Derman Christopherson

Christopherson died on 7 November 2000, aged 85. He was interred with his wife at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground, Cambridge.

Christopherson was Vice-Chancellor and Warden of the University of Durham (1960–1979) and then Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (1978–1985). In 1983 he became the second Chairman of the Standing Committee on Structural Safety, succeeding Lord Penney. He served as such until 1988.

Christopherson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1960. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

He returned to Oxford University as a research assistant to Sir Richard Southwell FRS, working on numerical methods for applied mechanics. He contributed to Southwell's relaxation method. Christopherson was the first to apply the method in the solution of field differential equations, which later became the most important application. He gained his DPhil in 1941.

In 1941, during World War II, Christopherson was appointed as a Scientific Officer in the Ministry of Home Security, working in the research and experimental department with Sir Reginald Stradling. His work involved investigating the effects of explosives on buildings, shelters, and firefighting. He worked with Solly (later Lord) Zuckerman and Hugh (later Sir Hugh) Cairns on researching helmet designs. He was also with Barnes Wallis and his team during the war.

Christopherson married Frances Edith Tearle in 1940; the couple had five children. Their son, Peter Christopherson (1955-2010), was a musician, video director and designer. Lady Christopherson predeceased her husband in 1988.

He gained a scholarship at University College, Oxford, initially to read Mathematics. Later, in 1937, he achieved a first class degree in Engineering Science. The following year he went to Harvard University in the United States as a Henry Fellow, gaining an SM master's degree in 1938.

Most of Christopherson's research was conducted at the University of Oxford (1937–41), the University of Cambridge (1945–49), and the University of Leeds (1949–55). He contributed to lubrication research especially. He was a lecturer in engineering at Cambridge. Christopherson was then appointed Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Leeds and became the head of the department in 1949. He left Leeds to become Professor of Applied Science with special reference to Engineering at Imperial College, London until 1960.

Sir Derman Guy Christopherson OBE FRS FREng (6 September 1915 – 7 November 2000) was a British engineering science academic.