Abstract:
There are few people for whom a flourishing research institution provides a living memorial. That the ISVR was born at all was due to the characteristic and legendary ``ten-year vision`` of its founder, Professor Elfyn Richards. In the 1950's, as Professor of Aeronautics at Southampton, he perceived that noise and vibration were to become a ``disease'' of new technology, for which traditional approaches would be no cure. Thus he founded a new applied science, now known as engineering acoustics and vibration. This memorial paper describes the first two decades of both the foundation and early development of the ISVR. It concludes with a brief appraisal of its current activities.