Gordon Beveridge

Sir Gordon Smith Grieve Beveridge (28 November 1933 – 28 August 1999) was a Scottish chemical engineer. He served as president and vice-chancellor of Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1986 to 1997. He was knighted in 1994 for his services to higher education and died in Belfast.

Career Sir Gordon was born in St Andrews, Fife and brought up in Inverness. He attended Inverness Royal Academy, followed by the University of Glasgow, where he studied engineering. He had a distinguished career and completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He spent some time at the University of Minnesota as a Harkness Fellow. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Texas. In 1967, he moved to Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and, from 1971 to 1986, was a professor of chemical engineering and head of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

Among his many posts, he was a Fellow and an Officer of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Companion of the Institute of Management.

Family Gordon was the son of Victor Beattie Beveridge and Elizabeth (Fairbairn) Grieve. He married Geertruida Hillegonda Johanna Bruijn in 1963.

Publications He wrote more than 300 articles, papers and books, including Optimization: Theory and Practice (with Robert S. Schechter, published by McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. New York, 1970).

Exhibitions Engineering in the 80s, Edinburgh. Targeted at school leavers who were considering one of the branches of engineering as a career, this exhibition for the Council of Engineering Institutions was held at the Royal Museum of Scotland for three months. Exhibits ranged from coalface-cutting machines to needles for optical surgery.

Honorary degrees University of Dublin, Ireland Connecticut College, USA 1995 Lodz University of Technology, Poland Royal Irish Academy, Ireland 1985 University of Ulster, Northern Ireland 1994 DSc Queen's University of Kingston, Canada 1995 Dsc Queens University of Kingston, Canada 1995 LLD University of Ireland 1995 LLD University of Limerick 1997/98 DUniv Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh 1998 LLD Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast