| Authorised form of name | Edwards; Sir; George Robert (1908 - 2003) |
| Dates | 1908 - 2003 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Woodford Green, Essex, England |
| Date of birth | 09/07/1908 |
| Place of death | Guildford, Surrey |
| Date of death | 02/03/2003 |
| Research field | Aircraft design |
| Activity | Education:
Local school; South West Essex Technical College; London University, BSc in Engineering
Career:
Structural engineer in heavy industry, North East of England (1928); Hayes Wharf Company designing and constructing tugs and small river craft; design staff, Vickers (Aviation) Limited, Brooklands, Weybridge under Rex Pierson (1935-1940); experimental manager, Vickers (Aviation) Limited, Brooklands (1940-1948), chief designer (1948-1953); succeded Hew Kilner as Managing Director, Vickers Armstrongs (Weybridge) Limited (1953-1960), appointed to the Board (June 1955); President of Royal Aeronautical Society (1957-1958); awarded United States' Guggenheim Gold Medal for achievement in aeronautics (1959); Managing Director of newly formed British Aircraft Corporation formerly Vickers Armstrongs Limited, English Electric Company Limited and Hunting Aircraft Limited (1960-1963), Chairman (1963-1975); Pro-Chancellor Emeritus of Surrey University (1964-1979); awarded two Gold Medals by the Royal Aeronautical Society (1957), the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts (1971);
President of Surrey County Cricket Club (1979-1989); President of the Guild of Aviation Artists; awarded the Curtis Sword for the promotion of Anglo-American aerospace cooperation (1994)
Honours:
MBE 1945; CBE 1952; Kt 1957; OM 1971 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 21/03/1968 |
| Age at election | 59 |
| RSActivity | Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1974 |
| Relationships | Son of Edwin George Edwards, station master with the Great Eastern Railway at Walthamstow and Mary (nee Freeman); married (1935) Dinah Thurgood (died 1994) |
| Source | Sources:
The Independent (7 March 2003); The Guardian (7 March 2003) gives birthplace as Chingford
Obituaries:
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 2004 vol 50 pp 73-92 , plate, by Norman Barfield |
| Code | NA300 |
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