John Douglas Perkins: 2000–2001

John Perkins was born on 18 March 1950 and graduated in chemical engineering from Imperial College in 1971.   Through a studentship from the Salters' Institute of Industrial Chemistry he continued with his studies at Imperial College, and was awarded a PhD in February 1977.

In 1975 he joined ICI Agricultural Division at Billingham as a chemical engineer and then after a spell as University Demonstrator in chemical engineering at Cambridge University, joined Imperial College as Lecturer in the discipline in 1977, and Senior Lecturer in 1983.

Two years later, in 1985, he moved to Australia as ICI Australia Professor of Process Systems Engineering at the University of Sydney. This was a new chair, sponsored by ICI Australia, with the incumbent dividing their time equally between the University of Sydney and ICI.

Returning to the UK in 1988 John Perkins resumed his association with Imperial College as Professor of Chemical Engineering, taking on the additional role of Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Process Systems Engineering from 1992 to 1998, and in 1996 being appointed as Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering & Chemical Technology.

His first involvement with IChemE was in 1993 when he became a member of the Research Committee, going on to chair the committee for two years from 1997. He also served on the Technical Board for a three year term from 1996 and in 1997 was elected on to the Institution's governing Council before becoming Deputy President in 1999.

As well as Fellowship of IChemE, which he attained in 1986, he also holds Fellowships of the Institute of Mathematics & Its Applications (1992), Royal Academy of Engineering (1993), and City & Guilds of London Institute (1996).  

The Royal Academy of Engineering enlisted his services as a member of their Membership Committee Panel 4 from 1996 to 1999 and also their Anglo-Australia Fellowships Committee from 1998.

He has been actively involved in the work of the Research Councils, having been a member of the SERC Process Engineering Committee for five years from 1989, their Engineering Board's E&T Committee from 1992-1994, and also joined their Research Commission for 12 months in 1993. He has been a member of EPSRC's Engineering College since 1995 and, in 1996, was a member of a joint EPSRC/DTI working party on E&T in process engineering.

He was involved in the Research Assessment Exercise in 1992 and 1995 as a member of the Chemical Engineering Panel.

His expertise has also been utilised on the international scene as a member of the International Federation of Automatic Control's Technical Committee on Process Control from 1989 to 1994, and as a UK delegate on the EFCE's Working Party on Computer Aided Process Engineering from 1989 to 1996.