Abstract
Professor Ernest Hondros CMG FRS DSc Dr d'U FIM CEng was a renowned British metallurgist and materials scientist, an innovator, leader, inspirational encourager, raconteur and friend to many. At the National Physical Laboratory in south west London, Hondros pioneered the measurement of thermodynamic properties of interfaces in crystalline materials and established the importance of interfacial microchemistry in the mechanical strength of engineering materials. Following a period as Head of the Materials Applications Division at the National Physical Laboratory, Dr Hondros was appointed Director of the Petten Laboratory in the Netherlands, an establishment of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, and later was appointed Director of the Commission's Institute for Advanced Materials.