Sir Denis Eric Rooke OM CBE FRS FREng was born in the New Cross Area of South East London on 2 April1924. He married Brenda Evans in 1949 and they had one daughter, Diana. Sir Denis died in London on 2 September 2008 aged 84.
Sir Denis’s early education did not go smoothly. Soon after starting primary school at about the age of three, he developed a medical problem and spent the next four years in and out of hospital. As time progressed, he gained a Junior County Scholarship which enabled him to attend a grammar school, Westminster City School. After the war broke out, he changed schools to the Addey and Stanhope School in Deptford, a school which gave a high priority to Science. His university education took place at University College London, where he graduated with a B.Sc. honours degree in mechanical engineering in 1944 and a postgraduate diploma in chemical engineering in 1949.
His career started in the years of the Second World War, when he served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in Britain and India, in the Mechanical Engineering Directorate of GHQ India in Delhi and later in the Supreme HQ, where he was involved in the handover of power and partition. Sir Denis, who served from 1944 to 1947, attained the rank of Major. Following a temporary assignment with the South Metropolitan Gas Company, he joined the gas industry permanently, shortly after nationalisation in August 1949. He worked for the South Eastern Gas Board as Assistant Mechanical Engineer – Tar Works, specialising in coal-tar by-products, in the Chemical Products Department at Ordnance Wharf; within five years he had become Deputy Works Manager (1954).
In 1957 Sir Denis was seconded to the North Thames Gas Board for work on the ocean transportation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The Gas Council decided to pursue with Constock in the USA experiments on the ocean transportation of (LNG) and needed a representative there. Kenneth Hutchison (later Sir Kenneth), Chairman of the South Eastern Gas Board at the time, detached Sir Denis for the purpose of undertaking the work. In 1958, he went to the USA as the Gas Council’s representative at the cryogenic and sea trials of the Methane Pioneer. At the request of the American partners, Sir Denis’s role was to work on cooling the cargo tanks down to minus 260 F and load the first trial cargo. In January / February 1959, Sir Denis was on board as part of the special technical crew on the maiden voyage to transport a first cargo of 2000 tons of LNG across the Atlantic – the ship arrived at Canvey Island on 20 February 1959. Sir Denis had played a significant part in the development, design and construction of the pilot facilities at the Canvey Island Terminal.
After a period as development engineer at the South Eastern Gas Board, he was appointed Development Engineer, Gas Council in July 1960 to head the Development and Planning Section which the Council had decided to establish. The section was upgraded to become the Production and Supply Division of the Gas Council in January 1966 when the appointment of Director of Production and Supplies was created. Sir Denis was appointed as a full-time member of the Gas Council in August 1966. He was member for Production and Supply from1966 to 1971.
He played a leading role in the negotiation between the gas industry and the producing groups for the purchase of the offshore gas as well as overseeing the development and construction of the reception terminals and the national gas grid. In the 1960s and 1970s Sir Denis played a prominent part in the exploration and programme for natural gas and in the negotiations between the Gas Industry and producing groups for the purchase of gas. In 1972 Sir Denis was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Gas Council, (which became the British Gas Corporation in 1973) until 1976. He was appointed Chairman of the British Gas Corporation in July 1976 (legally constituted as British Gas plc, from August 1986), serving as Chairman until his retirement on 30 June 1989. As such, he managed the most successful nationalised industry in the UK and the world’s largest fully integrated gas system.
Sir Denis was regarded as one of the all-time engineering greats, a chemical, gas and mechanical engineer, destined to play a significant part in the developments in both production and transmission of gas. He was also regarded as one of the most significant figures of British Industry – known as ‘Mr Gas Industry’. Sir Denis became head of an industry which rose to become one of the largest and most successful industrial enterprises in the country, renowned for both its high level technology and sound management. He was the author of numerous articles and delivered many talks, speeches and lectures.
In his daily working life he had regular contact and dealings with politicians such as James Callaghan, Prime Minister during Rooke’s first years as British Gas Chairman, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Tony Benn, then Secretary of State for Energy; John Smith, Minister of State; Energy Secretary Peter Walker; William Waldegrave, Science Minister in the early 1980s; Nigel Lawson, Secretary of State for Energy between 1981 and 1983, during the time of privatisation of the gas industry.
After retirement he did not slow down, but remained an active and influential member of society in his continued membership of professional associations and interests in arts (music, opera and photography) and education. Sir Denis became Chancellor of Loughborough University in 1989 and served until 2003. Sir Denis had a strong interest in education, and gave his expertise and time to the cause of education, including developing the relationship between education, science, industry and technology. He felt strongly about the introduction of observational science at the earliest possible stages in primary education and science being used as an essential building block in education generally. He supported the development of the concept of science for all and lent his influence and support to issues related to the formal school curriculum as well as out-of-school activities. He was also involved in the promotion of the dissemination of the public understanding of science. Sir Denis supported the idea of Sir Claus Moser, former President of the British Association, that the British Association would pursue the possibility of setting up an independent commission of enquiry into education and training in the UK, and played an active role in its establishment in 1991. His interest and involvement with the education and training of professional engineers, both male and female, was widely known and recognised, as was his support of the role of women in science and engineering.
He was awarded the CBE in 1970 and knighted in 1977. One of his most significant honours was becoming a member of the Order of Merit in 1997, bestowed by the Queen on only a few who have achieved exceptional distinction. According to Tam Dalyell’s obituary in The Independent, on 8 September 2008, “Sir Denis’s great technical achievement and lasting legacy was to build Britain’s gas distribution network and unite the diverse gas industry, making domestic gas a cheap and convenient fuel source. As Deputy Chairman, he oversaw the restructuring that turned the 12 area boards of 1948 into regions of the newly created British Gas Corporation in 1973. According to a deal struck with Peter Walker, Secretary of State for Energy , instead of breaking up the industry into separate enterprises, the gas transmission, distribution and retailing business was turned, by Act of Parliament in 1986 from a publicly owned single monopoly into a single private sector monopoly, British Gas plc. This was almost certainly due to Sir Denis’ influence and role.” As Sir Denis said about himself in his letters of thanks to those who had congratulated him on the award of the Order of Merit, he saw himself as “an engineer with a lengthy background in industry, a focus on wealth creation and an interest in education.”
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