Geoffrey (Geoff) Frederick Hewitt : 1989–1990

Geoff Hewitt was born on 3 January 1934 and obtained both a BSc degree and PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology (UMIST).

After leaving university in 1957, he joined the UKAEA at its Harwell Laboratory as a scientist and was eventually appointed Division Head in 1976.

His field of expertise within the chemical engineering discipline was fluid flow and heat transfer and he was the founder and Head of the Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow service within UKAEA from 1968 to 1982, and also took on the role of President of the Heat Transfer Society in 1977.

In 1985 he was elected into Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering and, in the same year, also took on a part-time role as Professor of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.

His work on fluid flow and heat transfer has earned him a number of awards including in 1980 the Donald Q Kern award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers which is awarded in recognition of the expertise in a given field of heat transfer, transport phenomena and energy processes; a fellowship award from the International Centre for Heat & Mass Transfer in 1982 and IChemE's own Council Medal in 1994.

Joining IChemE in 1957 as an Associate Member, he transferred to Chartered Member in 1961. Further association with the Institution followed in 1971 when he was an elected member on Council and served a four year term in that role. He subsequently transferred to IChemE Fellowship in 1975. In 1988 he assumed the role of Joint Honorary Secretary (with Dudley Walne), serving one year in this role before assuming the presidency.