He pioneered the use of computers within the design process, and was one of the first to realise the potential of the Pacific Rim in business.
He was born in Inverkeithing, under the shadow of the Forth Rail Bridge, the son of Robert McDonald, a cable-jointer with the South of Scotland Electricity Board, and his wife, Helen Orrick.
[1] His first job was with British Thomson-Houston in Rugby, working (during the Second World War) on radar research.
His proposers were Sir John Toothill, William E J Farvis and Oppenshaw Taylor.
In later life he was a non-executive director of both General Accident and the Northern Rock Building Society.