Dr Peter Radley (1962)

Dr. P.E. Radley, MA, PhD, FREng, MIET, Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, France (matriculated 1962) aged 81.

Peter Radley was born in Burton-upon-Trent in November 1943 to Edwin and Edith Radley. He grew up in the village of Hilton and attended Bemrose School in Derby before following his brother Dr. Donald Radley (matriculated 1952) to Queens’ where he studied Mechanical Sciences. He met his wife, Margaret Radley, née Cook, who was training to be a teacher in Saffron Walden, at a Magsoc party at Queens’ and they were married in 1966. Peter was a keen sportsman and was a mainstay of both the college and university long distance running and cross-country teams during his time at Cambridge, as well as representing the college at table tennis.

On graduating, he began his career as a telecommunications engineer at STL, the laboratories of the Standard Telecommunications & Cables company (STC), in Harlow, Essex. Peter returned to Queens’ in 1968 to undertake a PhD in computer-aided design while continuing to work one day each week at STL. [As he was living in Saffron Walden, which was over 12 miles from Great St. Mary’s church, he had to obtain a dispensation from the university senate in order to complete his PhD.]

Peter spent 25 years as an employee of STC, running first a department then a division at STL before moving to the company headquarters in New Southgate in north London. He was much appreciated by those who worked for him. One former colleague said at his funeral that junior engineers always enjoyed his visits to their lab “as he understood not only what they were attempting to achieve but was also a ready provider of cogent, direct and inspiring advice”.

In 1982-1983 the Faraday Lecture series was presented by STC to mark the company’s centenary under the title “The Photon Connection”, a reference to fibre optic technology, invented at STL by the Nobel laureate Charlie Kao with whom Peter worked. Peter was one of the Faraday lecturers that year and toured the UK explaining this revolutionary technology. He ended his time at STC plc as a member of the board, serving as Technical Director.

In 1991, following the acquisition of STC by Nortel, Peter moved to Alcatel Alsthom SA in Paris where he occupied various different posts during the next decade, including Global Director of Marketing and Business Development, President of Mobile Communications and CTO. He was honoured by the French Republic in 2001 when he was appointed Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite. His last position was as Chairman and Chief Executive of the company’s UK subsidiary, Alcatel UK Limited.

In retirement, Peter continued to be active in telecommunications as a consultant. He was a key player with UK Government organisations promoting the rollout of Broadband Internet and chaired the IEE Communications Sector Panel. He served as an independent advisor to the DTI and South East England Development Agency and was appointed by British Telecom as one of three independent members of its Open Access Board, tasked with overseeing the interactions between BT’s then Openreach division and competitors of BT that wished to access the “last mile” of cable.

Peter also became involved as chairman, director and investor in several technology startup companies in the Broadband Internet, IP and mobile telephony sectors. At the time of his death, he remained a director of a thriving Ipswich-based telecommunications startup, Hybrid Access Technologies, attending board meetings remotely from his nursing home.

Peter is survived by his only son Matthew Radley (matriculated 1991) as well as by his granddaughter Emilia Radley (matriculated 2014) and his grandsons, Mark Radley and Solal Radley.

Written by Matthew Radley.