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Lord Kings Norton Archive

Timeline

"Roxbee was revered and acknowledged by all that knew him as 'One of the nicest of men one could ever hope to encounter'. He inspired devotion, not only for his intellectual qualities but also for his kindliness, his courtesy and his integrity, all delightfully interlaced with erudition and wit"

Taken from Sir. Peter Masefield's address at the Service of thanksgiving, St. Margaret's, Westminster.

Education and career

1902    Born Harold Roxbee Cox on 6th June at Handsworth
1906 - 1917    Educated at Saxonhurst School and then Kings Norton Grammar School
1918 - 1922    Aircraft Design Department of the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge
1921 - 1922    External BSc from London University (1st class honours)
1922 - 1924    PhD and D.I.C gained from Imperial College, London
1924    Summer vacation spent at the National Physical Laboratory
1924 - 1929    Royal Airship Works, Cardington
1927    Marriage to Marjorie Withers (d 1980)
1929-1931    Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
1931    Chief Technical Officer, Royal Airship Works, Cardington
1931 - 1935    Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
1932 - 1936    Lecturer in Aircraft Structures, Imperial College
1935 - 1936    Principal Scientific Officer, Aerodynamics Department, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
1936 - 1938    Head of Air Defence Department, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
1938 - 1939    Chief Technical Officer, Air Registration Board
1939 - 1940    Superintendent of Scientific Research, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
1940 - 1943    Deputy Director of Scientific Research, Ministry of Aircraft Production
1941 - 1944    Chairman, Gas Turbine Collaboration Committee
1943 - 1944    Director of Special Projects, Ministry of Aircraft Production
1944 - 1946    Chairman and Managing Director, Power Jets (Research and Development) Ltd
1944 - 1948    Member, Aeronautical Research Council
1946 - 1948    Director, National Gas Turbine Establishment
1946 - 1948    Director, Gas Turbine Collaboration Committee
1947 - 1949    President, Royal Aeronautical Society
1948 - 1954    Chief Scientist, Ministry of Fuel and Power
1953 - ?    Vice-chairman of the governing body of the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield
1958 - 1960    Member, Aeronautical Research Council
1961 - 1965    Chairman, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
1961 - 1967    Chairman, Metal Box Co. (Director, 1957-1967, Deputy Chairman, 1959-1960)
1961 - 1994    President, Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association
1964 - 1971    Chairman, Council for National Academic Awards
1965 - 1977    Director, Ricardo and Co. (Engrs) 1927 Ltd.
1965 - 1969    Chairman of the governing body of the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield
1966 - 1972    Chairman, Air Registration Board
1967 - 1975    Chairman, Berger Jenson and Nicholson Ltd
1968 - 1975    Director, Dowty Rotol
1969 - 1976    President, Royal Institution
1969 - 1997    Chancellor, Cranfield Institute of Technology (Cranfield University since 1993)
1970 - 1975    Director, Hoechst UK
1974 - 1981    Chairman, Applied Photophysics
1976 - 1981    Chairman, Withers Estates
1975 - 1997    Chairman, Landspeed Ltd
1978 - 1997    Chairman, Cotswold Research Ltd
1980 - 1997    President, British Balloon Museum and Library
1982    Marriage to Joan Pack
1997    Passed away on 21st December
1998    Service of thanksgiving, St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, London

Awards and honours

1928    R38 Memorial Prize for Advances in Airship Design (Royal Aeronautical Society)
1934    Busk Memorial Prize
1940    Wilbur Wright Lecturer
1945    Wright Brothers Lecturer (USA)
1946    Membre Correspondant, Faculte Polytechnique de Mons
1946    Bronze Medal, University of Louvain
1947    Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm, USA
1951    Hawksley Lecturer
1952    James Clayton Prize
1953    Received Knighthood
1954    Thornton Lecturer
1954    Hon DSc, Birmingham
1955    Parsons Memorial Lecturer
1960    Fellow of Imperial College of Science and Technology
1965    Life peerage - created Baron Kings Norton of Wotton Underwood
1966    Hon DTech, Brunel
1969    Handley Page Memorial Lecturer
1969    Hon LLD CNAA
1970    Hon DSc, Cranfield Institute of Technology
1976    FCGI
1986    Hon DSc, Warwick
1987    Freeman, City of London
1987    Liveryman, GAPAN
1992    Hon FIFST