posts such as the Prochancellorship of the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

Notes

1921 births Engineers from Devonport, Plymouth People educated at Devonport High School for Boys Alumni of the University of Birmingham English chief executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods People associated with the University of Surrey 2004 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-1920s-stub