Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1995

citations Sir Eric Al bert Ash CBE, F.Eng., FRS In the heart of London is the group of colleges which form part of the University of London. The journey from University College to Imperial College is afairly short one and can normally be completed in 20minutes by car. Eric Albert Ash has, however, taken many years to cross over from Imperial to University College and waited another 22 years before moving back. His association with University College came early in life as he went to the University College School as aboy. This was followed by seven very rewarding years at the Imperial College of Science and Technology where he graduated with first class honours in electrical engineering in 1948 and received his doctorate four years later in 1952. Like many brilliant scientists of his generation, the lure of America's research opportunities, laboratories, libraries and other facilities proved to be irresistible and his first full-time job was as a research fellow at Stanford University in California. Two years later, the spell that was North America having run its course, he returned to Britain and after a brief stint as research fellow at Queen Mary College, started work as resident engineer for Standard Telecommunication Laboratories. This was where he remained for the next eight years until academia beckoned and he joined University College as asenior lecturer in 1963. His brilliance as aresearcher and teacher soon brought the reward it deserved. He was made reader within two years and became afull professor another two years later at the early age of 39. He pioneered ground-breaking research in various aspects of physical electronics, acoustic imaging, signal processing and integrated optics. His discoveries led to many patents and numerous citations in international journals on physics and engineering. Eric Ash spent ayear at IBM as visiting research engineer in 1969. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 197 and was made a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the following year. But it was in the 1980s that his fame spread far and wide. He won the coveted Faraday Medal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1980, was made a Commander of the British Empire three years later, and won the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1986. A year later, he was elected president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Between 1987 and this year, he has received no fewer than nine honorary doctorates starting with one 48th Congregation 2