Alan Reece at the controls of a digger during the construction of The Alan Reece Building in 2009 at the University of Cambridge, Institute for Manufacturing.
Dear Colleagues:
I have learned the sad news from Dr. Dan Hettiaratchi, founding Assistant Editor of the Journal of Terramechanics that Dr. Alan Richard Reece, former President of the ISTVS (1965-1969) and founding Editor, Journal of Terramechanics, passed away recently.
Alan was a remarkable man and was instrumental in establishing the ISTVS and in founding the Journal of Terramechanics. He was a gifted educator, innovative researcher, prolific inventor, pioneering entrepreneur, and generous philanthropist. He will be deeply missed and will be long remembered by all those who had worked with him or known him.
Regards,
Jo Y. Wong
Editor's note: Dr. Wong is an ISTVS Past-President, 2002-05, and is Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. We are grateful to Dr. Wong for sharing this sad news with his ISTVS friends.
Find brief reviews of Dr Reece's life: Financial Times, University of Cambridge here and here, and Newcastle University (PDF). Look for an extended piece in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Terramechanics.
Dr. Reece, Pearson Engineering, was included as one of the top ten entrepreneurs in Britain in 2011.
The octogenarian Dr Alan Reece owns and runs Pearson Engineering, one of the best-performing industrial groups in the north-east. Pearson develops systems and equipment for the combat engineers of the British and US armies, and the US Marines. Its particular expertise is the development and supply of specialised countermine equipment for armoured fighting vehicles, but it also provides industrial deepwater mining and excavation systems. In 2009, Pearson's profits more than doubled to £31.3m on soaring sales of £116.2m. Reece is also using his wealth for the greater good of industry - he was the biggest single donor to Cambridge University's Institute for Manufacturing last year, whose new research building on the university's west Cambridge campus is named in his honour.