John Frederick Clarke

John Frederick Clarke FRS (1 May 1927 – 11 June 2013) was a professor, an aeronautical engineer, and a pilot.

Training and education He was trained in the Fleet Air Arm as a Navy Pilot and then in the Royal Air force at Lossiemouth. He left the Navy and worked for a few months at Armstrong Siddeley, then studied aeronautical engineering at Queen Mary University of London in 1949. His thesis advisor Norman A.V. Piercy died in 1953, and he was temporarily advised by Leslie G. Whitehead and then by Alec David Young. He received his PhD in 1957.

Career Clarke worked for English Electric company from 1955 to 1957. In 1958 he joined Cranfield University as a lecturer and stayed there till 1991. After his retirement he continued to do research for a decade. His research interests included Shock waves, detonations, gas dynamics and flame theory.

Awards and honours Clarke was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1982.

Personal life Clarke married Jean Gentle in 1953.

Books