Sir William Thomas Griffiths (1895-1952), managing director of the Mond Nickel Co
1952 Obituary [1]
WE record with regret the death of Sir William Thomas Griffiths, which occurred on Wednesday, July 30th, at Redhill County Hospital, Surrey, after a brief illness. Sir William, who was fifty-seven, was, until recently, chairman and managing director of the Mond Nickel Company, Ltd., and a vice-president of the International Company of Canada, Ltd.
Sir William was born at Cardiff in 1895, where he was educated at the Howard Garden School, and subsequently at University College, Cardiff.
After service with the Royal Engineers in the first world war, Sir William was appointed to the metallurgical staff of the research department at Woolwich Arsenal where he remained until 1926.
In that year he began his association with the Mond Nickel Company, Ltd., by becoming manager of the research and development department. Sir William occupied that position for the next nineteen years or so, and in 1945 he was appointed chairman and managing director of the company. At the same time, he was elected a vice-president of the International Nickel Company of Canada, Ltd. He retired from both offices about eighteen months ago.
For many years, Sir William had been a member and subsequently a Fellow of the Institute of Metals. He was elected president of the Institute in 1944, in which office be served for a term of two years. Those years were difficult ones for the Institute, and the progress of its work during the closing months of the second world war and the early part of the post-war period was greatly assisted by the wise guidance which Sir William readily gave as president. Upon taking office, be recalled that the Institute of Metals was already international in its membership, and he expressed the hope that it would not be solely national in its outlook. During his presidency, the National Certificate in Metallurgy was established, the Institute of Metals taking a leading part in formulating the scheme.
Sir William was also a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. In addition, he had served on the councils of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, the British Cast Iron Research Association, and the Federation of British Industries, and on the advisory council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Sir William received his knighthood in 1946.