Founding the Foundation

Sir Alan Rudge looks back at the founding of the ERA Foundation and its origins in the Electrical Research Association (ERA) and ERA Technology Ltd.

To celebrate 100 years of the ERA Foundation President Sir Alan Rudge has produced a fascinating record of the founding of the ERA Foundation and its origins in the Electrical Research Association (ERA) and ERA Technology Ltd, an independent Research and Technology organisation. 

The memoir provides a brief outline of the emergence of the ERA Foundation from its two forebears based upon my 46 years of association with all three organisations.


About Sir Alan Rudge

Sir Alan Rudge is President of the ERA Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Civitas. He has served as a Director on more than twenty company Boards including Deputy Chairman of Experian Plc; Deputy Chief Executive and Main Board Director of BritishTelecom Plc; Chairman of WS Atkins Plc; Chief Executive and Chairman of ERA Technology Ltd; Chief Executive and President of Celtel International BV and a special advisor to General Atlantic Partners.

Sir Alan is an Honorary Fellow and past President of the IEE (IET) and a Life Fellow of the IEEE (USA). He is a former Chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Engineering Council and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. He has served as Pro-Chancellor of the University of Surrey and on a number of national committees including the UK Advisory Committee on Science and Technology. Sir Alan is a Fellow the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society and has been awarded honorary doctorates from nine UK universities.