Lewis Richard Benjamin Elton (born Ludwig Richard Benjamin Ehrenberg; 25 March 1923 – 29 September 2018) was a German-born British physicist and researcher into education, specialising in higher education.
Early life
Born in
Tübingen
Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...
to the scholars
Victor Ehrenberg and Eva Dorothea Sommer, Ehrenberg moved with his family to
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
in 1929, and from there to England in February 1939, to escape
Nazi persecution of the Jews. Ehrenberg naturalised as a British subject and changed his name by deed poll in June 1947. He was educated at
Rydal School in
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...
, and thereafter at
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...
, the
Regent Street Polytechnic
The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...
, London, and
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 ...
. It was from the latter institution that he was awarded his PhD, in 1950.
Career
He was Professor of Physics at Battersea College of Technology from 1964 until 1970. The College completed its transformation into 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 ...
(and its relocation from
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park.
Hist ...
to
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
) in 1970. He founded the Institute of Educational Technology in 1967, the first of its kind. He was somewhat of a pioneer and innovator in the professional development of university teachers and became Professor of Higher Education in 1970, a post he held until 1988. The Institute became internationally renowned and his philosophy is one that has been adopted by many universities around the world.
In 1994 he was appointed Professor of Higher Education at
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 ...
, where he founded the Higher Education Research and Development Unit (now the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching). He became an honorary professor there in 2003. He was appointed Visiting Professor of Higher Education at
Manchester University
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
in August 2005.
He was a Fellow of the
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...
and a Fellow of the
Society for Research into Higher Education. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2005 Times Higher Awards, at which
Baroness Kennedy said "there is a polymath quality to this man that points to someone interested in educating the whole person."
Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey
In 1963 at the Surrey University Battersea campus, Elton started a project to show original artworks in the Physics Department. When the University Gallery at Guildford was relocated in 1997, the gallery was dedicated to Elton and was named the
Lewis Elton Gallery. The gallery hosts regular exhibitions of paintings, photographs and sculpture.
Lewis and Mary Elton Art Collection
The donation of a collection of paintings and
objets d'art
In art history, the French term objet d'art (; ) describes an ornamental work of art, and the term objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish ...
was made to
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 ...
including works by
Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
,
Chagall
Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
,
Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
and
Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...
. The gift was marked by an exhibition at
The Lightbox gallery, Woking, in January 2012.
Personal life and death
His older brother was the historian
Geoffrey Elton
Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and ...
. Lewis married Mary Foster, whom he met at University and one of their four
children is the comedian and author
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...
. Lewis died in September 2018, aged 95.
[Professor Lewis Elton remembered](_blank)
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See also
* Ehrenberg (surname)
References
External links
Biography at University College London
His family papers at Sussex University
The Lewis Elton Gallery – old Surrey Uni website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elton, Ludwig
1923 births
2018 deaths
People from Tübingen
People educated at Rydal Penrhos
Academics of the University of Surrey
Academics of University College London
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Alumni of University College London
Alumni of the University of Westminster
English educational theorists
English physicists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Ehrenberg family