Pender Chair


The Pender Chair is the post that is generally held by the head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering of University College London.
John Pender, the founder of Cable and Wireless, died in 1896. The Pender Memorial Committee was formed, and collected £6,277 in his memorial. Of this, they decided to donate £5,000 to the Department of Electrical Technology of University College, to enable an expansion of its facilities. This included the founding of the Pender Laboratory, and the inauguration of the Pender Chair.
The Department of Electrical Technology had already been formed some years earlier, in 1885, with John Ambrose Fleming as its head.
He, therefore, became the first incumbent of the Pender Chair of Electrical Engineering.
The following references can be found, in the Council Minutes: