Ian McNaught-Davis
Ian McNaught-Davis ( August 30, 1929 - February 10, 2014 ) was a British television presenter best known for presenting the BBC television series The Computer Program , Making the Most of the Micro and Micro Live in the 1980s. He was also a mountaineer and alpinist. He was Managing Director of the British subsidiary of Comshare Inc .
Early life and career
The son of Stanley McNaught-Davis, a former Royal Air Force pilot, was trained at the Rodillian Academy , a grammar school in Lofthouse , West Yorkshire . This was followed by service in the Royal Air Force, where his poor eyesight prevented his ambitions to become a pilot. He received his first mathematics education from the University of Manchester , where he also became an active mountaineer .
After graduating, he had a variety of jobs, including building ice tunnels for glacier researchers on Monte Rosa in Switzerland , as a roofer and as a teacher. Eventually he settled down as a geophysicist for British Petroleum (BP) specializing in Africa.
Mountain sports
McNaught-Davis was a passionate climber, mountain hiker, and hiker. In 1956 he was one of the first to climb the Muztagh Tower in the Karakoram Mountains in Baltistan , which is considered to be impassable . He has been an honorary librarian for the Climbers Club since 1961.
In the 1960s he was Joe Brown's climbing partner both in the UK and in the larger mountains. He attended the televised climb of the Old Man of Hoy with Brown . He also participated in an ascent of the Eiffel Tower , broadcast on the ABC network's Wide World of Sports.
McNaught-Davis made his television debut in 1965 as one of the presenters of a BBC mountaineering program Men Against the Matterhorn with David Dimbleby and Christopher Brasher.
Computing and TV presentation
In the 1970s he changed his professional career and became active in information technology. He came to Comshare Inc. and stayed there until his retirement in 1995. Comshare specializes in software development and the resale of redundant operating time on mainframe systems. He was promoted to Managing Director of Europe and Managing Director of the UK subsidiary.
Between 1975 and 1978 he presented the BBC series It's Patently Obvious , a game show in which two panels of celebrities attempted to guess the purpose of unknown inventions. He presented another BBC series, such as The Computer Program , Making the Most of the Micro and Micro Live , in the 1980s.
In 2008, he was speaking with Dave Allen and George Auckland at an event called The BBC Micro and its Legacy , hosted by the Computer Conservation Society.
Honors
McNaught-Davis was the first foreign president of the UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) between 1995 and 2004.
In 2012 he was patron of the British Mountaineering Council.
Private life
He married twice and had two sons, John and Simon, from his first marriage and a daughter, Elvira Hurrell, from his second marriage to Loreto Herman.
credentials
- The Alpine Journal , Vol. 66, No. 303, 1961. pp. 250-260, 1960 Greenland Expedition , John A. Jackson , A. Blackshaw and I. McNaught-Davis.
- Staunings Alps Expedition Guide , Gaston's Alpine Books - West Col Productions, 1972.
Web links
- 1980s BBC photo of McNaught-Davis presenting the BBC Micro
Charles Egmond d'Arcis (1932–1964) | Edouard Wyss-Dunant (1964–1968) | Albert Eggler (1968–1972) | Jean Juge (1972–1976) | Pierre Bossus (1976-1984) | Carlo Sganzini (1984-1990) | Pietro Segantini (1990-1995) | Ian McNaught-Davis (1995-2004) | Alan Blackshaw (2004-2005) | Mike Mortimer (2005-2011) | Frits Vrijlandt (since 2012)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | McNaught-Davis, Ian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British television presenter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 30, 1929 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 10, 2014 |