Sir John William Atwell CBE PRSE FREng FIMechE (24 November 1911 – 5 July 1999) was a Scottish engineer

Life

Born in Glasgow in 1911 the son of William Atwell (d. 1953) and his wife, Sarah Workman, John Atwell attended Hyndland Secondary School in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

. He then served an apprenticeship with

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

, Glasgow. In 1939 he received an MSc from

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

(where he was a Caird Travelling Scholar). He then began working as a manager at Stewarts & Lloyds, who were one of Britain's largest shell manufacturers during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1963, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Sir

Samuel Curran Sir Samuel Crowe Curran (23 May 1912 – 15 February 1998), FRS, FRSE, was a physicist and the first Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde – the first of the new technical universities in Britain. He is the invent ...

John Currie Gunn Sir John Currie Gunn (13 September 1916 – 26 July 2002) was an influential Scottish mathematician and physicist. Early life and education Gunn was born at 19 Kelvinside Gardens East, Glasgow, the son of Richard Robertson Gunn, a tailor a ...

, Sir

David Stirling Anderson Sir David Stirling Anderson (25 September 1895 – 18 January 1981) was a 20th-century Scottish engineer and educationalist. Life He was born in Glasgow on 25 September 1895, the son of Alexander Anderson and his wife, Sarah Stirling. In the F ...

and

Frederick Malloch Bruce Prof Frederick Malloch Bruce FRSE FPS FIEE (1912-1997) was a Scottish electrical engineer and educationalist. He developed electrode profiles described as Bruce profiles. Life He was born in Aberdeen on 13 July 1912. He was educated in Aberdeen ...

. From 1977 to 1982 he served as their Treasurer and from 1982 to 1985 was the President. In 1992 he was awarded the RSE Bicentenary Medal. From 1968 to 1970, he was Chairman of the

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an eng ...

. In 1973 he received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal c ...

. He was awarded a CBE in 1970 and knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in 1976. He died in

. His remains were cremated.

Family

In 1945, he married Dorothy Baxter, sister of his friend, Allan Baxter.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atwell, John William 1911 births 1999 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Scottish knights