Former principal and vice-chancellor of Dundee University

Born: February 5, 1923;

Died: October 6, 2016

PROFESSOR Adam Neville, who has died aged 93, was a structural engineer who became a pre-eminent expert on the properties of concrete and later rose through the ranks of academia to become Dundee University’s principal and vice-chancellor.

However, the word “eventful” does not begin to describe his journey to that point in his life. Born in Poland in 1923, he was barely 16-years-old when the Nazis invaded his homeland.

He escaped the German occupation, fleeing towards Russia. There he was taken captive by the Soviets, at the time Hitler’s allies through the Ribbentrop Pact, encountering the Red Army as it invaded Poland from the East. He was dispatched to a labour camp in the Arctic hinterland, enduring the harsh conditions established by the ruthless Gulag administration.

But somehow he escaped and made the perilous 3000-mile journey alone across the Russian Steppes, eventually arriving in Persia (modern-day Iran) in 1942. He immediately enlisted in the Free Polish Armed Forces and spent the rest of the war fighting under British command.

After demob at the end of the war, he came to Britain and studied engineering at Queen Mary College, University of London. A brilliant student by all accounts, after graduating he embarked upon what he often described as “my life in concrete.”

His painstaking research on concrete as a material is world renowned. His first book, Properties of Concrete, published in 1963, has been translated into 13 languages and has sold over half a million copies. In many parts of the world it is known familiarly as “Neville’s concrete bible”. In all he has written 10 books and over 250 technical papers.

His work, whilst highly regarded academically, has also had a profound influence on engineering in practice. In 1963, after a number of experimental investigations, he published a major paper on the laboratory and field behaviour of high alumina cement concrete (HAC) and concluded that, under British exposure conditions, structural members were likely to become unsafe after 10 to 20 years. Dr Neville’s findings provoked a virulent reaction from the manufacturers of pre-cast HAC beams as well as the cement manufacturers.

However, just a few years later a series of major roof collapses in London vindicated his findings and Dr Neville was invited to serve on the Buildings Regulations Advisory Committee dealing with HAC. High Alumina Cement is no longer used in structural concrete in the UK.

For more than 50 years, Adam Neville’s innate engineering ability and expertise in his subject has had a profound influence on his profession.

He went on to teach at learning institutions in Nigeria, Canada (where he was Dean of Engineering at the University of Calgary) and in the UK (where he was head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Leeds University).

In 1978, he moved to Scotland to take up the challenge of becoming Dundee University’s second principal and vice-chancellor. During his nine years in the post he provided strong support for good quality research and succeeded in improving relations between the university and industry both at home and abroad.

He guided the university through extremely challenging times as it faced severe financial difficulties and pressure for a merger with other institutions.

He strongly supported a focus on research excellence to improve the university’s standing, notably making decisions that led to the emergence of Dundee as a world leader in life sciences. He took early retirement in 1987, returning with his wife Mary to live in London.

Throughout his academic career he was active as a consultant and an expert witness. After retirement he qualified as an arbitrator and was in great demand in a number of legal cases involving high profile projects as far away as Hong Kong.

Professionally, he served on the Council of the Institution of Structural Engineers and as vice president of The Royal Academy of Engineering from 1992 until 1995.

With his trademark handlebar moustache, Professor Neville cut an impressive figure on whatever university campus he worked on. As a five-year-old child in Poland he learned to ski and continued the sport well into his 80s. He spoke seven European languages and a few years ago became a Gold Member of the American Travellers’ Century Club after visiting almost all the countries of the world.

Dundee University presented Professor Neville with an honorary degree in 1998. One of its most prestigious annual lectures is named after him and held in the School of Life Sciences, appropriately so given his key role in its development.

His professional accomplishments were also recognised with the award of a CBE in the honours list. He had, too, a DSc (Eng) and a PhD and was a FICE, FIStructE, FREng and FRSE

In addition to his Hon LLD from Dundee he was also an Hon Fellow, Queen Mary, University of London, an honorary member of the American Concrete Society and an honorary member of the Concrete Society.

He is survived by his wife Mary.

ALLAN LAING