S. Whitehead (1902-1956), Director of the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association
1956 Obituary [1]
WE regret to have to record that Dr. S. Whitehead, Director of the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association, died suddenly at his· home in Hampton-on-Thames on Saturday last.
Dr. Whitehead was born in Sutton, Surrey, in 1902 and was educated at Sir Waiter St. John's School, Jesus College, Oxford, and Queen Mary College, London. He was a research scholar in the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, from 1924 until 1925, when he joined the Electrical Research Association as a technical assistant. His career then was very closely linked with this Association: he was appointed assistant director in 1939, acting director in 1945 and director in 1946. As director he was largely responsible for piloting the project for the Association's new laboratories at Leatherhead.
In a few months, but for his untimely death, Dr. Whitehead would have seen the first results of many years of patient work, for the Leatherhead laboratories are now nearing completion and most of the staff and equipment are due to move from the Perivale laboratories to Leatherhead by the end of June.
Dr. Whitehead was a member of the Royal Institution and served as Manager in 1953 and 1955. He was chairman of the measurements section of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in the 1948-49 session. From 1954-55 he was chairman of the committee of Directors of Research Associations and from 1954-56 he served as joint honorary secretary of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. He was honorary treasurer of the Institute of Physics and a past vice-president and chairman of its London branch.
He was the author of more than thirty technical papers and books, including Dielectric Breakdown of Solids, and a treatise in three volumes on Dielectric Phenomena. Dr. Whitehead was a Fellow of Queen Mary College.