Chemical Engineering at The University of Leeds

Abstract

A GIFT by Mr. Charles Brotherton of £55,000—£50,000 of which is under a seven-year covenant—to provide a new chemical engineering laboratory was announced at a recent meeting of the Council of the University of Leeds. The benefaction is in keeping with the recognition of the importance of the subject now general in Great Britain; the Universities of London and Cambridge have also benefited recently by endowments to provide for this field of study. The Department of Coal Gas and Fuel Industries with Metallurgy, which provides the course in chemical engineering, was established in 1906 to give training in fuel and metallurgy. In 1910 a degree in gas engineering was introduced, following the endowment of a chair by the British gas industry to perpetuate the memory of Sir George Livesey; this was followed later by contributions to a building fund. The degree course in gas engineering has been largely chemical engineering in character, and it was provided at a time when the latter subject met with little academic recognition. In 1942, the scope of the curriculum at Leeds was widened, and a four-year degree course in chemical engineering added to meet the needs of those passing either into the contracting side of the gas industry, or into the chemical industry generally. Among many other generous gifts to the University, Mr. Brotherton has already given liberal support to chemical and gas engineering. In 1942 he provided four undergraduate scholarships, and in 1943 a research assistantship; in 1944 he made a donation of £1,000 for equipment and £1,000 a year under a seven-year covenant for a Brotherton lectureship. Dr. J. S. Forsyth, at present Brotherton research assistant in chemical engineering, has now been appointed Brotherton lecturer in the University.