Sir John Michael Leal Uren (1 September 1923 – 9 August 2019) was a British businessman. He served as the chairman of Civil & Marine from 1955 to 2006. He donated GBP £40 million to his alma mater,

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, becoming the most generous benefactor in the College’s history.

Early life

Michael Uren was born on 1 September 1923. He was educated at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

and

, from which he graduated in 1943 with a BSc in

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and Motive Power.

Career

Uren founded Civil & Marine, a manufacturer of

ground granulated blast-furnace slag Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS or GGBFS) is obtained by quenching molten iron slag (a by-product of iron and steel-making) from a blast furnace in water or steam, to produce a Glassy phase, glassy, granular product that is then dried a ...

, in 1955. In the 80’s his company developed the technology that allowed them to make high-quality cement from blast-furnace slag, a waste product of the steel industry. Uren and his business partner John Hobbins turned this invention into a profitable business. He served as its Chairman until he sold it for GBP£245 million in 2006 to the Hanson Group. As of 2015, he was worth an estimated GBP£170 million.

Philanthropy

Uren served as the chairman of the Royal London Society for the Blind. Uren donated GBP £30 million to the King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes in 2013. In 2014, he also donated GBP£40 million to his alma mater, Imperial College London, to fund the creation of the College's new " Bio-Medical Engineering Research Centre" in

White City, London White City is a district of London, England, in the northern part of Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, 5 miles (8 km) west-northwest of Charing Cross. White City is home to Television Centre, White City P ...

, which he envisioned as becoming a cornerstone for "a new

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

" of biotechnology.

Honours

Uren was appointed

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) in 1999 and was

knighted 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 ...

in the 2016 New Year Honours for philanthropic services.

Death

He died on 9 August 2019 at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uren, Michael 1923 births 2019 deaths English company founders English philanthropists 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesspeople People educated at Sherborne School Alumni of Imperial College London Officers of the Order of the British Empire Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor 20th-century British philanthropists