Queen Mary College, University of London: The First in a Series of Articles Describing the Facilities, Academic Curricula and Research Activities in the Aeronautical Engineering Departments of the British Universities

AERONAUTICS owes much to the selfless devotion and enthusiasm of its early pioneers. As was noted by the author in the Fourth Lanchester Memorial Lecture,1 Queen Mary College can claim to have the oldest established University Department of Aeronautical Engineering in the country due to the pioneer work of Dr A. P. Thurston, a graduate of the College, t It was in 1908 that he decided to establish an Aeronautical Laboratory there. He inspired the interest and support of like‐minded friends and Mr P. Y. Alexander, in particular, contributed a major part of the funds required to equip the laboratory. From Professor J. L. S. Hatton, the then Principal of the College, Dr Thurston received warm encouragement and the space for the venture, but College funds were then less than adequate for its longer established activities, and so the College could not afford to offer financial support to the new venture in its early days.