Hugh Ogus Interview a shining example hugh ogus mbe is only the ninth lighter to be awarded a CIBSE Gold Medal. Jill Entwistle talks to him about his achievements in the industry T o be a little reductive, there are two sorts of people who achieve gongs and long strings of postnominals: those who pursue status for its own sake, and those who gain them almost by default, their main driver being a belief in service. Hugh Ogus recipient, in 2014, of a rare CIBSE Gold Medal, the institutions highest honour is, without doubt, in the second category. Ive found that, if you go to meetings and take part and speak up you end up as chairman, he says, with typical self-deprecation. But if I get involved with something, I give it my attention, or theres no point in being there. If theres a job to be done, Im probably the one that will volunteer to do it. I think its something in the blood. Youre here in this world and you may not change it, but you can help make it better for other people. Its part of my core belief. Its about doing something for the society you live in otherwise there is no society. A former vice-president of CIBSE, and an ex-chairman of the Lighting Division now the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) Ogus was awarded the gold medal for exceptional services to the institution. It is only the 30th to be presented since 1912 and only the ninth to be awarded to a lighter. To complete an honours hat-trick last year, Ogus was also made an Honorary Fellow of the SLL, and given an Honorary Fellowship of the City and Guilds of London Institute. So how do you start out as a graduate in French and end up in addition to the above as an MBE, CEng and with the right to drive sheep over London Bridge? Ogus actually wanted to study physics, his best subject, but was dissuaded from doing so by a somewhat myopic physics teacher who was also the careers master in 1949. I was avidly reading up on everything I could about all these until 1987 and then became chairman, remaining with the firm until 2000. This brisk run-through of Oguss commercial career only accounts for part of his considerable achievements. If one were to look for a theme, it would be education; perhaps not entirely coincidentally, his mother and wife were both teachers. Outside of lighting, he has made a considerable contribution to a cause close to his heart the Mary Hare School in Newbury which caters for children with profound or severe hearing loss using an auditory-oral method. Ogus became a governor in 1970, as a result of his association with Poselcos then owner, George Mansell, who had a profoundly deaf son, and who was instrumental in establishing the school on its current Berkshire site. Ogus was chairman of the charity for 16 years and became its vice-president in 2008. There is now a primary, as well as secondary school, and Oguss work for the charity was a significant factor in his being awarded an MBE in 2012. The other reason for his inclusion in that years Queens Birthday Honours was his work with the Lighting Education Trust (LET). While at Philips, Ogus like many person. I wasnt looking for a job, he says, as I was just completing a year as Master Lightmonger, and thought I ought to devote some time to my ailing business. I was persuaded that I would just be overseeing an annual grant. I found enthusiastic support from the CIBSE council and its president, David Lush, and the ILE council and its president, Mike Simpson, as well as practical backing from Andrew Ramsay, CIBSE secretary, who registered the charity. Inevitably, the role turned out to be rather more than simply overseeing an annual grant. The LET could have just quietly carried on, ensuring the future of the MSc course, but it was clear that lighting design was flourishing as a profession and that there was a paucity of educational provision. I had a couple of very good people working with me, says Ogus. David Rowden has always been very encouraging, and so was Vic Neale, formerly of Philips and a very inspirational teacher. He felt that the LIF certificate only went so far and that more needed to be done. Discussions with South Bank University led to the launch, in May 2000, of the LET Diploma, a distance-learning course currently taught by Barrie Wilde that has proved attractive to designers and architects. It is ideal for those who want to get more involved in lighting, says Ogus. They find that its the only thing on offer to them where they can get a detailed understanding. A growing number of people from overseas say theres nothing like it in their country. The idea of making it a first degree the key qualification that architectural lighting still lacks was considered, but it was decided that the profession hadnt matured sufficiently to make that viable. It wasnt what we wanted, says Ogus. It was people either within or coming into the industry that needed to do the course, rather than undergraduates. There wasnt enough knowledge or awareness in schools for people to choose it as a career. Five years ago, however, the situation changed when at a lighting teachers meeting at CIBSE Dominic Meyrick, Hoare Lea Lighting partner, said that his firm would no longer employ nongraduates. We always had the idea that a first degree in architectural lighting would be very important, says Ogus. This was one of the catalysts. This move only to employ graduates is becoming the case with all the consultancies. Youre in this world and you may not change it, but you can help make it better for other people. Its about doing something for society otherwise there is no society Career timeline Education: Queen Mary University of London BA (Hons) Career: 2000-10: DSG Asia/Galaxy Consultancy (Hong Kong) nonexecutive director 1994-96: CIBSE vice-president 1993-94: Lighting division (now SLL) chair 1973-2000: Poselco Lighting managing director; chairman from 1987 1968-73: Salamandre Metal Works commercial director 1957-67: Philips (Lighting Division) - various progressive junior management positions employed in lighting had done a City & Guilds (C&G) course at Borough Polytechnic, which subsequently became London South Bank University. However, the C&G courses began to disappear some years later, as companies became increasingly reluctant to release staff for a day a week. This was a worry for the Lighting Industry Federation (LIF), now the Lighting Industry Association. At that stage, I was on the LIF council, and it was quite concerned about the demise of basic education and initial training in lighting, says Ogus. Eventually, the LIF set up its own certificate course. I took over as chair of education, working closely with former South Bank lecturer David Pritchard, and then with training director John Frost, to get the course up and running and, subsequently, to establish the Advanced Certificate. That was my first experience of lighting education. Crisis management The next potential crisis in lighting education was a threat to the future of the MSc Light and Lighting course at The Bartlett, University College London. Philips, the sole sponsor, was pulling out and David Loe who had established the fantastic developments arising out of the invention of the transistor, recalls Ogus. I told him I wanted to be an electronics engineer; he said he didnt think there was much future in that. So, French it was, and then via a graduate recruitment programme to Philips, where personnel was staggered to discover at the interview that Ogus could not only read a drawing, but also a circuit diagram. Could he start the following Monday? they asked. He worked there for 10 years, progressing from what was then the lighting fittings department to running his own department making specials, before moving to fluorescent lamps. Curious and eager to learn, Ogus found Philips an ideal workplace. It was very personal, and there were lots of opportunities for getting involved and finding things out, he says. I was able to go to Eindhoven and see developments. It was when triphosphors were just beginning to come through. It was a fascinating time. After five years at a company called Salamandre a cable-trunking specialist that also made the shells for batten fittings for lighting companies Ogus moved to electrical company Poselco in 1973. He was managing director there course in 1987 and remained as director was moving on. The origin of the LET, which was to come to the rescue, lies in a chance meeting, on a train, between Ogus and Kevin Mansfield now the course director who brought the problem to his attention. At the next LIF council meeting after a plea by David Rowden, then managing director of Holophane pledges were made by many companies to provide a modest sum, initially over a five-year period, as industry support. The LIF council and director Ernest Magog thought the project should be administered as a charity through the professional institutions. All eyes fell on me, says Ogus, as I had held the councils chair of education for many years, and was CIBSE vice-president and recent Lighting Division chairman, during which time I had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institution of Public Lighting Engineers [now known as the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP)]. CIBSE and the ILE became joint trustees of the project, and Ogus became the third trustee because the Charity Commission insists on a natural Hugh Ogus (centre) receives his gold medal from CIBSE President Peter Kinsella FCIBSE (right) and Kevin Kelly FCIBSE We always had the idea that a first degree in architectural lighting would be important. This move only to employ graduates is becoming the case with all consultancies The milestone of a pure first degree in architectural lighting has yet to be reached, but the process is well under way. Brunel University agreed to a bolton arrangement for its product design course, and the first graduates emerged this autumn. We have been working with them on the accreditation of a course that will become a fifth option on the product design course lighting design, says Ogus. That will probably be two or three years down the line. However, as he retired as LET chairman in 2013, that particular torch has now passed to the current incumbent, Bob Venning. Charity work Ogus is also passionate about his involvement with the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers, an archaic-sounding institution that achieves a great deal for charity. Livery companies are much misunderstood, Ogus says. The general attitude is that theyre dining clubs for rich people which theyre not. Between them they give around 50m a year to charity, and theyre responsible for 120 schools around the country, plus a number of universities. The Lightmongers gives more than 20 education awards far more than most livery companies to, among others, London South Bank University, the LET Diploma, Rose Bruford College, and the Bartlett. Another of its prizes goes to the optometry department at City University, which is currently working with the Bartlett on research projects. In recognition of his work with the company, Ogus has become a Freeman of the City of London and earned the ancient right to drive a sheep over London Bridge! Looking back on it, my physics teacher probably did me a favour, Ogus says. I had a wonderful time reading languages, but Ive also been able to do everything I wanted and had a fantastic career, which has been very enjoyable. The lighting industry gave me a living, and its always seemed the right thing to do, to put something back. CJ