Dillon, Charles T. G. (1926–98), engineer and businessman, was born 28 January 1926 in Dublin. He was educated at St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin, and at UCD, graduating BE (1947). He then attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he studied heat transfer and fluid mechanics, graduating ME. After working as a demonstrator (1947–8) at UCD he returned to Switzerland where he was employed (1948–50) by Echer-Wyss A/G, Zurich. In 1950 he returned to UCD as an assistant lecturer, but the following year went to Sweden, where he worked for eight years with ASEA Ludvika. He was to the fore in the development of new equipment to transmit electrical energy by high-tension direct current. In 1959 he set up the UCC department of electrical engineering and was appointed its first professor (1959–75). He later served as dean of the faculty of engineering and governor of UCC. A fellow of the IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers), IMechE (Institution of Mechanical Engineers), and IEI (Institution of Engineers of Ireland), he was awarded the King Gustav medal for his contribution to Swedish science and the French government made him a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
Dillon was a valuable member of many state bodies, including the national research and technology survey team (1963), which produced the seminal report Science and Irish economic development (1965). He was also a member of the first National Science Council (1967) and was the first chairman of the nuclear energy board (November 1973 to April 1975), where he advocated the establishment of a nuclear reactor at Carnsore Point, Wexford. In May 1975 he succeeded Thomas Murray as chairman of the ESB and expertly guided it through a period of great innovation and change. Following his retirement in 1991 he became chairman of the Guinness and Mahon Bank in 1992, and acted as a consultant for ABB Group, Siemens, Boeing, and others. When the Bank of Yokohama acquired Guinness and Mahon, Dillon learned to speak and write Japanese and startled his colleagues in London by presenting his annual report in that language. He was also fluent in German, French, and all the Scandinavian languages.
Dillon and his wife Una had six children. The family lived at 1 Annaville, Western Road, Cork, and at Donnybrook, Dublin. He died 16 January 1998 in Dublin, leaving an estate valued at £1,646,140.