Graeme Davies
Quick Facts
Biography
Sir Graeme John Davies FRSNZ (born 7 April 1937) is a New Zealand engineer, academic and administrator. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of three universities: the University of Liverpool, the University of Glasgow and the University of London.
Early life
He is the son of Harry John Davies and Gladys Edna Davies (née Pratt). He was born in New Zealand and attended Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland. He later attended the University of Auckland when he obtained a BE in Aeronautical Engineering and PhD in Materials Science. He then attended St Catharine's College, Cambridge obtaining an MA and ScD.
Career
Davies has taught metallurgy at the University of Auckland (1964–66), the University of Cambridge (1966-77) and the University of Sheffield (1978–86) where he was Professor of Metallurgy.
He has served as Chief Executive of the Universities Funding Council (UFC), and also of the Polytechnic and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC), and then of their successor, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
He became an Honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1989. Davies also served as the Chairman of Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), Ltd.
He is currently the Emeritus Vice Chancellor of the University of London. He is also the Chairman of the British University of Vietnam, the Foundation for Liver Research, and the NZ-UK Link Foundation, Governor of the University of Lincoln, the University of Hertfordshire, the University of Seychelles, Taylor's University, the British Institute of Technology & E-Commerce, and the Public Interest Body of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and a Trustee of Regent's University London.
Personal life
In 1959, he married Florence Isabelle Martin (who died in June 2014) and they had one son, Michael Allan Martin Davies, and one daughter, Helena Anne Davies. He was knighted in 1996.
Publications
- Solidification and Casting (1973)
- Texture and the Properties of Materials (co-ed, 1976)
- Solidificacao e Fundicao das Metals e Suas Ligas (jtly, 1978)
- Hot Working and Forming Processes (co-ed, 1980)
- Superplasticity (jtly, 1981)
- Essential Metallurgy for Engineers (jtly, 1985)
- Herding Cats (jtly, 2010)