After an apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce Aeroengines, he studied at Jesus College, Oxford and was awarded a First Class BA in 1973, and became Doctor of Philosophy in 1976.
[8] He was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by HM The Queen of Denmark in recognition of his promotion of the work of Arne Jacobsen, the Danish architect who designed St Catherine's.
He was unable to attend the ceremony at the Danish Embassy and instead the honour was presented to him by the Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Tom Risdahl Jensen, during a college feast.
He was also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, elected in 2004 in recognition of his work in the field of jet engine research.
In 2017, he became a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, a distinction which acknowledged his academic excellence in the subject of mechanical engineering.