Sir William Strath, KCB (16 November 1906 – 8 May 1975) was a Scottish civil servant and industrialist. Educated at Girvan High School and the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, he entered the civil service in 1929 as an official in the

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; he moved to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

in 1938 and then the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

in 1940. His post-war career included spells at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

and

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. In 1954, as head of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

's central war plans secretariat, he was charged with chairing a committee on the impact of a hydrogen bomb attack on Britain; the "

Strath Committee The Strath Committee, chaired by Sir William Strath, was set up by the British Ministry of Defence to consider the short- and long-term effects of a hydrogen bomb attack on the United Kingdom. The committee began its work in November 1954, and subm ...

" would find that even a limited attack of ten bombs would have dire consequences for the country. He sat on the

UK Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). T ...

from 1955 to 1959 and then served as

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

of the Ministry of Supply in 1959 and the

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

from 1959 to 1960. In 1961, he became Group

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Tube Investments TI Group plc (formerly "Tube Investments") was a holding company for specialised engineering companies. It was based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire and was listed on the London Stock Exchange, at one point being a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. ...

, serving until 1972; he was also Chairman of the

British Aluminium Company British Aluminium was an aluminium production company. It was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium plc (1982-1996). History In the late 1880s and early 1890s ...

from 1962 to 1972."Sir William Strath", ''

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'' (London), 10 May 1975, p. 16. ."Strath, Sir William"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2021). Retrieved 17 August 2021.

References

1906 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Scottish civil servants Scottish industrialists Alumni of the University of Glasgow Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Civil servants in the Ministry of Aircraft Production 20th-century Scottish businesspeople {{UK-gov-bio-stub