John Anthony Hardinge Giffard 3rd Earl of Halsbury FRS(4th June 1908–14th January 2000), British peer and scientist, succeeded to the title in 1943. He was Managing Director of the National Research Development Corporation

National Research Development Corporation

The National Research Development Corporation was a non-departmental government body established by the British Government to transfer technology from the public sector to the private sector.-History:...

 1949–1959, after having been Director of Research of Decca Record Company 1947–1949, and previously worked for Lever Brothers

Lever Brothers

Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...

, and Brown-Firth Research Laboratories. Subsequently he served on many public bodies, including chairing the Committee on Decimal Currency (1961–1963). He was Chancellor

Chancellor (education)

A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....

 of Brunel University

Brunel University

Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....

.

In 1986, he tabled a Private Member's Bill

Private Member's Bill

A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...

 in the House of Lords entitled "An act to refrain local authorities from promoting homosexuality"; it failed, but led to the enactment of the similar Section 28

Section 28

Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...

.

He was President of the British Computer Society

British Computer Society

The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...

 during 1969–70.

In addition, he was also a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien and was one of the few people to read The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...

in Tolkien's lifetime in 1957.

His grandmother was the Edwardian couturiere Lady Duff-Gordon

Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon

Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon was a leading fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known as "Lucile", her professional name. The first British designer to achieve international renown, Lucile was a widely-acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion...

, otherwise known by her professional name Lucile, and who was a survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster.