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| Dr Rushbrook visiting the Rushbrook Fire Laboratory in 2011 |
It was with great sadness that we learned
of the passing of Dr Frank Rushbrook, CBE on the 17th February 2014,
aged 99. Frank was a true visionary who will forever be associated with the creation of the
academic discipline of Fire Safety Engineering at Edinburgh and was a life-long friend and supporter
of the group.
During his long and distinguished career in
the Fire Service, with time spent in Edinburgh and London during the war, Frank
rose to the rank of Firemaster of Edinburgh and South-East of Scotland Fire
Brigade before retiring in 1970. The post-war years were a time of rapid
technological change. Dr Rushbrook saw that there was a need for graduates
skilled in Fire Safety Engineering to interact more positively with established
engineering disciplines and architects to solve issues of fire safety in modern,
increasingly large and complex buildings. From the early signs of change, Frank
knew that education was key.
In the early 1970s, he convinced the
University of Edinburgh to take a step into the unknown to establish a
Department for Fire Engineering – a global first. Frank set about raising the
funds to support the appointment of a professor and two lecturers. Under the
leadership of Professor Rasbash (with the then Dr Drysdale and Dr Marchant) the
team at Edinburgh developed the first postgraduate course in Fire Safety
Engineering. The curriculum broke new ground and set academic standards for the
subject. It was expanded into undergraduate and postgraduate courses as far
afield as Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the USA and The University of
Canterbury in New Zealand. With the success of the postgraduate programme, Frank
stepped in again to help raise the funds to support a third lecturer and see
the Department through some tough times. As always, when Frank stepped in, it
was to guarantee that the programme became stronger.
This happened again in 2001 when Frank made
a gift to the University to build the Rushbrook Fire Laboratory. This state-of-the-art
fire research lab is unique to Edinburgh and cemented the research group’s
position as one of the best in the world. It played a large part in attracting
fellow visionary Prof Torero to lead the Fire Safety Engineering research and
teaching at Edinburgh. The combination of these personalities lead to unprecedented
growth in research and teaching activity at the University with large research
projects and a new undergraduate course. Dr Rushbrook’s long career, foresight and
philanthropy was acknowledged with an Honorary Doctorate conferred on him by
the University in 2004.
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| Dr Rushbrook celebrating his 99th birthday with Prof Lygate (centre) and Prof Simeoni (right) in December 2013 |
On a personal level, I owe much to Dr
Rushbrook. His company International Fire Investigators and Consultants Ltd
sponsored my PhD allowing me an insight into the fascinating world of fire
investigation. In 2012, Frank realized one more vision – to develop research
and teaching in fire investigation. With a personal donation to the University,
the Rushbrook Lectureship in Fire Investigation was established. I am honoured
to be the first holder of the title and I could not have asked for a better
mentor and visionary to launch me on my career.
Over the years, Frank would regularly visit
the group to inspire and enlighten generations of students through his lectures, stories
and vision. Four decades on, his legacy is not simply in creating a profession,
it is more than that, it is ensuring it survived.
We had hoped Dr Rushbrook would join us as
guest of honour at our 40th anniversary event later this year. Instead,
it will be held in his memory.
Rory Hadden
