Vice Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, (1 February 1941 – 4 August 2022) was a senior officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

who served as Chief of Defence Procurement at the UK

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

from 1996 to 2003.

Early career

Robert Walmsley was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

, Scotland, on 1 February 1941, a son of the anatomist Robert Walmsley and Dr Isabel Mary Walmsley. He was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

.Distinguished Pupils
Fettes College He joined the

as a

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

Cadet in 1958,"The men who found fame after the Boat Race"
The Daily Telegraph, 22 March 2002. and went on to read Mechanical Sciences at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, c ...

, before taking up a range of seagoing appointments, mainly in submarines, developing an expertise in nuclear propulsion. During his naval career he was at times Chairman of the Naval Nuclear Technical Safety Panel and Director General, Submarines. For three years, he was the

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Ministr ...

for Communications, Command, Control and Information Systems. His final naval appointment (in 1994) was as

Controller of the Navy The post of Controller of the Navy (abbreviated as CofN) was originally created in 1859 when the Surveyor of the Navy's title changed to Controller of the Navy. In 1869 the controller's office was abolished and its duties were assumed by that of ...

and member of the Navy Board as a vice admiral. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the 1995 Birthday Honours. Walmsley was a

Cambridge Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of othe ...

, having coxed the light blue boat to victory in the 108th Oxford and Cambridge

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

in 1962. He was a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

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 senior ...

, the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, and the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...

(IET), and was an Honorary DSc of

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a British postgraduate public university, public research university specialising in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Through the 19 ...

Chief of Defence Procurement

After retiring from the navy, Walmsley held the position of Chief of Defence Procurement at the UK

from 1996 until his retirement on 30 April 2003. He retired from the

Her Majesty's Civil Service His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, whi ...

after serving longer in the Defence Procurement post than any of his predecessors. During Walmsley's period in post he led the transformation of the procurement organisation into the

Defence Procurement Agency The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), was an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence responsible for the acquisition of materiel, equipment and services, for the British armed forces. Led by the Chief of Defence Procurement, t ...

(DPA, now

Defence Equipment and Support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics ...

) and made numerous appearances as a witness to Parliamentary select committees.

Personal life and death

Sir Robert was married twice. He married his first wife, Christina Melvill, in 1967. The couple had one son and two daughters. Daughter,

Emma Walmsley Dame Emma Natasha Walmsley (born June 1969) is the chief executive officer (CEO) of GlaxoSmithKline. She succeeded Sir Andrew Witty, who retired in March 2017. Before GSK, she worked for L'Oréal for 17 years, and was a non-executive director ...

, is currently chief executive of the global pharmaceutical company

Glaxo Smithkline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...

. was launched by Christina, Lady Walmsley in 1996. This launch made naval history since Lady Walmsley broke with tradition and used a bottle of Macallan whisky; up until this time Royal Navy ships had always been launched with a bottle of champagne. Sir Robert and Christina's marriage dissolved in 2009 and in 2010 Sir Robert married his second wife Alexandra Ashbourne. Sir Robert Walmsley died suddenly in

Cape Cod, Massachusetts Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

on 4 August 2022, at the age of 81.

Corporate roles

* Chairman of the Board of the Major Projects Association *

Non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of ...

of Cohort plc *

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Un ...

CorporationSir Robert Walmsley: Biography
Reuters *

Ultra Electronics Ultra Electronics Holdings is a British defence and security company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by Cobham, which is itself owned by Advent International. Hist ...

HoldingsListed directors
Ultra Electronics Holdings * Senior advisor at

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the f ...

International plc * Former Director of EDO Corporation (now ITT Exelis) and chairman of the board of EDO (UK) plc * Former

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of ...

British Energy British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France (EDF) in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power ...

Group plc * Former

of Stratos Global Corporation (now Inmarsat) * Senior adviser to

Fluor Corporation Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastru ...

* Non-executive director of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walmsley, Robert 1941 births 2022 deaths Royal Navy officers United Kingdom defence procurement Royal Navy vice admirals Military personnel from Aberdeen Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Fettes College Fellows of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Walmsley family