Sir Derek Harry Roberts (28 March 1932 – 17 February 2021) was an English engineer who twice served as provost of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL), from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2003.‘ROBERTS,Sir Derek (Harry)’, Who's Who 2011, A & C Black, 2011; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2010; online edn, Oct 201
accessed 20 Dec 2010
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Engineering

Roberts spent much of his professional life in industrial scientific research at Plessey's Caswell research centre, and later at the GEC

Hirst Research Centre The Hirst Research Centre, also known as the GEC Hirst Research Centre or GEC Research Laboratories, was established in 1919 at Wembley, Middlesex, by the General Electric Company. History Formally opened in 1923, the site at East Lane, Wembley ...

and as a director of GEC. For his contribution to early

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

research, Roberts was elected a

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

in 1980 and delivered the Clifford Paterson Lecture the same year. He was elected a Fellow 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 senio ...

, also in 1980. In 1986 he presented the

Bernard Price Memorial Lecture The Bernard Price Memorial Lecture is the premier annual lecture of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers. It is of general scientific or engineering interest and is given by an invited guest, often from overseas, at several of the ...

in South Africa.

UCL

Roberts became the Provost of UCL in 1989. Under his leadership UCL expanded significantly, merging with several institutions including the Institute of Child Health in 1996, the Royal Free Medical School in 1998, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in 1999. Roberts retired in 1999, but returned to UCL in 2002 to act as interim Provost following the resignation of his successor,

Christopher Llewellyn Smith Sir Christopher Hubert Llewellyn Smith (born 19 November 1942) is an Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. Education Llewellyn Smith was educated at the University of Oxford (BA) and completed his Doctor of Philosophy degr ...

. He served until the appointment of

Malcolm Grant Sir Malcolm John Grant, , (born 29 November 1947) is a barrister, academic lawyer, and former law professor. Born and educated in New Zealand, he was the ninth President and Provost of University College London – the head as well as principa ...

in August 2003. Roberts died on 17 February 2021, aged 88.

Personal life

Roberts married Winifred Short in 1958. They have two children.

Honours and legacy

Roberts was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1995 he was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

for services to engineering and to education. In recognition of his contributions to the faculty, UCL's main Engineering building was named the Roberts Building.

References

1932 births 2021 deaths Academics of University College London Presidents of the British Science Association Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at the Central Grammar School for Boys Provosts of University College London Knights Bachelor Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{UK-engineer-stub