John Horlock

Sir John Horlock
FRS FREng
Born
John Harold Horlock

(1928-04-19)19 April 1928
Edmonton, Middlesex
Died(2015-05-22)22 May 2015
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
OccupationEngineer
Spouse
Sheila Stutely
​
(m. 1953)​
ChildrenAlison, Tim, Jane
Parent(s)Harold and Olive Horlock
Engineering career
DisciplineTurbomachinery
InstitutionsUniversity of Liverpool
University of Salford
Whittle Laboratory

Sir John Harold Horlock FRS[1] FREng[2] (19 April 1928 – 22 May 2015)[3][4][5] was a British professor of mechanical engineering, and was vice-chancellor of both the Open University[6] and the University of Salford, as well as vice-president of the Royal Society.[7] In 1977, he was elected a fellow[2] of the Royal Academy of Engineering[2]

Education and early life

Horlock was raised in North London and attended The Latymer School, Edmonton. He went from there to St John's College, Cambridge where he gained his PhD in 1958.[7]

Career

In spite of a job offer by Rolls-Royce, Horlock accepted the role of professor and head of the mechanical engineering department at University of Liverpool. He returned to Cambridge as professor of engineering in 1967, and in 1973 he founded the department's Whittle Laboratory, also becoming its director.[8]

In 1981, Horlock began working for the Open University. Whilst there he tackled the government over spending cuts, introduced a taught postgraduate masters programme, and expanded the OU. Following his retirement he was treasurer and later vice-president of the Royal Society.[7]

Research

Horlock's main area of research was turbomachinery, particularly gas turbines, compressors and jet engines.[7]

Selected books and book chapters

  • Horlock, John H (2006). An Open Book. South Shields, UK: the Memoir Club. ISBN 9781841041582.
  • Horlock, John H (1958). Axial flow compressors fluid mechanics & thermodynamics. Oxford, UK: Butterworth & Co Publishers Ltd.
  • Horlock, John H (1966). Axial flow turbines. Oxford, UK: Butterworth & Co Publishers Ltd. ISBN 9780408122504.
  • Horlock, John H (1973). Axial flow compressors, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. Huntington, N.Y: R.E. Krieger Pub. Co. ISBN 9780882750965.
  • Horlock, John H (1978). Actuator disk theory: discontinuities in thermo fluid dynamics. London New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070303607.
  • Horlock, John H (1997). Cogeneration—combined heat and power (CHP): thermodynamics and economics. Malabar, Fla: Krieger Pub. ISBN 9780894649288.
  • Horlock, John H (2002). Combined power plants: including combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants. Malabar, FL: Krieger Pub. ISBN 9781575241975.
  • Horlock, John H (1997), "Keynote address", in Hah, Chunhill (ed.), Turbomachinery fluid dynamics and heat transfer: based on the proceedings of the symposium held at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, June 13–14, 1995: on the occasion of Dr. B. Lakshminarayana's 60th birthday, New York: M. Dekker, pp. 1–12, ISBN 9780824798291

Selected journal articles

  • Horlock, John H (March 1963). "Annulus wall boundary layers in axial compressor stages". Journal of Fluids Engineering. 85 (1): 55–62. doi:10.1115/1.3656537.
  • Horlock, John H; Henderson, Robert E (October 1972). "An approximate analysis of the unsteady lift on airfoils in cascade". Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power. 94 (4): 233–240. doi:10.1115/1.3445678.
  • Horlock, John H; Grainger, CF (September 1980). "Linearized solutions for the supersonic flow through turbomachinery blade rows (using actuator disk theory)". Journal of Fluids Engineering. 102 (3): 330–337. doi:10.1115/1.3240690.
  • Horlock, John H (January 1997). "Aero-engine derivative gas turbines for power generation: thermodynamic and economic perspectives". Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power. 119 (1): 119–123. doi:10.1115/1.2815534.
  • Horlock, John H; Cumpsty, Nicholas A (2005). "Averaging Non-Uniform Flow for a Purpose". Volume 6: Turbo Expo 2005, Parts A and B. Vol. 6. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. pp. 1–14. doi:10.1115/GT2005-68081. ISBN 978-0-7918-4730-5.
  • Horlock, John H; Torbidoni, Leonardo (January 2008). "Calculations of cooled turbine efficiency". Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power. 130 (1): 011703. doi:10.1115/1.2771250.

Honours and awards

Horlock won numerous awards including:

The Horlock Building, named after John Horlock, Open University's Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes.

The Horlock building on the Open University's Walton Hall campus was named in his honour in 1989,[7] and the Association of Open University Graduates' Sir John Horlock Award for Science was established two years later in 1991.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Denton, J. D.; Gostelow, J. P. (2016). "Sir John Harold Horlock FREng. (19 April 1928 — 22 May 2015)". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 62: 213–232. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2016.0009. S2CID 57929362.
  2. ^ a b c "List of Fellows". Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ^ HORLOCK, Sir John (Harold), Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014.
  4. ^ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2014. Prof Sir John Horlock, Vice–Chancellor, Open University, 1981–90, 84
  5. ^ Sir John Horlock: Engineer who led campaign to prevent closure of the Open University, Independent.co.uk. Accessed 23 January 2023.
  6. ^ John Horlock, History of the Open University. Accessed 23 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e "History of the OU – John Horlock". Open University. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  8. ^ a b "The AOUG Sir John Horlock Award for Science". Association of Open University Graduates (AOUG). Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  10. ^ "New Year Honours List 1996". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (New Zealand). January 1996. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2014. Note: Text as published in the New Zealand Gazette (Special), Wellington: Friday, 19 January 1996 – Issue No. 4 (pp.121 – 124)
  11. ^ The International Who's Who 2004. p. 753.