Charles Albert King
Professor Charles Albert King (1876-1936), principal of the Engineering College at Benares Hindu University
1936 Obituary [1]
Professor CHARLES ALBERT KING was professor of mechanical engineering and principal of the Engineering College at Benares Hindu University. In addition he held the appointment of Jodhpur— Hardinge professor of technology.
He was born at Portsmouth in 1876 and served an apprenticeship at the Royal Naval Dockyard from 1892 to 1898, after which he was engaged as a journeyman fitter for two years. He then obtained a Whitworth Exhibition and later a Royal Exhibition, which entitled him to a three years' course in engineering at the Royal College of Science, Dublin. In 1903 he became a lecturer at Halifax Technical School, and two years later was made senior assistant in the engineering department at Sunderland Technical College.
He was appointed assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, in 1910.
Early in 1914 he became a member of the Indian Educational Service and held the position of professor of mechanical engineering and superintendent of the workshops at the Civil Engineering College, Sibpur (now the Bengal Engineering College), and was elected a Fellow and a member of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Calcutta.
He received his appointment at Benares Hindu University in 1918, and was in fact the founder of the Engineering College. With Government permission, he prepared the plans and estimates for the college, which was opened in 1919. He also drafted the original prospectus. The development of the Engineering College was rapid, and it is now one of the largest of its kind in India. Professor King was also a member of the Senate of Benares Hindu University, and Dean of the Faculty of Science, in addition to many other University appointments, with all of which he was actively engaged until the time of his death, which occurred at Benares on 20th May 1936.
He was elected to Associate Membership of the Institution in 1907 and was transferred to Membership in 1923.