The Scottish Association for Metals (SAM) is delighted to be able to honour the contribution made to the Association by Dr John Richard Wilcox through the award of the Riley Medal
The history of the SAM is marked by periods of considerable service by some of its office bearers. Patrick Thomas served as Secretary and then Treasurer of the West of Scotland Iron and Steel Institute for 30 years from 1945 to 1975, and Dr Mike Arrowsmith – who took over as Treasurer from Thomas at the formation of SAM from the merged West of Scotland ISI and Institute of Metals local branch – looked after the Association’s financial affairs until 2018 – a period of 43 years. Both Thomas and Arrowsmith were awarded the Riley medal for their service.
John Wilcox was first appointed Honorary Secretary of SAM in 1983 and has been actively involved ever since. He stepped away from the role of Secretary in 1998 in order to act as Regional Representative of the Institute of Materials for Scotland and Ireland but returned as President in 2003 and then as Secretary in 2005, a post he continues to hold.
In addition to serving the Association, John was a member of Council of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining from 2009 to 2019 and also served on the Institute’s Accreditation Committee. He represented SAM at meetings of the Federation of Engineering Societies in Glasgow (now Engineering Scotland) and acted as its Secretary from 2000 to 2012. John has helped guide the Association through a period of huge change in the Scottish industrial and business landscape brought about by the closure of the Scottish steel industry in the 1990’s and the advent of digital technologies. Today, SAM continues to play an important role not just in the dissemination of technical knowledge and expertise but also through providing financial support to students, researchers and teachers as they seek to develop their careers in the field of engineering materials.