Wallace Akers
Sir Wallace Akers | |
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Known for | Director of the Tube Alloys project |
Sir Wallace Alan Akers
Biography
Wallace Alan Akers was born in
After university, he joined
Between 1933 and 1936 he was involved in a project to produce synthetic petrol from the hydrogenation of coal. ICI executives envisaged competing with oil companies. It became clear that the process would not be competitive, but since it had defence implications, he sought government subsidies. In this he was opposed by Sir John Anderson, the permanent secretary at the Home Office. The change of government following the October 1931 general election brought with it a change in policy, and he was able to secure some financial relief.[1]
A reorganisation of ICI in 1937 ended Akers' chairmanship of the Billingham division, and he was posted to ICI headquarters, where he worked closely with Holbrook Gaskell. At this time, Britain was starting to re-arm. Munitions contracts had begun to roll in, and ICI expanded its production capacity. He became executive manager in 1939.[1]
During 1941 Akers was recruited by the British war-time government as director of the Tube Alloys project, a clandestine programme aiming to research and develop British atomic weapons capabilities.[2] This helped galvanize both Britain and America to proceed down a path which led to the Manhattan Project, and ultimately the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[3] Official Historian Margaret Gowing noted that "No doubt Akers had been picked for his personality and drive that had been considered so important and which he possessed in abundance".[4]
Akers' ICI background led to difficulties when it came to dealing with the American Manhattan Project.
In 1946, Akers returned to the Board of ICI where he served as director of research until April 1953, when he retired, having reached the compulsory retirement age of 65.[2] He established university research fellowships, and donated money to university laboratories for research purposes. In 1946, he established the Butterwick Research Laboratories to carry out fundamental research, unrelated to commercial objectives. They were later renamed the Akers Research Laboratories in his honour.[9][2]
Akers was made a
After his retirement, he remained a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,[2] and was part of the three-man April 1953 committee that drew up the organisation of what became the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. He was a member of the National Gallery's scientific advisory committee, later becoming a trustee, and was the treasurer of the Chemical Society from 1948 to 1954.[1] He married Bernadette Marie La Marre in 1953, and died at their home in Alton, Hampshire, on 1 November 1954.[1]
Notes
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30359. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ JSTOR 769238.
- ^ Calder, Ritchie (24 September 1964). "The Edge of Mortal Crimes". New Scientist. 23 (410): 793. Retrieved 4 June 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Gowing 1964, p. 108.
- ^ Gowing 1964, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 271.
- ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 276.
- ^ Gowing 1964, p. 173.
- ^ Boyce & Everett 2003, p. 17.
- ^ "No. 36309". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 20.
- ^ "No. 37407". The London Gazette. 28 December 1945. p. 2.
- ^ "No. 37502". The London Gazette. 15 March 1946. p. 1387.
References
- Boyce, Fredric; Everett, D. H. (2003). SOE: the Scientific Secrets. Stroud: Sutton. OCLC 51781596.
- OCLC 3195209.
- OCLC 637004643. Retrieved 26 March 2013.