Sir Alexander Walter Merrison FRS was a British physicist.
14 Facts About Alec Merrison
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Alec Merrison was a professor in experimental physics at Liverpool University and the first director of the new Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory.
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Senior physicist at CERN from 1957 to 1960, subsequently Alec Merrison was chair in experimental physics at Liverpool from 1960 until 1969.
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In 1969 Alec Merrison left Liverpool, appointed vice-chancellor of University of Bristol serving until 1984, presiding over many changes in university structure and funding, overseeing considerable expansion in size, toward the end of his tenure making controversial reductions in some departments as government reduced its funding of universities.
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Alec Merrison combined his vice-chancellorship with numerous other public responsibilities, including service on government committees.
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In 1978 Merrison was appointed under the chairmanship of H Bondi to the Severn Barrage Committee established by the Department of Energy to advise government to assess the advantages and disadvantages of a 'scheme for harnessing the tidal energy of the Severn Estuary.
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In 1976 Alec Merrison was appointed chair of the Royal Commission on the National Health Service and though initially certain of its key recommendations were resisted, later a number formed the basis of NHS reform.
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Alec Merrison served to 1985 and his presidency saw Spain rejoining the project and he campaigned to retain UK membership of CERN.
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Alec Merrison was active in the general life of Bristol, serving as a governor of the Bristol Old Vic theatre and was involvements including the Bristol Evening Post and Bristol Waterworks Company.
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On retirement from Bristol University, Alec Merrison became a director of Lloyds Bank and chairman of its Western Regional Board.
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Alec Merrison was survived by his second wife, Maureen, Lady Merrison, with whom he had a son, Ben Merrison, and a daughter, Andria Merrison.
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Alec Merrison had two sons, Tim and Jonathan Merrison from his first marriage with his first wife, Beryl, who died in 1968.
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Alec Merrison received the Institute of Physics' Charles Vernon Boys Prize for 1961 for his work on the measurement of electron decay.
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Alec Merrison was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1969 and knighted in 1976.