The Lifetime Achievement Award made to David Deacon CSci, FICorr (Hon) FTSC

Last April, at the London Branch, Joint meeting with OCCA, held at the Bath House in Soho, David Deacon was presented with a sword on an engraved plinth. The sword was chosen as a symbol of David’s lifelong crusade against corrosion. This crowning presentation was made by Brenda Peters, then President of ICorr, to mark David’s significant and influential contributions to the Institute over 40 years. As David is a Fellow of both ICorr and OCCA, this was a fitting occasion for members of both Societies to congratulate him and share in his jubilation.

It was initially recommended that David should be the recipient of an Honorary U R Evans Award as this is the most prestigious Award given by the Institute. Following widespread discussions however, it was decided that David’s Award should be unique, in view of his continuous unrivalled commitment and contributions over many years. It was recognized that the survival of the Institute on more than one occasion, was due to his personal intervention. It was therefore agreed to create a unique one-off decoration to be known as the Lifetime Achievement Award, for David Deacon.

Many will know David as the Senior Consultant of the Steel Protection Company (SPC) where his everyday portfolio includes carrying out coatings / corrosion surveys and making recommendations for the protection of a vast range of new and existing structures and buildings. The most well known of these include the Forth Rail and Road Bridges in Scotland, and Thames Barrier, Tower Bridge, the Cutty Sark, the London Eye and both the old and new Wembley Stadia in London. He has been involved with the Eden Project, Croke Park in Dublin and the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. His expertise has also extended to encompass off-shore Oil, Gas and Wind Turbine platforms and many major pipelines including the sea water intake in Abu Dhabi.

The Mersey, the Dartford and the Channel Tunnels, have all benefitted from his professional engagement as have 104 bridges in the Himalayas and 18 viaducts for Indian Rail as well as structures in 54 countries worldwide. On all these projects, he has tirelessly promoted our Institute and you may well now be an ICorr member because of such an encounter.

David’s career started in 1957 when he joined the British Aluminum Coating Research Laboratories. He became a member of OCCA in 1959 and gained qualifications in Paint Technology and Polymer Chemistry, before joining the British Iron and Steel Research Association, (BISRA) as their first Paint Technologist in 1964. Three years later he was appointed as the Chief Corrosion Technologist with Burmah/Castrol.

In 1970, David formed BIE Anti-Corrosion Company and when this was sold in 1981 he became the Managing Director of the newly formed ITI Anti-Corrosion Inspection Company. Then in 1992, David founded his present consultancy company, the Steel Protection Consultancy (SPC), now based at Leighton Buzzard and in which his son William, is a fully qualified ICorr level 3 painting inspector and is a Senior Member and Director of SPC.

Being so active and pre-occupied with his professional career, it is almost unbelievable to appreciate the remarkable managerial support and influence he provided to the development and stability of the Institute, since being appointed the Technical Committee Secretary in 1972, for ease of reading and reference, some of his major ICorr contributions are tabulated below.

Of particular note is his magnanimous decision in 1990 to take on the part-time role of Executive Secretary for two years when the Institute was almost insolvent. During this time, he was able to re-establish the organization and place it on a sound financial footing.

In recognition, David was elected as an Honorary Life fellow in 1992, for his services to the Institute, but had to wait ten years before he received his certificate. I had great pleasure in presenting this to him in 2002 at the Conference Dinner in the Cardiff Town Hall. 

When I became President in 2000, I was fully aware of the major contributions David had already made to the Institute. I was concerned that he had not enjoyed the privilege of being President of an organization, which meant so much to him. Consequently, one of my first actions was to discuss this with David. Only, after much arm-twisting and support from Gill Inwood, did David agree to accept the nomination as my Vice-President and thus became President Elect. Without question, this was one of my best achievements. David increased his patronage of the Institute (if that was possible) and enjoyed a successful, two year term as President.

More recently, he helped to form Correx Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary and the commercial arm of the Institute. It undertakes such activities, as organizing, conferences and managing the Industrial Coating Applicator Training Scheme (ICATS).

I hope this short article will serve to reveal and record some of the lifetime successes and triumphs of one who has fostered and sustained our Institute over many years. This very special public acknowledgement comes with the gratitude of all our members. This Lifetime Achievement Award has been well earned by David. I only hope he does not have to wait another ten years before being presented with the accompanying scroll.

John T O’Shea, Past President