 Richard Dolby was educated at Northampton Grammar School and, following two years' National Service in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, at the University of Cambridge (Selwyn College), Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy where he also gained his PhD.Richard Dolby's early career began at British Alcan and the General Electric Company, and in 1964 he joined The Welding Institute (British Welding Research Association).Here he worked on metallurgical aspects of HAZ toughness of pressure vessel steels and jointly led pioneering studies into lamellar tearing in welded structural steel.