Gordon Higginson
Encyclopedia
Professor Sir Gordon Higginson (died, 5 November 2011) DL, PhD, DSc, FREng, FICE
, FIMechE was Vice-Chancellor of Southampton University for nine years, retiring in 1994. He was co-author of the standard text on hydrodynamic lubrication and the Higginson Report on A levels.
After graduating from Leeds University, Higginson worked briefly for the Ministry of Supply and was then appointed lecturer at Leeds University in 1953. In 1965 he was appointed to a chair in civil engineering in what is now the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences at Durham University
. His research interest was hydrodynamic lubrication and tribology
, later extending to bio-engineering.
In the 1990s he served as chair of the engineering board of the Science and Engineering Research Council
, the major grant-awarding body in UK academia.
He came to wider prominence when he chaired a committee set up to advise on the reform of the A Level system, producing the "Higginson report" into the use of technology to support learning in colleges. Despite gaining widespread approval, the report was curtly rejected by the government, but many of the detailed proposals still enjoy some currency.
Within the Further Education sector of England there was, arguably, a more successful "Higginson Report". The Learning and Technology Committee, chaired for the FEFC by Gordon Higginson, published its report in 1996. Known universally across English FE as the "Higginson Report", it made a number of recommendations for how the FEFC should go about supporting colleges' use of IT. It set a framework for Information & Learning Technology (ILT) development across the FE sector over following years.
Following the privatisation of the railway system in the UK in the 1990s, he was the founding Chair of the Railway Heritage Committee, which supervised the transfer of historic artefacts and records to collecting institutions.
He was knighted in 1990 and holds the academic titles of DL, PhD and DSc. Durham University has both a lecture series, and a building named in his honour.
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
, FIMechE was Vice-Chancellor of Southampton University for nine years, retiring in 1994. He was co-author of the standard text on hydrodynamic lubrication and the Higginson Report on A levels.
After graduating from Leeds University, Higginson worked briefly for the Ministry of Supply and was then appointed lecturer at Leeds University in 1953. In 1965 he was appointed to a chair in civil engineering in what is now the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences at Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
. His research interest was hydrodynamic lubrication and tribology
Tribology
Tribology is the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear...
, later extending to bio-engineering.
In the 1990s he served as chair of the engineering board of the Science and Engineering Research Council
Science and Engineering Research Council
The Science and Engineering Research Council used to be the UK agency in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities including astronomy, biotechnology and biological sciences, space research and particle physics...
, the major grant-awarding body in UK academia.
He came to wider prominence when he chaired a committee set up to advise on the reform of the A Level system, producing the "Higginson report" into the use of technology to support learning in colleges. Despite gaining widespread approval, the report was curtly rejected by the government, but many of the detailed proposals still enjoy some currency.
Within the Further Education sector of England there was, arguably, a more successful "Higginson Report". The Learning and Technology Committee, chaired for the FEFC by Gordon Higginson, published its report in 1996. Known universally across English FE as the "Higginson Report", it made a number of recommendations for how the FEFC should go about supporting colleges' use of IT. It set a framework for Information & Learning Technology (ILT) development across the FE sector over following years.
Following the privatisation of the railway system in the UK in the 1990s, he was the founding Chair of the Railway Heritage Committee, which supervised the transfer of historic artefacts and records to collecting institutions.
He was knighted in 1990 and holds the academic titles of DL, PhD and DSc. Durham University has both a lecture series, and a building named in his honour.