{{Short description|British engineer and businessman (1927–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Use British English|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Robert Malpas | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date |1927|08|09}} | birth_place = Wallington, Surrey, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|06|18|1927|08|09}} | death_place = London, England | occupation = Engineer, businessman | years_active = | known_for = Chairman of ICI and being pushed onto a train track | notable_works = | spouse = {{Marriage |Josephine Dickenson |1956 |2004 |end=died}} {{Marriage |Joan Holloway|2005 }} | children = 2 }}
'''Sir Robert Malpas''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FREng|FRSA|FIMechE}} (9 August 1927 – 18 June 2023) was a British engineer and businessman. Much of his career was spent with ICI. He was chairman of ICI Europa Ltd and a ICI main board director before becoming a managing director of BP, chairman of PowerGen and the Cookson Group, and co-chairman of Eurotunnel.
In April 2018, Malpas was pushed onto the tracks at Marble Arch station where he suffered serious injuries. His attacker was sentenced to life in prison in June 2019.
==Early life== The son of Cheshyre Malpas and his wife Louise Marie Marcelle Malpas, he was educated at Taunton School and St George's College, Quilmes, Argentina, and then at the University of Durham, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.<ref name=who>'MALPAS, Sir Robert', in ''Who's Who 2012'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2012)</ref>
==Career== In 1948, Malpas joined Imperial Chemical Industries, remaining with the company until 1963. He then transferred to Alcudia SA, a Spanish company then almost half-owned by ICI, and in 1965 to ICI Europa Ltd, based in Brussels. He became chairman of ICI Europa Ltd in 1973 and from 1975 to 1978 was a member of the ICI main board. From 1978 to 1982, he was president of Halcon International Inc., from 1983 to 1989, a managing director of BP, from 1990, chairman of PowerGen, from 1991 to 1998, chairman of the Cookson Group, simultaneously serving as co-chairman of Eurotunnel from 1996 to 1998. From 1998 to 2002, he was chairman of Ferghana Partners Ltd. He was also a director of Repsol SA (1989–2002), the BOC Group (1981–1996), Eurotunnel (1987–1999), Enagas, Spain (2002–2006) and Agcert PLC (2005–2008).<ref name=who/>
In retirement, he was chairman of the board of RL Automotive.<ref>[http://www.rlauto.com/corporate.htm Corporate] at rlauto.com, accessed 11 March 2012</ref>
His book ''Energy for Planet Earth'' (1991), based on a series of articles which appeared in a special issue of ''Scientific American'' in 1990, considers the factors governing the way people use energy, dividing them into economic and social forces.<ref name=review>[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13017756.400-review-energy-for-planet-earth-by-robert-malpas-.html Review: 'Energy for Planet Earth' by Robert Malpas] from ''New Scientist'', issue 1775 dated 29 June 1991, online at newscientist.com, accessed 11 March 2012</ref>
==Voluntary work and private life== In 1956, Malpas married Josephine Dickenson. After her death in 2004, he married secondly in 2005, Josephine's nurse, Joan Holloway.<ref name=who/><ref name="A+E">{{Cite episode |title=Series 24 Episode 4 |series=24 Hours in A&E |series-link=24 Hours in A&E |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/24-hours-in-ae/on-demand/70071-011 |accessdate=7 June 2022 |network=Channel 4 |date=21 June 2021 |series-no=24 |number=4 |transcript= |transcript-url= }}</ref>
Malpas was a member of the Engineering Council from 1983 to 1988 and was its vice-chairman from 1984 to 1988, a member of the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development, 1983–1986, chairman of the LINK Steering Group, 1987–1993 and of the Natural Environment Research Council, 1993–1996. In ''Who's Who'', he states his recreations as "Sport, music, theatre, golf".<ref name=who/> Malpas was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1985 for substantial contributions to the industrial engineering community and to its relations with academe in England, Europe and the United States. {{citation needed|date=July 2021}}
On 27 April 2018, Malpas was suddenly and without warning pushed onto the train tracks at Marble Arch tube station suffering a broken pelvis and a head wound.<ref name="A+E" /> A bystander rescued him from the tracks and the perpetrator who was unknown to Malpas, was later found guilty of attempted murder<ref name="A+E" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Man guilty of Eurotunnel boss Tube push murder attempt |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45763265 |work=BBC News|date=5 October 2018 |access-date=5 October 2018 }}</ref> and jailed for life.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tube pusher Paul Crossley jailed for life |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48743979 |work=BBC News|date=24 June 2019 |access-date=24 June 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/paranoid-schizophrenic-who-pushed-former-eurotunnel-boss-robert-malpas-on-to-the-tube-tracks-is-a4174766.html|work=Evening Standard|title=Paranoid schizophrenic who pushed former Eurotunnel boss on to Tube tracks is jailed for life|first=Tristan|last=Kirk|date=24 June 2019|access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref> The incident was captured on CCTV.<ref name="A+E" />
In June 2021, Malpas was featured on an episode of 24 Hours in A&E, being treated at St George's Hospital, London, in Autumn 2020 after suffering from a low heart rate, dizziness and confusion, from which he recovered.<ref name="A+E" /><ref>{{cite web |title=New episode of 24 Hours in A&E: Lasting Legacy... |url=https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/newsitem/new-episode-of-24-hours-in-ae-lasting-legacy/ |publisher=St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref>
Malpas died on 18 June 2023, at the age of 95.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/sir-robert-malpas-obituary-077xsks3x|title=Sir Robert Malpas obituary|date=18 August 2023|via=www.thetimes.co.uk}}</ref>
==Publications== *''Energy for Planet Earth'' (1991)<ref name=review/>
==Honours== *Order of Civil Merit, Spain, 1967<ref name=who/> *Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering<ref name="List of Fellows - Royal Academy of Engineering">{{Cite web|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|title=List of Fellows|access-date=21 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), 1975 Birthday Honours, "for services to British commercial interests in Belgium."<ref name=who/><ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |date=6 June 1975 |supp=y |issue=46593 |pages=7386 }}</ref> *Hon. Doctorate, University of Loughborough, 1983<ref name=who/> *Hon. Doctorate, University of Surrey, 1984<ref name=who/> * Member, National Academy of Engineering, 1985 *Hon. Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 1988<ref name=who/> *Hon. Doctorate, University of Newcastle, 1991<ref name=who/> *Hon. DSc, University of Bath, 1991<ref name=who/> *Hon. Fellow, University of Westminster, 1992<ref name=who/> *Hon. Doctorate, University of Durham, 1997<ref name=who/> *Appointed Knight Bachelor, 1998 Birthday Honours, "for services to Industry and to Science and Technology."<ref name=who/><ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |issue=55155 |date=12 June 1998 |supp=y |pages=2 }}</ref> *Hon. FIMechE, 1999<ref name=who/> *Hon. Doctorate, Sheffield Hallam University, 2001<ref name=who/>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malpas, Robert}} Category:1927 births Category:2023 deaths Category:People educated at Taunton School Category:People educated at St. George's College, Quilmes Category:English mechanical engineers Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Order of Civil Merit members Category:Alumni of King's College, Newcastle Category:Survivors of railway accidents or incidents Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Category:Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Category:Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts