Tribute to George Churchhill

Published
Created by: ME Region 4, Chapter 42 - Hamilton District and Chapter 81 - Grand River Valley

Mr. George Churchill, a distinguished contributor to the advancement of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in this geographical region, and around the world, passed away recently. Mr. Churchill was a resident of Brantford, ON. Some of the contributions and achievements that Mr. Churchill made during his life are documented below. The information is taken from an April 4, 1989, SME News Release naming George as the 1989 recipient of the Siegel Service Award.

George Churchill joined SME in September 1942 as a member of the Hamilton District Chapter 42 and has been one of the Society's most active Canadian members. Born in Brantford on November 4, 1912, he graduated from General Motors Institute (GMI) in Flint, MI in 1933, and one year later received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan.

He worked as a tool and manufacturing engineer and manager for General Motors of Canada, Firth Sterling Canada, Ltd., Dresser Industries Canada Ltd., and other Canadian companies before founding his own metalworking consultancy, Churchill & Associates, in 1956.

Since 1942, he has been a well-traveled disciple of SME and manufacturing education. He is a founding member of Niagara District Chapter 65, Grand River Valley Chapter 81, London-St. Thomas Chapter 92, and Mississauga District Chapter 212. He helped to establish student chapters at major universities and colleges throughout Ontario, and initiated SME-sponsored on-campus conferences to benefit student engineers and local industry. These conferences induced McMaster University to become the first Canadian university to offer a degree program in manufacturing engineering. Working with the Ontario Department of Education, he helped to organize diploma courses in tool and manufacturing engineering for industrial workers in Ontario.

In addition to serving the Hamilton District Chapter on all committees and in all elected offices, including chairman in 1950, George was active with SME on the regional, national and international levels. With SME's reorganization into geographical regions, he was the first Director for Region 3 and served for 10 years (1965-75). He served actively on SME's membership, program and convention committees during the 1950s and 60s. As SME expanded worldwide, George also was instrumental in having the Society drop the word American and change its name in 1970 to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Since 1972 George was called overseas to serve as a manufacturing advisor with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and as a volunteer consultant for the Canadian Executive Service Overseas (CESO). He consulted in Indonesia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, the People's Republic of Yemen, and Swaziland, training native technicians in the maintenance of machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and other industries.

George received numerous awards including achievement awards from the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, the California Society of Professional Engineers, and the Philippines government. He was a registered Professional Engineer in California, a life member of SME, an SME Fellow, and a Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE) for life.

This page created by A. Spence, Region 4, Chapter 42 Hamilton District, in memoriam to George Churchill. Our thanks go to him for preparing this statement, members of Chapter 81.
Blog Grand Valley Chapter 81 11/08/2017 2:12pm EST

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