Sir Morien Bedford MorganCBFRS[1] (20 December 1912 – 4 April 1978), was a noted Welshaeronautical engineer, sometimes known as "the Father of Concorde". He spent most of his career at theRoyal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), before moving toWhitehall for ten years as theController of Aircraft within theMinistry of Aviation. He spent the last years of his life as master ofDowning College, Cambridge.
He was born inBridgend, the son of draper John Bedford Morgan and teacher Edith Mary. Thomas, was the fourth great grandson ofJohn Bedford. He studied at local schools (Bridgend Primary School, Aberdare Boys' School, Canton Boys' School, Rutlish School),[2] then atMagdalen College School, Oxford, and from 1931,St Catharine's College, Cambridge. It was during his time at Cambridge that he became fascinated with aircraft,[1] and won the John Bernard Seely prize in aeronautics in 1934.
After a brief apprenticeship atVickers Aviation, Morgan took a position at the Aerodynamics Department within the RAE in 1935. Based in Farnborough, there he met Sylvia Axford and married on 19 April 1941. They had three daughters, Carol, Deryn and Gwyneth.[1]
In 1959 he left the RAE to become the scientific advisor to the Air Ministry, and then from 1960 to 1969 held a variety of posts within the Ministry.[3] He returned to the RAE as Director in 1969, and served in this role until 1972. In 1967, he became the first Welshman to be President of theRoyal Aeronautical Society.
In 1972 he succeededProf. Keith Guthrie as Master ofDowning College, Cambridge, a post he held until his death. At Downing "his enthusiasm and good humour together with his Welsh charm, eloquence, and love of music" made sure that he got on well with everyone. His love of music was widely noted.
Morgan was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1958Queen's Birthday Honours,[4] andknighted in the 1969New Year Honours.[5] He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972.[1]
In 1948 Morgan began research into the development of asupersonic passenger airliner. In November 1956 he became Chairman of the newly formed Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee, or STAC. STAC funded research into the SST field at several UK aviation firms though the 1950s. By the late 1950s, STAC had started the process of selecting specific designs for development, and after the forced merger of most UK aviation firms in 1960, selected theBristol 223 as the basis for a transatlantic design. The Bristol work would form the basis for theConcorde. At the time he commented that:
Light alloy construction would be used, and engines could be straightforward developments of present-day large jet units. Long slender shapes, with subsonic leading edges and supersonic trailing edges, can give sufficiently high L/D while the optimum cruise aspect ratio is large enough for a sensible compromise to be visualized between cruising efficiency and reasonable approach speed.
— Morien Morgan, June 1960,[6]
During the Concorde work, Morgan tirelessly worked through problems, both technical and political, to see the project to its conclusion. Alternating with his French counterpart, Robert Vergnaud, he chaired the Concorde oversight committee from 1963 when work began in earnest, to 1966 when prototype construction was well advanced. Given the aircraft was the first of its sort, the relatively rapid progress from design to construction is notable (testing and certification took much longer, however). Morgan noted:
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| Preceded by | Master of Downing College, Cambridge 1972–1978 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | President of the Royal Aeronautical Society 1967–68 | Succeeded by |
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