Derek Ezra, Baron Ezra, coal industry administrator, Died at 96

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Derek Ezra, Baron Ezra was born on February 23, 1919, and died on December 22, 2015.

He was a British coal industry administrator who was chairman of the National Coal Board for eleven years.

Derek attended Monmouth School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first class honors degree in History.

He joined the Liberal Party in 1936 at university, when he joined the Cambridge University Liberal Club, whose committee he later joined.

During World War II, Derek worked in intelligence at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.

Derek is a recipient of the U.S. Bronze Star medal which was awarded in 1945.

Derek Ezra embarked on a career with the National Coal Board in 1945 and held the post of Chairman of the National Coal Board for the longest term in its history.

He later served as a Liberal Democrat Life Peer and a member of the House of Lords, and was a Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Energy Matters from 1998 to 2005.

Following the death of Denis Healey in October 2015, Ezra became the oldest sitting member of the House of Lords, but took leave of absence on 30 November and died on 22 December.

In 1945, Derek was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He was knighted on 24 July 1974.

Derek was created a life peer as Baron Ezra, of Horsham in the County of West Sussex 2 February 1983.

Lord Ezra was a Liveryman Honoris Causa of the Haberdashers’ Company, and an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

The Combustion Engineering Association gives the Derek Ezra Award for “outstanding achievement in the study of combustion engineering”.

Derek Ezra, Baron Ezra passed away at age 96 in December 2015.