Dr Brian W Malpass obituary
12 September 1937 – 8 May 2024
Dr Brian William Malpass BSC CChem MRSC, born in Goldenhill, Stoke-on-Trent on 12 September 1937; died 8 May 2024 in Pembury, Kent. From Wolstanton Grammar School in Staffordshire, he won an open scholarship to read Chemistry at Birmingham University from 1957 to 1960. He ended up with a first, the Franklin prize for undergraduate chemistry and the A E Hills scholarship to do a PhD in polymer chemistry.
He also met Hazel Sawers, a fellow Chemist on the same course and they married on the 10 September 1960, after graduating. Hazel then worked as a research chemist to support them both while Brian was doing his PhD. He and Hazel were still in touch with a number of their fellow Birmingham chemists more than 60 years after they all graduated.
After University, Brian took a job at the Passfield Research Laboratories, in Hampshire, where their two daughters were born.
After five years, during which time Brian rose to be head of the physical chemistry department, he left Passfield to join Formica, which was then part of the De La Rue company.
Initially he ran the research laboratories, based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, which necessitated a move from Liss in Hampshire to Marlow, in Buckinghamshire, where he and Hazel lived for the next 47 years. Brian worked for De La Rue for over 20 eventful years, segueing from Research and Development to Commercial Development to Long Range Planning, to Mergers and Acquisitions, to Finance and eventually to General Management.
He never acquired any formal qualifications in finance, although he did spend six months on secondment to a blueblood merchant bank, which gave him experience of the City of London and Wall Street and then became first the Treasurer, then Finance Director of the company. He retired as the CEO.
He always kept up his interest in Science and wrote many articles and reviews for various publications including a number of Radicals for Chemistry in Britain, and some Last Retorts for Chemistry World, as it became.
Two of his Last Retorts were “Peer review”, detailing the many and varied careers which his Fellow Birmingham chemists had gone on to achieve and “The Chemists that got away”, about famous people who started out as chemists.
He also wrote and had published several books, including Bluff your way in Science and Bluff your way in Chess and a novel. For many years, he and Hazel attended the annual Edinburgh Science Festival and also the Orkney International Science Festival, Orkney being where Hazel’s family was originally from.
Other interests included private investing, wildlife, especially birds, history, a lifelong passion for the cinema, wine, cooking and reading voraciously. He also loved gadgets, rock music played at thunderous volume and most importantly, his five adored grandchildren.
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