Francis Small (engineer)

Francis Small
CNZM
Francis Small CNZM
Born	Arthur Francis Small; 26 February 1946; Palmerston North, New Zealand
Died	5 March 2021 (aged 75); Wellington, New Zealand
Alma mater	University of Auckland
	Scientific career
Thesis	Hydroelastic excitation of cylinders (1971)
Doctoral advisor	Arved Raudkivi
82nd President of IPENZ
	In office; 1996–1997
Preceded by	Douglas Armstrong
Succeeded by	John Philip Blakeley
National president of Scouting New Zealand

Arthur Francis Small CNZM (26 February 1946 – 5 March 2021) was a New Zealand engineer and scouting leader. He served as the national president of Scouting New Zealand, as well as the vice-chairman of the Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Committee.^[1]

Early life

Small was born in 1946,^[2]^[3] He studied civil engineering at the University of Auckland, completing a Master of Engineering degree in 1969,^[4] and a PhD in 1971.^[5] His doctoral thesis, supervised by Arved Raudkivi, was titled Hydroelastic excitation of cylinders.^[6]

Career

Joining the New Zealand Railways Department in 1964, Small rose to become managing director of New Zealand Rail in 1990 and its successor, Tranz Rail.^[7] He retired from Tranz Rail in 2000 and was replaced, as managing director, by Michael Beard in May of that year.^[8] Small was then vice-chairman for some time.^[9] For his services to the transport industry and the community, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2000 New Year Honours.^[10]

In 1999, Small was appointed by the National Government as one of three people on the high-profile INCIS inquiry into the failed computer system that had been ordered by New Zealand Police in the 1990s. Early in 2000 after a change to the Labour Government, the other two members were dispensed with and Small conducted the enquiry by himself.^[11]^[12] Small's report on INCIS was published in November 2000.^[13]

Small was a Distinguished Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) and was the group's president in 1996–97.^[3]^[7] In 2013, he received an individual award from the Railway Technical Society of Australasia for outstanding service to New Zealand's rail industry.^[7] In 2015, he founded the Francis Small Scholarship at the University of Auckland, available to civil, electrical, mechanical or chemical engineering students.^[14]

In 1999, Small was awarded the 278th Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world scouting.^[15]

Small died in Wellington on 5 March 2021.^[16]