John Stuart Archer

{{Short description|Vice-Chancellorof Heriot-Watt University (1943–2007)}} {{other people||John Archer (disambiguation){{!}}John Archer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = John Stuart Archer |honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FRSE}} |office = Principal of Heriot-Watt University |term_start = 1997 |term_end = 2006 |predecessor = Alistair MacFarlane |successor = Anton Muscatelli}} '''John Stuart Archer''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRSE|FREng}} (15 June 1943 – 9 December 2007) was vice-chancellor and principal of Heriot-Watt University from 1997 to 2006.

==Life== Archer was born in London on 15 June 1943 and went to Chiswick County Grammar School.<ref name=Frosts>[http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/mfwhoswho/individuals/A_mfwwi/john_stuart_archer.html Frost's Scottish Who's Who] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028122940/http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/mfwhoswho/individuals/A_mfwwi/john_stuart_archer.html |date=2007-10-28 }} John Stuart Archer (accessed 7 March 2009)</ref> He obtained a BSc in Industrial chemistry from City University London in 1965 and a PhD from Imperial College London.<ref name=TCE>''The Chemical Engineer'', issue 800 (Feb 2008) page 54</ref> In 1969 he emigrated to Canada with his wife Lesley and got a job as a petroleum engineer.<ref name=IPE>[http://www.pet.hw.ac.uk/news/pdfs/johnarcher_obit.pdf Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering]{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Obituary</ref> He returned to the UK in 1973, and worked in the European gas fields.<ref name=IPE/>

He entered academia as a reader in petroleum engineering at Imperial College in 1980, becoming a professor in 1986, then head of the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering in 1987.<ref name=IPE/> After further senior positions at Imperial College, including two years as dean of the Royal School of Mines in 1989–91, he joined Heriot-Watt University in 1997 as vice-chancellor and principal, until his retirement in July 2006.<ref name=IPE/> He died 9 December 2007 of cancer, survived by his wife and their son and daughter (the sociologist Professor Louise Archer).<ref name=RHE>[http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=400159&sectioncode=26 ''Times Higher Education'' 17 January 2008] Obituary by Melanie Newman</ref>

==Honours and professional affiliations== Archer was appointed a CBE in 2002 for services to higher education.<ref name=Guard>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jun/15/monarchy.politics11 ''The Guardian''] 15 June 2002</ref> He was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.<ref name=IPE/> He served as president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers for 2005–2006, which included responsibility for the World Congress in Chemical Engineering, held in Glasgow in 2005.<ref name=TCE/> He received honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College, City University and Heriot-Watt University.<ref name=RSE>[http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/obits/obits_alpha/archer_j.pdf Royal Society of Edinburgh]{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Obituary</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, John Stuart}} Category:1943 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:British chemical engineers Category:Engineering academics Category:Alumni of City, University of London Category:Alumni of Imperial College London Category:Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Academics of Imperial College London Category:Academics of Heriot-Watt University Category:Deans of the Royal School of Mines Category:Alumni of Chiswick School