Raymond Smallman

Smallman was born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, the third of five children of a working-class couple.[3] Smallman spent much of his childhood near Cannock, Staffordshire, working at his father's fish and chips shop while his father served with the Royal Air Force during World War II.[3] Between 1939 and 1947, Smallman attended a grammar school in Rugeley, Staffordshire, on a scholarship.[3] He then obtained a first-class honours degree in metallurgy at the University of Birmingham, supervised by Alan Cottrell.[2] Smallman completed his PhD on the structure of cold worked metals, again under Cottrell's supervision, in 1953.[3]

After completing his doctorate, Smallman went to work as a metallurgical researcher at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) in Harwell, Oxfordshire.[2] At AERE, Smallman and his colleagues were among the first to study the structure of metals using electron microscopy, discovering previously unknown microstructures and defects including dislocation "loops".[2] In 1958, in collaboration with scientists from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, Smallman published a groundbreaking paper on these dislocations, which provided key evidence for an emerging theory of metal fatigue with important implications for metallurgy and engineering.[2]

Thereafter, Smallman returned to the University of Birmingham as a lecturer in physical metallurgy, and oversaw the development of a highly successful metallurgical research team.[3] In 1964, he was appointed Chair of Birmingham's Department of Physical Metallurgy, becoming the Head of the Department of Metallurgy and Materials in 1980.[2] In 1985, Smallman oversaw the founding of an independent, research-focused Faculty of Engineering at Birmingham, and subsequently became the new faculty's Dean.[2] ISmallman was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1986,[1] and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1991.[2]

In 1987, Smallman became the Vice-Principal of the university, a position he held until 1992.[3] As Vice-Principal, he implemented numerous university-wide administrative and academic reforms, and helped to strengthen the university's links to industry and commerce.[2] Smallman's reforms were credited with helping to raise Birmingham's national and international profile as a major research university.[2] In his later years, Smallman was a visiting lecturer at numerous universities and scientific societies worldwide.[3]

• 1969: awarded Beilby Medal and Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry[5]
• 1992: appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[3]

Smallman married Doreen Faulkner in September 1952.[3] They remained married for the rest of Smallman's life; she survived him, as did their two children.[2]