Richard Pike

Richard Andrew Pike FRSC (2 April 1950 – 23 July 2011) was the Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) from 2006 to 2011. Education He attended Gosport County Grammar School (which became the comprehensive, Bay House School, in 1972). From Downing College, Cambridge he gained a 1st Class BA in Engineering in 1971, and later in 1977 gained a PhD. His PhD research work investigated experimental and theoretical aspects of vapour bubble dynamics in boiling, focusing on the thermal and fluid characteristics of water and organic liquids in various gravitational fields, including Earth and zero gravity. Career From being sponsored as an undergraduate, he had an almost 25-year career in BP, during which time he held a number of technical and commercial positions. These included Technical Manager of the Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland, Scotland (then Europe's largest oil and gas processing facility), and General Manager, Chemicals, BP Far East. During this latter posting he was also appointed President, BP Chemicals, Japan, and Director, Samsung-BP Chemicals, South Korea. After leaving Japan, Pike was for five years Director General of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and Executive Vice Chairman, Professional Engineering Publishing. He later moved to become Senior Associate at Gaffney, Cline & Associates, advising on corporate strategy within the oil and gas industry, and leading international technical, commercial and organisational assignments throughout the energy supply chain, from reservoir management to processing facilities, petrochemicals and power. He was also non-executive Director of Chemistry Innovation Ltd., the corporate vehicle for the Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network (CIKTN). In February 2006 he was appointed as the Chief Executive of the RSC, which he resigned from in February 2011.