1974: Sir St John Holt Elstub

Sir St John Holt Elstub (1915-1989)

89th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Elstub was born in 1915 in Heywood, Lancashire, England and attended Rugby School. He obtained a BSc(Hons) in mechanical engineering from Manchester University in 1936 and after initial training with Vickers Armstrong secured a position with ICI working on design and maintenance.

During the Second World War, he joined the Royal Air Force and served as an operational bomber pilot and flying instructor. In 1943, he worked on the development of rocket motors and was involved in intelligence work on the V2.

After the war he returned to ICI and became Assistant Chief Engineer of the metals division, achieving the position of Chairman in 1961. In 1962, the metals division was formed into Imperial Metals Industries Ltd and he became Chairman of the company ten years later. He retired from IMI in 1974 and was involved in the creation of a Government Agency Research Establishment at Summerfield in Oxfordshire. The agency developed a range of solid-propellant rocket motors and he received the CBE for this work in 1954.

In the 1960s, his main interest was the advancement of technical education and he was Governor of the Birmingham College of Advanced Technology and a member of Council of Aston in Birmingham University. He also became a member of the Engineering Industry Training Board and received an honorary degree from Aston University. He headed the Elstub Committee reporting on aircraft productivity and was a member of the Plowden Committee on the aircraft industry.

During this same period, he became actively involved in the governance of the IMechE, joining the Council, and becoming Vice-President in 1965. He was elected President in 1974. In 1970, he received a knighthood and in 1975 was awarded the Verulam Medal by the Metals Society.

He died in 1989.

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