Past Pupils

Sir Archibald Forster (1946)

Archibald William Forster was born in London on February 11 1928. He was educated at Tottenham Grammar School and Birmingham University, where he took a First in chemical engineering and was a Cadman medallist. After National Service with the RAF as a Meteor jet pilot, he joined Esso in 1951 at its first British refinery, at Fawley. Built with Marshall Plan funding, Fawley was then still being commissioned by engineers from Standard Oil of New Jersey (later Exxon), Esso's American parent company. As a young man Archie Forster enjoyed sailing, and in later years, when time permitted, bridge and astronomy.

Having trained as a refinery manager both at Esso's installation at Fawley in Hampshire and at Milford Haven, and worked as a supply manager in London, Forster joined the board of Esso Petroleum in 1971. After a period of secondment as assistant to the chairman of Exxon in New York, he returned as vice president of Esso Europe in 1975, and was chairman and chief executive of Esso Petroleum (now Esso UK) from 1980 until his retirement in 1993.
He also provided resilient leadership for the industry after the catastrophic fire on the Piper Alpha rig in the North Sea in 1988, in which 167 oil rig workers died, and drove important initiatives in offshore safety.
He was a past president of the Oil Industries Club, the Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Institute of Petroleum, and a governor of the English Speaking Union. He received honorary degrees from the universities of Birmingham, Loughborough and Southampton.

SIR ARCHIBALD died on April 9th 2001 aged 73. He married, in 1954, Betty Channing; they had three daughters.