Ronald David Laing
R. D. Laing in 1983, perusing the The Ashley Book of Knots (1944)
Born	(1927-10-07)7 October 1927 Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland.
Died	23 August 1989(1989-08-23) (aged 61)
Cause of death	Heart attack
Occupation	Psychiatrist
Known for	Author of psychiatry books

Ronald David Laing (7 October 1927 – 23 August 1989) was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illness – in particular, the experience of psychosis. Laing's views on the causes and treatment of serious mental dysfunction, greatly influenced by existential philosophy, ran counter to the psychiatric orthodoxy of the day by taking the expressed feelings of the individual patient or client as valid descriptions of lived experience rather than simply as symptoms of some separate or underlying disorder. Laing was associated with the anti-psychiatry movement, although he rejected the label.^[1] Politically, he was regarded as a thinker of the New Left.^[2]

Early years[link]

Laing was born in the Govanhill district of Glasgow on 7 October 1927 the only child of David Park MacNair Laing and Amelia Glen Laing (née Kirkwood).^[3] Laing described his parents – his mother especially – as being somewhat odd. Although his biographer son largely discounted Laing's account of his childhood, an obituary by an acquaintance of Laing asserted that about his parent – "the full truth he told only to a few close friends".^[4][5]

He was educated initially at Sir John Neilson Cuthbertson Public School and after 4 years transferred to Hutchesons' Grammar School. Described as clever, competitive and precocious, he studied mainly Classics, particularly philosophy, including through reading books from the local library. He was also a musician, being made an Associate of the Royal College of Music. He chose to go on to study medicine at the University of Glasgow, seemingly for a variety of reasons including wanting to face life and death, and to become more scientific. He may have started drinking more heavily than colleagues from the age of 18. During his medical degree he set up a 'Socratic Club', of which the philosopher Bertrand Russell agreed to be President. Laing failed his final exams on his first attempt, in 1950, but, after spending six months working on a psychiatric unit, passed them in a subsequent re-sit at the start of 1951.^[6]

Career[link]

Laing spent a couple of years as a psychiatrist in the British Army (Royal Army Medical Corps; drafted despite his asthma that made him unfit for combat), where he found an interest in communicating with mentally distressed people. In 1953 Laing left the Army and worked at Gartnavel Royal Hospital becoming the youngest consultant in the country.^[7] During this period he also participated in an existentialism-oriented discussion group in Glasgow, organised by Karl Abenheimer and Joe Schorstein.^[8] In 1956 Laing went on to train on a grant at the Tavistock Clinic in London, widely known as a centre for the study and practice of psychotherapy (particularly psychoanalysis). At this time, he was associated with John Bowlby, D. W. Winnicott and Charles Rycroft. He remained at the Tavistock Institute until 1964.^[9]

In 1965, Laing and a group of colleagues created the Philadelphia Association and started a psychiatric community project at Kingsley Hall, where patients and therapists lived together.^[10] The Norwegian author Axel Jensen became a close friend and Laing often visited him onboard his ship, Shanti Devi, in Stockholm.^{[citation needed]}

In October 1972, Laing met Arthur Janov, author of the popular book The Primal Scream. Though Laing found Janov modest and unassuming, he thought of him as a 'jig man' (someone who knows a lot about a little). Laing sympathized with Janov, but regarded his primal therapy as a lucrative business, one which required no more than obtaining a suitable space and letting people 'hang it all out.'^[11]

Inspired by the work of American psychotherapist Elizabeth Fehr, Laing began to develop a team offering "rebirthing workshops" in which one designated person chooses to re-experience the struggle of trying to break out of the birth canal represented by the remaining members of the group who surround him or her.^[12] Many former colleagues regarded him as a brilliant mind gone wrong but there were some who thought Laing was somewhat psychotic.^[13]

Laing and anti-psychiatry[link]

Laing was seen as an important figure in the anti-psychiatry movement, along with David Cooper, although he never denied the value of treating mental distress. He challenged the core values of a practice of psychiatry which he thought considered mental illness as a biological phenomenon without regard for social, intellectual and cultural dimensions.^{[citation needed]}

He also challenged psychiatric diagnosis itself, arguing that diagnosis of a mental disorder contradicted accepted medical procedure: diagnosis was made on the basis of behavior or conduct, and examination and ancillary tests that traditionally precede the diagnosis of viable pathologies (like broken bones or pneumonia) occurred after the diagnosis of mental disorder (if at all). Hence, according to Laing, psychiatry was founded on a false epistemology: illness diagnosed by conduct, but treated biologically. Laing maintained that schizophrenia was "a theory not a fact"; he believed the models of genetically inherited schizophrenia being promoted by biologically based psychiatry were not accepted by leading medical geneticists.^[14] He rejected the "medical model of mental illness"; according to Laing diagnosis of mental illness did not follow a traditional medical model; and this led him to question the use of medication such as antipsychotics by psychiatry. His attitude to recreational drugs was quite different; privately, he advocated an anarchy of experience.^[15]

Personal life[link]

In his early life, Laing's father, David, an electrical engineer who had served in the Royal Air Force, seems often to have come to blows with his own brother, and himself had a breakdown for three months when Laing was a teenager. His mother Amelia, according to some speculation and rumour about her behavior, has been described as "psychologically peculiar".^[16]

Laing was troubled by his own personal problems, suffering from both episodic alcoholism and clinical depression, according to his self-diagnosis in his 1983 BBC Radio interview with Anthony Clare,^[17] although he reportedly was free of both in the years before his death. These admissions were to have serious consequences for Laing as they formed part of the case against him by the General Medical Council which led to him ceasing to practice medicine. He died at age 61 of a heart attack while playing tennis with his colleague and friend Robert W. Firestone.^[18]

Laing fathered six sons and four daughters by four women. His son Adrian, speaking in 2008, said, "It was ironic that my father became well known as a family psychiatrist, when, in the meantime, he had nothing to do with his own family."^[19] Adam, his oldest son by his second marriage, was found dead in May 2008, in a tent on a Mediterranean island. He had died of a heart attack, aged 41.^[20] His daughter Susan died in March 1976, aged 21, of leukemia.^{[citation needed]}

Works[link]

On mental illness[link]

In 1913, psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers had pronounced, in his work, General Psychopathology, that many of the symptoms of mental illness (and particularly of delusions) were "un-understandable", and therefore were worthy of little consideration except as a sign of some other underlying primary disorder. Then, in 1956, Gregory Bateson and his colleagues Paul Watzlawick, Donald Jackson, and Jay Haley articulated a theory of schizophrenia as stemming from double bind situations where a person receives different or contradictory messages.^[21] The perceived symptoms of schizophrenia were therefore an expression of this distress, and should be valued as a cathartic and trans-formative experience. Laing argued a similar account for psychoses: that the strange behavior and seemingly confused speech of people undergoing a psychotic episode were ultimately understandable as an attempt to communicate worries and concerns, often in situations where this was not possible or not permitted. Laing stressed the role of society, and particularly the family, in the development of "madness" (his term). Laing argued that individuals can often be put in impossible situations, where they are unable to conform to the conflicting expectations of their peers, leading to a "lose-lose situation" and immense mental distress for the individuals concerned.^{[citation needed]}

Laing saw psychopathology as being seated not in biological or psychic organs – whereby environment is relegated to playing at most only an accidental role as immediate trigger of disease (the "stress diathasis model" of the nature and causes of psychopathology) – but rather in the social cradle, the urban home, which cultivates it, the very crucible in which selves are forged. This re-evaluation of the locus of the disease process – and consequent shift in forms of treatment – was in stark contrast to psychiatric orthodoxy (in the broadest sense we have of ourselves as psychological subjects and pathological selves). Laing was revolutionary in valuing the content of psychotic behavior and speech as a valid expression of distress, albeit wrapped in an enigmatic language of personal symbolism which is meaningful only from within their situation. According to Laing, if a therapist can better understand his or her patient, the therapist can begin to make sense of the symbolism of the patient's psychosis, and therefore start addressing the concerns which are the root cause of the distress.^{[citation needed]}

Laing expanded the view of the "double bind" hypothesis put forth by Bateson and other anthropologists, and came up with a new concept to describe the highly complex situation that unfolds in the process of "going mad" - an "incompatible knot". Laing compared this to a situation where your right hand can exist but your left hand cannot. In this untenable position, something has got to give, and more often than not, what gives is psychological stability; a self-destruction sequence is set in motion.^{[citation needed]}

Laing never denied the existence of mental illness, but viewed it in a radically different light from his contemporaries. For Laing, mental illness could be a transformative episode whereby the process of undergoing mental distress was compared to a shamanic journey. The traveler could return from the journey with (supposedly) important insights, and may have become (in the views of Laing and his followers) a wiser and more grounded person as a result.^{[citation needed]}

Ontological insecurity, family nexus, and the double-bind[link]

In The Divided Self (1960), Laing contrasted the experience of the "ontologically secure" person with that of a person who "cannot take the realness, aliveness, autonomy and identity of himself and others for granted" and who consequently contrives strategies to avoid "losing his self".^[22] Laing explains how we all exist in the world as beings, defined by others who carry a model of us in their minds, just as we carry models of them in our minds. In later writings he often takes this to deeper levels, laboriously spelling out how "A knows that B knows that A knows that B knows ..." Our feelings and motivations derive very much from this condition of "being in the world" in the sense of existing for others, who exist for us. Without this we suffer "ontological insecurity", a condition often expressed in terms of "being dead" by people who are clearly still physically alive.^{[citation needed]}

In Self and Others (1961), Laing's definition of normality shifted somewhat.^{[23][unreliable source?]}

In Sanity, Madness and the Family (1964), Laing and Esterton give accounts of several families, analysing how their members see each other and what they actually communicate to each other. The startling way in which lies are perpetuated in the interest of family politics rings true to many readers from "normal" families, and Laing's view is that in some cases these lies are so strongly maintained as to make it impossible for a vulnerable child to be able to determine what truth actually is, let alone what the truth of their situation is.^{[citation needed]}

He uses the term 'family nexus' to describe the consensus view within the family, but from there on much of his writing appears ambivalent, as Andrew Collier has pointed out in The Philosophy and Politics of Psychotherapy (with a contribution from Laing, 1977). One strand of Laing's thinking, traceable to Marx and Sartre, condemns society for shackling humankind against its will, taking away individual freedom. Left to their own devices, people are healthy, and people with so-called mental illness are just trying to find their way back to their natural state. This was the basis for his approach to psychotherapy, as in the case of his most famous "patient" Mary Barnes. An idea typical of his work is the following quote in his book, The Politics of Experience, "We are effectively destroying ourselves with violence masquerading as love".^{[citation needed]}

A paradox arising from Laing's interpretations is that it is the very need for ontological security Laing discussed in his first book that is the driving force that builds societies. Laing characterised the family nexus as often placing children in a double bind, unable to obey conflicting injunctions from family members, but he does not blame those family members. The family members are usually unaware that they are doing such things, and are just as confused as the children within the situation. The Preface to the Second Edition and Introduction to Sanity, Madness and the Family offer a concise articulation of this issue.^{[citation needed]}

Influence[link]

In 1965 Laing co-founded the UK charity the Philadelphia Association, which he also chaired.^[24] His work influenced the wider movement of therapeutic communities, operating in less "confrontational" (in a Laingian perspective) psychiatric settings. Other organizations created in a Laingian tradition are the Arbours Association^[25] and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling in London.^[26]

Selected bibliography[link]

• Laing, R.D. (1960) The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
• Laing, R.D. (1961) The Self and Others. London: Tavistock Publications.^[27]
• Laing, R.D. and Esterson, A. (1964) Sanity, Madness and the Family. London: Penguin Books.
• Laing, R.D. and Cooper, D.G. (1964) Reason and Violence: A Decade of Sartre's Philosophy. (2nd ed.) London: Tavistock Publications Ltd.
• Laing, R.D., Phillipson, H. and Lee, A.R. (1966) Interpersonal Perception: A Theory and a Method of Research. London: Tavistock.
• Laing, R.D. (1967) The Politics of Experience and the Bird of Paradise. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
• Laing, R.D. (1970) Knots. London: Penguin. excerpt, movie (IMDB)
• Laing, R.D. (1971) The Politics of the Family and Other Essays. London: Tavistock Publications.
• Laing, R.D. (1976) Do You Love Me? An Entertainment in Conversation and Verse New York: Pantheon Books.
• Laing, R.D. (1976) Sonnets. London: Michael Joseph.
• Laing, R.D. (1976) The Facts of Life. London: Penguin.
• Laing, R.D. (1977) Conversations with Adam and Natasha. New York: Pantheon.
• Laing, R.D. (1982) The Voice of Experience: Experience, Science and Psychiatry. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
• Laing, R.D. (1985) Wisdom, Madness and Folly: The Making of a Psychiatrist 1927-1957. London: Macmillan.
• Mullan, B. (1995) Mad to be Normal: Conversations with R.D. Laing. London: Free Association Books.
• Russell, R. and R.D. Laing (1992) R.D. Laing and Me: Lessons in Love. New York: Hillgarth Press.

Books on R.D. Laing[link]

• Boyers, R. and R. Orrill, Eds. (1971) Laing and Anti-Psychiatry. New York: Salamagundi Press.
• Burston, D. (1996) The Wing of Madness: The Life and Work of R. D. Laing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Burston, D. (2000) The Crucible of Experience: R.D. Laing and the Crisis of Psychotherapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Clay, J. (1996) R.D. Laing: A Divided Self. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
• Collier, A. (1977) R.D. Laing: The Philosophy and Politics of Psychotherapy. New York: Pantheon.
• Evans, R.I. (1976) R.D. Laing, The Man and His Ideas. New York: E.P. Dutton.
• Friedenberg, E.Z. (1973) R.D. Laing. New York: Viking Press.
• Miller, G. (2004) R.D. Laing. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Laing, A. (1994) R.D. Laing: A Biography. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
• Kotowicz, Z. (1997) R.D. Laing and the Paths of Anti-Psychiatry. London: Taylor & Francis.
• Mullan, B., Ed. (1997) R.D. Laing: Creative Destroyer. London: Cassell & Co.
• Mullan, B. (1999) R.D. Laing: A Personal View. London: Duckworth.
• Raschid, S., Ed. (2005) R.D. Laing: Contemporary Perspectives. London: Free Association Books.

Films and plays on R.D. Laing[link]

• Ah, Sunflower (1967). Short film by Robert Klinkert and Iain Sinclair, filmed around the Dialectics of Liberation conference and featuring Laing, Allen Ginsberg, Stokely Carmichael and others.
• Cain's Film (1969). Short film by Jamie Wadhawan on Alexander Trocchi, featuring other counter-cultural figures in London at the time including Laing, William Burroughs and Davy Graham.
• Family Life (1971). Reworking of the Wednesday play In Two Minds that "explored the issue of schizophrenia and the ideas of the radical psychiatrist R. D. Laing".^[28] Directed by Ken Loach.
• Asylum (1972). Documentary directed by Peter Robinson showing Laing's psychiatric community project where patients and therapists lived together. Laing also appears in the film.
• Knots (1975). Film adapted from Laing's 1970 book and Edward Petherbridge's play.
• How Does It Feel? (1976). Documentary on physical senses and creativity featuring Laing, Joseph Beuys, David Hockney, Elkie Brooks, Michael Tippett and Richard Gregory.
• Birth with R.D. Laing (1978). Documentary on the "institutionalization of childbirth practices in Western society".^[29]
• R.D. Laing's Glasgow (1979). An episode of the Canadian TV series Cities.
• Did You Used to be R.D. Laing? (1989). Documentary portrait of Laing by Kirk Tougas and Tom Shandel. Adapted for the stage in 2000 by Mike Maran.
• Eros, Love & Lies (1990). Documentary on Laing.
• What You See Is Where You're At (2001). A collage of found footage by Luke Fowler on Laing's experiment in alternative therapy at Kingsley Hall.
• All Divided Selves (2011). Another collage of archive material and new footage by Luke Fowler.

See also[link]

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: R. D. Laing

• The International R.D. Laing Institute (Switzerland)
• The Society for Laingian Studies
• R.D. Laing Discussion forum
• Biography at The Society for Laingian Studies
• Special Issue of Janus Head, Edited by Daniel Burston
• The Philadelphia Association
• RD Laing: The Abominable Family Man from The Sunday Times
• Life before Death - 1978 album of sonnets and other poems performed by R. D. Laing to an original musical score
• R. D. Laing at Find a Grave

Laing /ˈlæŋ, ˈlɛŋ/ is a surname of Scottish extraction, commonly found in countries settled by Scots, such as Canada and New Zealand. It is a descriptive surname, cognate with the English surname Long, meaning "tall". It may refer to:

People[link]

• Alex Laing, New Zealand footballer
• Alexander Gordon Laing, Scottish explorer
• Andrew Laing, New Zealand actor
• Arthur Laing, Canadian politician
• Bobby Laing, Scottish footballer
• Bonnie Laing, Canadian politician
• Bert Laing, New Zealand rugby league footballer
• Brent Laing, Canadian curler
• C. J. Laing, American pornographic actress
• Corky Laing (Laurence Gordon Laing), Canadian musician
• Dan Laing, American sports commentator
• David Laing (Scottish antiquary)
• David Laing (19th century architect)
• Davie Laing, Scottish footballer
• Dilys Laing, Welsh-American poet
• Duncan Laing, New Zealand swimming coach
• Eleanor Laing, British politician
• Gerald Laing, Scottish artist
• Gordon Laing, a British classical bassoonist
• Gordon Jennings Laing, Canadian-American academic
• Hector Laing, Baron Laing of Dunphail
• Hugh Laing, British ballet dancer
• Ivan Laing, Scottish hockey player
• James Laing (cricketer), cricket umpire
• Sir James Laing, shipbuilder
• Sir John Laing, English businessman
• John Laing (Australian rules footballer)
• John Laing (bishop), Scottish bishop
• John Laing (filmmaker), New Zealand screenwriter and film director
• Kerri Laing, South African women's cricketer
• Kirkland Laing, Jamaican-English boxer
• Laing Family
• Leslie Laing, Jamaican athlete
• Malcolm Laing, Scottish historian
• Marie Laing, Canadian politician
• Martin Laing, English businessman
• Martin Laing (production designer), film production designer
• Sir Maurice Laing, English businessman
• Michael Laing, South African chemist
• Sir Kirby Laing, English businessman
• Kirkland Laing, English boxer
• Quintin Laing, professional ice hockey player
• Robbie Laing, American basketball coach
• Robert W. Laing, American film art director
• Ronald David Laing, noted psychiatrist
• Rosemary Laing, Australian artist
• Roy Laing, Australian rules footballer
• Samuel Laing (science writer) (1812-1897)
• Samuel Laing (travel writer) (1780-1868)
• Sandra Laing, South African cause célèbre
• Shona Laing, New Zealand musician
• Stuart Laing, English actor
• Stuart Laing (diplomat), British diplomat
• William Laing, American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient

Companies[link]

• Sir James Laing & Sons, a former British shipbuilding company
• John Laing plc, a British construction company
• Laing Homes, New Zealand construction company
• Laing O'Rourke plc, a British construction company, formerly part of John Laing plc
• Laing Rail, a British transport company, a subsidiary of John Laing plc
• Laing Thermotech, a company specializing in water pumps
• MTR Laing, former name of London Overground Rail Operations Ltd.

Places[link]

• Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England
• Laing Dam, South Africa
• Laing Middle School, South Carolina
• Laing's Nek, a South African mountain pass
  • Battle of Laing's Nek, a Boer War battle at the pass
• Mount Laing, British Columbia

Other[link]

• Laing (food), a Philippines dish made of Taro
• Philip Laing, 19th century ship

See also[link]

• Lang
• Lang (surname)
• Lange

This page or section lists people with the surname Laing. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (January 2010)

Cycle of research and development

The phrase research and development (also known as R and D or R&D), according to the OECD, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications".^[1]

Research and development is often scientific or toward the development of particular technologies and is frequently carried out as corporate or governmental activity.

Background[link]

New product design and development is more often than not a crucial factor in the survival of a company. In an industry that is changing fast, firms must continually revise their design and range of products. This is necessary due to continuous technology change and development as well as other competitors and the changing preference of customers. Without an R&D program, a firm must rely on strategic alliances, acquisitions, and networks to tap into the innovations of others.

A system driven by marketing is one that puts the customer needs first, and only produces goods that are known to sell. Market research is carried out, which establishes what is needed. If the development is technology driven then it is a matter of selling what it is possible to make. The product range is developed so that production processes are as efficient as possible and the products are technically superior, hence possessing a natural advantage in the market place.

In general, R&D activities are conducted by specialized units or centers belonging to companies, universities and state agencies. In the context of commerce, "research and development" normally refers to future-oriented, longer-term activities in science or technology, using similar techniques to scientific research without predetermined outcomes and with broad forecasts of commercial yield.

Statistics on organizations devoted to "R&D" may express the state of an industry, the degree of competition or the lure of progress. Some common measures include: budgets, numbers of patents or on rates of peer-reviewed publications. Bank ratios are one of the best measures, because they are continuously maintained, public and reflect risk.

In the U.S., a typical ratio of research and development for an industrial company is about 3.5% of revenues. A high technology company such as a computer manufacturer might spend 7%. Although Allergan (a biotech company) tops the spending table with 43.4% investment, anything over 15% is remarkable and usually gains a reputation for being a high technology company. Companies in this category include pharmaceutical companies such as Merck & Co. (14.1%) or Novartis (15.1%), and engineering companies like Ericsson (24.9%).^[2] Such companies are often seen as credit risks because their spending ratios are so unusual.

Generally such firms prosper only in markets whose customers have extreme needs, such as medicine, scientific instruments, safety-critical mechanisms (aircraft) or high technology military armaments. The extreme needs justify the high risk of failure and consequently high gross margins from 60% to 90% of revenues. That is, gross profits will be as much as 90% of the sales cost, with manufacturing costing only 10% of the product price, because so many individual projects yield no exploitable product. Most industrial companies get only 40% revenues.

On a technical level, high tech organizations explore ways to re-purpose and repackage advanced technologies as a way of amortizing the high overhead. They often reuse advanced manufacturing processes, expensive safety certifications, specialized embedded software, computer-aided design software, electronic designs and mechanical subsystems.

Research has shown that firms with a persistent R&D strategy outperform those with an irregular or no R&D investment programme.^[3]

Research[link]

The US Federal government spent more than $25 billion in health-related R&D in 2005. Much of this spending is devoted to basic research on the mechanisms of disease, which acts as a supporter or the foundation for the pharmaceutical industry’s research. Both students and postdoctoral researchers form the R&D workforce. The Federal government supports graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in academic labs, where basic research is conducted. Pharmaceutical also hired students as interns while they are still at University. Government and private R&D efforts have sometimes overlapped - as in finishing the mapping the human genome. Identifying specific cases where direct overlapping has occurred is difficult, but it is probably most likely to happen when the government funds research, where potential profitable commercial applications has been identified by the pharmaceutical companies. In the United States, universities are the main provider of research level products. Development is concerned with proof of concept, safety testing, and determining ideal levels and delivery mechanisms. Development often occurs in phases that are defined by drug safety regulators in the country of interest. In the United States, approximately one in ten compounds identified by basic research pass all development phases and reach market. Pharmaceuticals market, however are extremely complex in many respects. Large public sector investments in biomedical R & D influence private companies' choices about what is important and how intensely to invest. The returns on private sector R & D are attractive, on average but they vary considerably from one drug to the next. Consumer demand for prescription drug is often indirect, mediated by doctors and health insurers. New drug must undergo costly and time consuming testing before they are sold.

Business[link]

Present-day Research and development is of great importance in business as the level of competition, production processes and methods are rapidly increasing. It is of special importance in the field of marketing where companies keep an eagle eye on competitors and customers in order to keep pace with modern trends and analyze the needs, demands and desires of their customers.

Unfortunately, research and development are very difficult to manage, since the defining feature of research is that the researchers do not know in advance exactly how to accomplish the desired result. As a result, higher R&D spending does not guarantee "more creativity, higher profit or a greater market share".^[4]

R&D alliance[link]

An R&D alliance is a mutually beneficial formal relationship between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed goals while remaining independent organisations, where acquiring new knowledge is a goal by itself. The different parties agree to combine their knowledge to create new innovative products. Thanks to funding from government organizations, like the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), and modern advances in technology, R&D alliances have now become more efficient. Every company has their own research and develop department.

See also[link]

• Basic research
• ERD3 (Energy research, development, demonstration and deployment)
• Demonstration
• Deployment
• Innovation
• List of countries by research and development spending
• List of business and finance abbreviations
• Research
• R&D 100 Awards
• Science of science policy
• Science policy
• Technology Life Cycle
• Neglected Tropical Disease Research and Development

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• U.S. Federal Investments in Energy R&D: 1961-2008
• R&D Magazine:
  • R&D 100 Awards.
• DOE Funded Research Projects Win 30 R&D Awards for 2008
• USA Today May 2008 Q&A with Texas Instruments CEO about Bayh-Dole Act
• OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2008
• 2010 Science and Engineering Indicators – Research and Development: National Trends and International Linkages
• Scientific Grant Awards Database Contains details of over 2,000,000 scientific research projects conducted over the past 25 years.
• [1] RAND R&D Methods Used by Federal Agencies in USA.
• Crossing the Border to the Future of Education

Gay Byrne
Gay Byrne in 2008
Born	(1934-08-05) 5 August 1934 (age 77)[1] Dublin, Ireland
Residence	Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Other names	Uncle Gay,[2] Gaybo,[3] Uncle Gaybo[1]
Education	Rialto National School, Synge Street CBS, Honorary doctorate in literature from Trinity College, Dublin (1988)[1]
Occupation	Broadcaster of radio and television
Years active	1958–present
Employer	Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Notable work(s)	The Late Late Show, The Late Late Toy Show, The Gay Byrne Show, Rose of Tralee, People in Need Telethon, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Meaning of Life, For One Night Only
Board member of	Chairman of the Road Safety Authority (2006–)
Spouse	Kathleen Watkins (1964–present)
Children	Suzy, Crona[1]

Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (born 5 August 1934; affectionately known as Uncle Gay,^[2] Gaybo^[3] or Uncle Gaybo^[1]) is a veteran Irish presenter of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running chat show.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce The Beatles on screen.

From 1973 until 1998, Byrne presented The Gay Byrne Hour—later The Gay Byrne Show when it expanded to two hours—on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning. Since "retiring" from his long-running radio and television shows Byrne has presented several other shows, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Meaning of Life and For One Night Only on RTÉ One and Sunday Serenade/Sunday with Gay Byrne on RTÉ lyric fm. In 2006 he was elected Chairman of Ireland's Road Safety Authority. Since retiring he has become the "Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting".^[9]

In 2010, The Irish Times said Byrne was "unquestionably the most influential radio and television man in the history of the Irish State".^[1] In 2011, he was approached to become President of Ireland but declined to run, despite topping opinion polls.^[10][11]

Early life[link]

Byrne is the son of Edward Byrne. Edward Byrne joined the Irish volunteers in 1912, and subsequently joined the 19th Hussars, Infantry Division, when World War I (1914–1918) broke out. He later fought during the Irish War of Independence. He fought throughout most of the War, including at O'Connell Street.^[12] Shortly after the War, Edward Byrne was employed by Guinness' St. James's Gate Brewery where he worked for most of the rest of his life. He worked on the barges that operated on the river Liffey, transporting wooden casks from St. James's Gate Brewery to ships at the North Wall, Dublin.^[13] Edward Byrne was the son of Alexander Byrne, a coachman to the Earl of Meath, who lived at a lodge on the Earl's estate near Kilruddery, County Wicklow.^[12]

Byrne's father, Edward, married his mother, Annie Carroll (from Bray), at Belfast, in 1917, when briefly home on leave from the War. The two had met near Bray just before the War began. Gay Byrne is the youngest of six children from that marriage. However, one child, his brother Joseph, died as a one-week old infant. Listed in descending order (according to age), the other children are Edward, Al, Ernest, and Mary.

Byrne was born on 5 August 1934 and grew up in Dublin.^[14][15] He first lived with his family at 17 Rialto Street, Rialto, Dublin, before his parents moved to 124 (later renumbered 512) South Circular Road, Dublin, in 1944. Byrne's mother, Annie, died in late 1964.^[16]

Byrne attended Rialto National School (since closed) and a number of other schools for short periods. Subsequently, he was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at Synge Street CBS.^[17] He and two classmates bought a jazz record when Byrne was fourteen years old in January 1948, at a time when Radio Éireann refused to play it because of its "licentious" content.^[1] In December 2009, Byrne returned to his old primary school on Synge Street to launch an online children's book club, and read an extract from Marita Conlon-McKenna's storybook In Deep Dark Wood.^[17]

After attending Synge Street CBS, Byrne worked at the North Strand cinema.^{[citation needed]} He subsequently became a clerk in an insurance company.^{[citation needed]} He then worked as a sales representative.^{[citation needed]} He also met foreign dignitaries at Dublin Airport and welcomed them to Ireland.^{[citation needed]} In 2009, whilst celebrating the 250th anniversary of Guinness, he revealed that he had once tried unsuccessfully to earn a job in the brewery near his childhood home.^[18]

Whilst young, Byrne was inspired by the broadcaster Eamonn Andrews, who had a successful career on British television, and "wanted to be what he was".^[19] Andrews was friendly with Byrne's eldest brother.^[3] In 1958 he moved over to broadcasting when he became a presenter on Radio Éireann. He also worked with Granada Television and the BBC in England. Whilst at Granada, Byrne became the first person to introduce The Beatles on television when they made their small screen debut on local news programme People and Places.^[1] In 1961, Telefís Éireann (later Radio Telefís Éireann and now Raidió Teilifís Éireann) was set up. Byrne finally worked exclusively for the new Irish service after 1969. He introduced many popular programmes, with his most popular and successful programme being The Late Late Show.

[edit] The Late Late Show

On 5 July 1962, the first episode of The Late Late Show was aired on Irish television.^[1] Originally the show was scheduled as an eight-week summer filler. The programme, which is still broadcast, has become the world's longest running chat show. The show became a forum where controversial topics such as the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, contraception,^[1] AIDS, unemployment, homosexuality,^[1] abortion, divorce, and other hitherto taboo subjects were discussed openly in Ireland, alongside book reviews, celebrity visits, and music acts like The Boomtown Rats, U2, Sinéad O'Connor, Elkie Brooks, Boyzone, and Noel Gallagher. Other guests included Presidents of Ireland, successive Archbishops of Armagh, minor members of the British Royal Family, politicians, actors, authors and countless others.

The show had much to do in shaping the new Ireland that was emerging from the 1960s. Indeed it was famously said by politician and Papal Knight, Oliver J. Flanagan that, "there was no sex^[21] in Ireland until Teilifís Éireann went on the air".^[22] Bishop of Galway Michael Browne called him "a purveyor of filth" after he asked a woman what colour nightie she wore on her wedding night and she had replied that she believed she'd worn nothing.^[1][23] However, Byrne saw himself as a presenter, not a radical social reformer, though his style was more challenging and less deferential than the style of his successor as presenter of The Late Late Show, Pat Kenny.

More than a decade after departing his role as host of The Late Late Show Byrne is remembered for conducting memorable interviews with former politician Pádraig Flynn and then Bishop of Galway Eamon Casey's lover Annie Murphy, among others.^[1] Another memorable moment to occur on The Late Late Show was when he called the winner of a prize car live on air only to discover the woman's daughter had died since she had entered.^[1]

During the early years of Byrne's time hosting The Late Late Show, prior to about 1978 when the second national Irish TV channel was launched, he was employed by RTÉ on a continuously renewing 3-month contract, lest his employer might want to fire him any time they choose.^[24]

Byrne and The Late Late Show were central to the development of the careers of figures such as Mary Coughlan.^[25]

He was noted for wearing a "Bing Crosby sweater" when presenting The Late Late Toy Show.^[1]

On 21 May 1999, Byrne presented his last edition of The Late Late Show. He was presented with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle by Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr.^[1] Pat Kenny succeeded Byrne as presenter in September 1999, subsequently succeeded by Ryan Tubridy in September 2009. Byrne gave Tubridy his blessing upon taking over the role, saying: "He has all the qualities required, the light deft touch together with a serious mind. I think it's a great adventure that he's setting off on".^[20] Byrne returned to The Late Late Show as a guest twice during Tubridy's first season as presenter, the latter appearance on the day of Gerry Ryan's death.^[26][27]

Radio career[link]

Byrne began his broadcasting career on radio.

Radio Éireann gave him a 15-minute slot on Monday nights which he used to play Jazz, his first broadcast for the station being in 1958.^[1]

He is now best remembered for his two hour morning show, The Gay Byrne Hour, which was later renamed The Gay Byrne Show (1972–1999). For many years the show was produced by John Caden. Joe Duffy was a reporter on The Gay Byrne Show and subsequently succeeded him as presenter.

Byrne has featured on radio occasionally during his "retirement" years — in 2006, he began presenting a weekly Sunday afternoon show entitled Sunday Serenade on RTÉ lyric fm. In 2010, he can be heard playing Jazz on Sunday afternoons on lyric fm.^[1] This show began after an encounter with Head of lyric fm Aodán Ó Dubhghaill at the National Concert Hall.^[1] Sunday with Gay Byrne attracted 55,000 listeners through "word of mouth": no advertising and no mention in the RTÉ Guide.^[1] Byrne once commented on the emptiness of RTÉ at this time of the week:

Other television work[link]

Byrne compered the finals of the Castlebar Song Contest in 1966 and 1967. He also presented The Rose of Tralee festival for 17 years until 1994. Between 1988 and 2001, Byrne hosted the RTÉ People in Need Telethon several times.

Byrne was involved in a famous television moment with colleague Mike Murphy when a disguised Murphy conned him into believing he was a French tourist.^[1]

Since "retiring", Byrne has appeared regularly on television. He hosted for one season, the Irish version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He also hosted The Gay Byrne Music Show and Make 'Em Laugh, a series about comedy in Ireland, Gaybo's Grumpy Men and Class Reunion. In the summer season of 2000, Byrne hosted The Gay Byrne Music Show, which was a studio-based show aired on Saturday nights as a summer filler between 8 July and 19 August 2000 and showcased all genres of music in the company of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. In April 2009, RTÉ One began broadcasting a series called The Meaning of Life, during which Gay Byrne interviewed public figures about issues of meaning and life.^[28] He prefers not to discuss his own faith:

In 2011, he presented more summer filler light entertainment in the form of For One Night Only.

Retirement[link]

Byrne has not completely retired and continues to feature occasionally on radio and television (see above). He has published his autobiography, co-written with Deirdre Purcell.^[29] He also launched Joe Duffy's autobiography Just Joe in Harry's Bar in October 2011.^[30]

In March 2006, Byrne was appointed as the Chairman of the Irish Road Safety Authority,^[31][32][33] a public body given the task of improving road safety in the Republic of Ireland. The role has seen him visit hospitalised survivors alongside then President of Ireland Mary McAleese.^[34]

Political views[link]

In "retirement", Byrne has continued to make his political views known, including questioning then Taoiseach Brian Cowen and "whether you can be Taoiseach and still sit up and have a pint in the local pub. You have to dignify the office".^[35] Bookmakers suggested Byrne might become Mayor of Dublin.^[36]

Presidential prospects[link]

In August 2011, Byrne was approached^[37] by the once dominant political party Fianna Fáil as a possible independent nominee^[38] for that year's Irish presidential election. The media advised Byrne, who having enjoyed an avuncular relationship with the public as a performer over many decades, editorialised against such a move. An editorial in the Irish Independent said that
This isn't some sort of a reality TV show but a contest for the highest office in the land.
The Irish Times queried the distinction between Byrne as a performer versus Byrne as an individual.
But who is it that the Irish people really love? Is it Gaybo or Gabriel Byrne? Given they don’t really know the man himself – a man who has retained his privacy throughout a lifetime of fame – the love is surely for the persona rather than the person.
^[39] Byrne topped polls as the candidate people were most likely to vote for.^[10][11]

On 13 August 2011, Byrne announced that he would not be a candidate for the Presidency.^[40][41] Appearing later on TV3's Midweek programme he called Martin McGuinness, formerly of the IRA who was contesting the election as a representative of Sinn Féin, a "liar".^{[42][43][44][45][46]}

One-man show[link]

Byrne performed a one-man show in front of a sold out audience at the Gate Theatre on 18 September 2011. The performance was part of a benefit night to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society. British Ambassador Julian King and Senator David Norris were among those in attendance.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Byrne is married to Kathleen Watkins,^[47][48] formerly a well-known harpist. Byrne first met Kathleen Watkins in 1957. They married in 1964.^[1][49] The couple have two daughters (both adopted).^[50] They are called Suzy and Crona.^[1] The Byrne family lived on Howth Head in Dublin but have, in recent years, lived in Sandymount in Dublin. Byrne became a grandfather on 15 September 2004 when Suzy gave birth to a boy at Holles Street Hospital.^[51]

Byrne relied on an accountant friend, Russell Murphy, to manage his finances, and was personally distraught when upon the accountant's death in 1986, it was found that most of his savings had been squandered, and this had been hidden from him.^[52]

His interests include jazz.^[1] He continues to play the jazz on radio during his "retirement".^[1]

He is a qualified private pilot.^[53]

Honours and awards[link]

• In 1988, Byrne was awarded an honorary doctorate in letters from Trinity College, Dublin.^[1][54]
• In 1999 he was granted the Freedom of the City of Dublin.^[55]
• He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2007 from Irish Film and Television Network.^[56]
• He holds the record for the greatest number of Jacob's Awards received,^{[citation needed]} winning a total of six for his radio and television work.
• He was appointed chairman of the Road Safety Authority in Ireland in 2006.^[1]
• Outstanding Achievement PPI Radio Award (2009) "The only surprise is that it has taken so long for Gaybo to get it".^[3]

• Marking RTÉ's 50th anniversary in 2011, Byrne appeared on a postage stamp, part of a set of three that also featured Anne Doyle and Emma O'Driscoll.^[57]
• He has been encased in wax and put on public display at a museum on Dublin's College Green.^[58]

Legacy[link]

Byrne is credited with being a catalyst in the transformation of Irish society since the 1960s.^[59] He has broken several Irish social taboos by discussing topics like contraception, homosexuality, and abortion and is considered "a catalyst for social change".^[60] When Barry Galvin, then as Cork's state solicitor, appeared on The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne in 1992 to speak of the increasing problems Ireland was experiencing with the illegal drug trade, he was subsequently given the post of first ever head of the important Criminal Assets Bureau.^[60] Byrne is, alongside Terry Wogan, one of Ireland's two most notable broadcasters,^[61] but also described as "the most famous Irish broadcaster in history",^[3] lauded by the media as "the man who changed Ireland".^[60]

According to the Irish Examiner, Gay Byrne has "had more influence on changing life in this country than any of the political leaders", including Taoisigh W. T. Cosgrave, Éamon de Valera and John A. Costello as well as Ruairi O Bradaigh, John Charles McQuaid, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland for over 30 years.^[60] A 1998 poll found Byrne level with notorious former Taoiseach Charles Haughey as the most hated public figure in Ireland but Byrne was also named the most popular public figure in the same poll.^[60]

See also[link]

• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References[link]