John Stuart Archer

Archer was born in London on 15 June 1943 and went to Chiswick County Grammar School.[1] He obtained a BSc in Industrial Chemistry from City University London in 1965 and a PhD from Imperial College London.[2] In 1969 he emigrated to Canada with his wife Lesley and got a job as a Petroleum Engineer.[3] He returned to the UK in 1973, and worked in the European gas fields.[3]

He entered academia as a Reader in Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College in 1980, becoming a Professor in 1986, then head of the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering in 1987.[3] After further senior positions at Imperial College, including two years as Dean of the Royal School of Mines in 1989–91, he joined Heriot-Watt University in 1997 as Vice-Chancellor and Principal, until his retirement in July 2006.[3] He died 9 December 2007 of cancer, survived by his wife and their son and daughter.[4]

Archer was appointed a CBE in 2002 for services to Higher Education.[5] He was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[3] He served as President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers for 2005–2006, which included responsibility for the World Congress in Chemical Engineering, held in Glasgow in 2005.[2] He received honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College, City University and Heriot-Watt University.[6]