Ieuan Maddock

Sir Ieuan Maddock (29 March 1917 – 29 December 1988) was a Welsh scientist and nuclear researcher. He played a role in the nuclear weapons tests in Australia in the 1950s and the 1973 Partial Test-Ban treaty.

Early life Ieuan Maddock was born in Gorseinon, Glamorganshire, Wales, the son of Evan Maddock, a miner, and his wife, a primary school teacher. He studied at Gowerton Grammar School before graduating from the University of Wales, Swansea in 1937 with a BSc in physics. With his First class honours, he received a postgraduate scholarship. His PhD, in which he was researching optical measurements, was postponed in 1940 when the government Department of Explosives Research and Development evacuated to Swansea during the Second World War. having been crucial to the success of firing and collecting data on the Operation Hurricane atomic bomb test in the Monte Bello Islands on 3 October 1952. He subsequently participated in the Operation Totem tests at Emu Field, Operation Mosaic tests at Monte Bello in 1956, and the Operation Buffalo British nuclear tests at Maralinga.

Maddock was removed from Aldermaston in 1965 to serve as Deputy Controller B at the Ministry of Technology, being made Controller in 1967. This was a new department, created by the Labour government, with Frank Cousins, and later Tony Benn, as his minister. In this role, Maddock worked on engineering improvements and developing technical skills in design and manufacture, but was often frustrated by unreasoning resistance to change among British management and workers, and within the Civil Service itself. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1967,

In 1971, Maddock was appointed Chief Scientist in the Department of Trade and Industry when it replaced the Ministry of Technology, and then became Chief Scientist in the Department of Industry from 1974 to 1977 following the department split. Maddock was also made Director of the National Physical Laboratory in 1975, before his retirement from the Civil Service in 1977.

Personal life Ieuan Maddock married Eurfron May Davies, also from Gorseinon, in 1943, and they had a son named Robert. Maddock lived at 13 Darell Road, Caversham, Reading, Berkshire, from 1962 until his death on 29 December 1988, aged 71.