Ron Gatepain's Biography, Construction Surveyor & Architectural Historian, Guest Speaker, Lecturer for Cruise Ships

Ron Gatepain is an Architectural Historian, Chartered Builder and Building Surveyor; he is a Writer, Lecturer and Trainer who has been involved with education and training for over 30 years.

Having obtained three degrees - two of which are masters - Ron has worked in Construction, Property and Education, and for more than 25 years was Managing Director of a Property Development Company, although he has also held directorships in the manufacturing, retail, services, and entertainment sectors.

A former Royal Marines Commando, Ron went on to become a Lieutenant Colonel with the Territorial Army (TA) where, apart from being the Commanding Officer of a Logistics Regiment, he lectured on officer promotion and management courses. He was also involved with the planning and assessment of training for officers and other ranks in military and trade training and was awarded the Territorial Decoration for his TA service. He continued to maintain his military links as the Chairman of the Lincolnshire Committee and Vice-Chair of the East Midlands Committee of the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association and as a member of their Executive Board. He also sat on the Ministry of Defence Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee. During his time with the military, he has served with the Army, Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force as either a Cadet, Regular or a Reservist in the ranks and as an officer.

For over 12 years Ron was a visiting lecturer at Nottingham Trent University where he lectured in Construction Technology, Management and Economics and at Loughborough University where he ran their Project Evaluation and Development module. He was involved with the establishment of a distance learning programme for the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps and wrote a number of distance learning modules for them and for The Nottingham Trent University, also acting as a tutor for distance learning and online courses. He has written and published two books, Successful Property Development and Management for the Professions, as well as numerous magazine articles and on-line study units. In addition, he is a Publishing Partner with the Encyclopaedia Britannica and contributes on Historic Sites & Buildings.

After retiring from business Ron lectured at Lincoln College in Building and Civil Engineering Studies and was responsible for the development of new programmes and courses for their School of Construction before leaving to take up the position of Director with Gates MacBain Associates Limited, a Construction Education and Training Consultancy and Provider, a position he held for 9 years. He established and was the Director of the Construction Learning Gateway, which provided online courses for construction qualifications, and he was the Technical Expert Author Advisor and Editor to constructionsite, the national e-learning and resource website for Higher and Further Education Institutions. In addition, he is the founder of and maintains and contributes to the Famous Historic Buildings website and has been a visiting lecturer in Heritage Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University Lincoln where he delivered talks on Building Conservation.

In 2010 Ron was recognised in the Individual Award Category of the National Training Awards (NTA) for his outstanding achievements in training and development and the benefits that had provided to others, and he was invited to become an NTA Ambassador.

A former member of the Chartered Institute of Building East Midland Regional Committee, Ron has also sat on their Strategy and External Relations Committee before acting as a Regional Ambassador. He has assessed NVQ qualifications and was involved with the development of the criteria for Incorporated Engineer status through the Institute of Highway Engineers. In addition, he has acted as a mentor for Business students at the University of Lincoln.

Over the years, Ron has held a number of voluntary posts including being a member of the Executive Board of the Lincoln Association for the Care of the Elderly and the Chairman of their Appeals Committee. He was also for many years Chairman of the Lincoln Crime Prevention Panel. During the 2020 Covid lock-down, he was involved with Age UK in running virtual meeting sessions via video link for military veterans.

Having been a member of the Royal Historical Society; the Historical Association and the Society of Architectural Historians, Ron has travelled extensively in pursuit of his interest in history, particularly with regard to buildings, their construction and the influence they have had on civilisation: A subject that he delivers talks on as a guest speaker for special interest groups and on cruise ships which has included Carnival - P&O, Holland America, Voyages of Discovery, Viking Cruises, Fred Olsen and Saga throughout the world.