Sir Ben Bowen Thomas (18 May 1899 – 26 July 1977) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

civil servant and university President. He served as

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

to the Welsh Department of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

from 1945 to 1963, and was President of the

University of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

from 1964 to 1975. In June 1977 Thomas was awarded an Honorary Degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University. Thomas was born in 1899 in

Ystrad Ystrad (also known as Ystrad Rhondda or Ystrad-Rhondda) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in the Rhondda Fawr valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Description As a community and ward Ystrad contains the neighbouring district of Gell ...

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

, and was educated at

Grammar School, the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

. Influenced by the adult education movement, he spent five years as a university tutorial class lecturer before becoming the first warden of

Coleg Harlech Coleg Harlech was a residential adult education college for mature students in Harlech, Gwynedd, later on part of Adult Learning Wales - Addysg Oedolion Cymru. History Coleg Harlech was Wales' only long-term, mature-student residential edu ...

when it was founded by Dr Thomas Jones in 1927. He remained there until 1940, when he moved to the Ministry of Labour and then the Ministry of Education. Thomas was President of the London Welsh Trust, which runs the

London Welsh Centre The London Welsh Centre () (founded as the Young Wales Association in 1920) is a community and arts centre on Gray's Inn Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The centre is owned and run by the London Welsh Trust. The centre is a base for thre ...

Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in Central London, located in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at its junction with Holborn at the City of London boundary, passes north through the Holborn and King's Cross ...

, from 1953 until 1955. He was also involved with the work of

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, becoming a member of its executive board and later chairman (1958–1960). During his time at the Ministry of Education, he worked for improved standards in Welsh schools and for

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

tuition (he was a fluent Welsh speaker). He retired from the civil service in 1963, becoming president of the

in 1964 and serving until 1975 and President of the

Aberystwyth Old Students' Association Aberystwyth Old Students' Association (), founded in 1892, is Aberystwyth University's alumni association and is one of the oldest such associations in the United Kingdom. It currently has more than 10,000 Members and 100,000 Associate Members w ...

in 1968–69. He was also chairman of the

Baptist Union of Wales The Baptist Union of Wales (Undeb Bedyddwyr Cymru) is a Baptist denomination Wales. It is affiliated with the Free Church Council, Cytûn (Churches Together in Wales), the European Baptist Federation, and the Baptist World Alliance. The headqua ...

(1966–1967). Apart from his

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

awarded in the 1950 King's Birthday Honours List, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

and an Honorary

Fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

by Jesus College. He died on 26 July 1977 in

Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Caernarfonshire, the community had a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ben Bowen 1899 births 1977 deaths Welsh civil servants Alumni of Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth Old Students' Association Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Academics of Aberystwyth University Knights Bachelor People from Ystrad Civil servants in the Department of Education (United Kingdom)