Gordon Blair
Dr Gordon Blair (1937-1978) of QUB
Gordon Purves Blair was born in Larne County Antrim in 1937 and educated at Larne grammar School. He then went to Queen’s University Belfast to study Mechanical Engineering, where he obtained a BSc degree in 1959, a PhD in 1962 and a DSc in 1978 – this latter award is a “higher doctorate” awarded in recognition of a substantial and sustained contribution to scientific knowledge.
Gordon Blair always had a love of motor cycles and in 1965 embarked on a journey that would not only enhance his research credentials and reputation around the world, but also that of Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University in Belfast. That was the year he began contesting the Irish road racing scene with machines designed and built in the mechanical Engineering Department at Queen’s.