It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor Sir Peter Gregson, a former deputy vice-chancellor of our University, on 23 February aged 66.
Peter Gregson was an outstanding materials scientist who, during the early part of his career, contributed enormously to the life and work of the University of Southampton. He was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1983 having obtained a first-class degree in metallurgy and materials science and a PhD from Imperial College London.
Before university, he was exposed to real metallurgical problems through his appointment as an industrial scholar with GKN Rolled and Bright Steel Ltd. It was perhaps this early experience that helped him to become such an effective academic engineer. His excellent academic work in materials science led to his appointment as Professor of Aerospace Materials at the University of Southampton in 1995. He continued to build strong relationships with industry and directed advanced technology centres on behalf of Luxfer and DePuy, and the defence and aerospace research partnership in advanced metallic airframes. He became internationally recognised for his work, making important contributions in aluminium-lithium metallurgy, and chairing the leading international conferences in his field.
The ability to recognise the talents of other colleagues and develop their careers was another of his great strengths. At least five of those whose research he supervised during this period went on to professorial appointments in Southampton or elsewhere. He was also recognised through the award of prestigious prizes and was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2001.
At Southampton he was committed to the wider development of engineering and took the role of Director of Research in the Faculty of Engineering before being appointed as Deputy Vice-Chancellor. It is arguable that it was his contribution in this role that was of the greatest significance to the University. He is perhaps best remembered for kick-starting the University’s agenda in enterprise and innovation. He was responsible for entering the relationship with enterprise investors IP2IPO and for the formation of the SET-squared partnership with the Universities of Bristol, Bath, and Surrey. Both of these initiatives helped support the generation of spin out companies at a time when the generation of “impact” was just beginning to enter the lexicon of UK higher education. Peter thus initiated the impressive growth of the third strand of the University’s triple helix which has led to the national recognition of the University in so effectively combining education, research, and enterprise. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the University in 2009.
His outstanding leadership qualities were soon recognised, and he was appointed as President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast in 2004 and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University in 2013. He was knighted for services to higher education in 2011 and was appointed Chair of the Henry Royce Institute in 2021. He was a member of numerous boards, including serving as a non-executive director of Rolls-Royce plc. Above all, however, he was a warm and generous human being who was widely admired and greatly liked. He was a devoted husband and father of three daughters and a strong supporter of both local and national charities. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
Philip Nelson
25 February 2024