IOP Groups
John McGregor Hill
Knighted 1969, FRS 1981
Born February 21, 1921 in Chester, died January 14, 2008.
Obituary published in: The Times January 30, 2008.
He received a PhD in nuclear physics for research on radioactive isotopes with short lifetimes. In 1950 he began working for the Department of Atomic Energy for the Ministry of Supply at the Windscale nuclear establishment in Cumbria, where he was involved with the construction of Britain's first two nuclear reactors. They were air cooled, graphite moderated and used natural uranium fuel to produce plutonium for Britain's early nuclear weapons. He managed several other production facilities before becoming chairman of the UKAEA in 1967, a post he held until 1981. He was a Fellow of the Institue of Physics and the Institute of Energy, was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1981 and of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1982. He was awarded medals by the Institute of Energy and the Institute of Radiology and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bradford.
^ To the top ^