Sir Maurice Arthur Eric Hodgson (21 October 1919 – 1 October 2014) was chairman of ICI from 1978 to 1982, and of British Home Stores from 1982 to 1987 and chief executive from 1982 to 1985. Hodgson was appointed

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 ...

in 1979.Obituary

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, 6 Nov 2014 He also received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in 1979. As chairman, Hodgson felt that ICI needed to increase business in Europe, improve productivity and shift from bulk chemicals to higher value-added products. A fierce efficiency drive led to the loss of 30,000 jobs. His successor John Harvey-Jones carried out many of the changes that Hodgson had initiated.

Biography

Maurice Arthur Eric Hodgson was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and educated at Bradford Grammar School. He read

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

and joined ICI at

Billingham Billingham is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority ...

in 1942. By 1944 he was leading research connected with the

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. In the late 50s he was posted to

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for three years. He returned in 1960 to become Research Director of ICI's Heavy Organic Chemicals Division. As Chairman, Hodgson was hampered by near blindness after a cataract operation: For a time papers were read to him; he obtained a TV system to magnify the text;ICI Magazine, published monthly for employees and he used Speed Reading. He retired from ICI in 1982 and became chairman and chief executive of British Home Stores. In 1985 this merged with Habitat to become Storehouse and he served on their board until 1989. In 1984 he attempted to save Dunlop but after a short time its bankers took control. Hodgson was knighted in 1979. He was awarded the Messel medal of the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

and the George E. Davis medal of the

Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. The Institution has offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, ...

. He was elected a

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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 ...

in 1979. Hodgson enjoyed watching horse races and became an owner. In 1945 he married Norma Fawcett; she died in 2002. They had a son and a daughter.

References

1919 births 2014 deaths Businesspeople from Bradford Knights Bachelor British business executives Businesspeople awarded knighthoods English industrialists Imperial Chemical Industries executives Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering 20th-century English businesspeople People educated at Bradford Grammar School {{UK-business-bio-1910s-stub