Sir Robert Walmsley | |
---|---|
Born | 1 February 1941 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1958 - 1996 |
Rank | Admiral |
Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath FREng |
Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley KCB, FREng,FRSA, FIET (born 1 February 1941) was Chief of Defence Procurement at the UK Ministry of Defence from 1996 to 2003, and is a retired Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy.
Robert Walmsley was born in Aberdeen in 1941 and was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh. He joined the Royal Navy as a Dartmouth Cadet in 1958 and went on to read Mechanical Sciences at Queens' College, Cambridge, before taking up a range of seagoing appointments, mainly in submarines, developing an expertise in nuclear propulsion. During his naval career he was at times Chairman of the Naval Nuclear Technical Safety Panel and Director General, Submarines. For three years, he was the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff for Communications, Command, Control and Information Systems. His final naval appointment (1994) was as Controller of the Navy and member of the Navy Board as a vice admiral. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1995.
Sir Robert is a former Cambridge Blue, having coxed the light blue boat to victory in the 108th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in 1962. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Arts, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and is an Honorary DSc of Cranfield University.