14 Facts About Henry Dyer

Henry Dyer was a Scottish engineer who contributed much to founding Western-style technical education in Japan and Scottish-Japanese relations.

Henry Dyer was born on 16 August 1848, in the village of Muirmadkin in the Parish of Bothwell in what is known as North Lanarkshire.

Around 1865, the Dyer family moved to Glasgow where Henry was employed at James Aitken and Company's foundry in Cranstonhill.

Henry Dyer was the first Scot to win the Whitworth scholarship awarded in 1868, which was for the further instruction of young men gifted in the practice and theory of mechanics.

Henry Dyer graduated from Glasgow University in 1873 with a "certificate in proficiency in engineering", the forerunner of the BSc in Engineering, from the Engineering department.

Henry Dyer is principally remembered in Japan for his contributions to curriculum development for the Imperial College of Engineering an engineering institution under the Public Works of the Meiji Japan aimed at creating young Japanese engineers of various industrial fields to achieve rapid modernization.

Henry Dyer designed a six year academic curriculum consisting of basic, professional and practical courses of two years in duration for six departments.

Many of the major engineering works carried out in Japan at the end of the 19th century were by his former students, and Henry Dyer sent many to Glasgow to complete their education.

When he left the ICE in 1882, Henry Dyer was made Honorary Principal and Emperor Meiji awarded him the Third Class of the Order of the Rising Sun, the highest Japanese honour available to foreigners.

Henry Dyer had established a progressive system of engineering education in Tokyo and greatly contributed to the progress Japan made as an industrial power.

Henry Dyer became a member of the Glasgow School Board in 1891 and was its president from 1914 until his death.

Henry Dyer assisted Japanese students, engineers and trainee managers and had a staunch ally in Captain A R Brown of the company Brown, McFarlane who had been responsible for taking the first Clyde-built ships to Japan.

Henry Dyer worked as an unofficial liaison officer for the Japanese Government in Glasgow and thanks to his efforts Glasgow University Court permitted Japanese as a language for entry in 1901.

The University of Strathclyde's Henry Dyer Building, home to the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, was named after him.