Michael Cable joined the Department of Glass Technology of the University of Sheffield in 1952. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in 1955 followed by his PhD in 1959. He joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as Research Associate in the Ceramics Division, a position which he held until 1961. It was here that he met his wife Peggy, they married in 1965.
He returned to the University of Sheffield in 1961 to take up a lecturing position in the Department of Glass Technology. He was awarded his D.Sc. in 1976 at the age of 42.
Michael Cable was an outstanding teacher giving unstintingly of his time, knowledge and wisdom on behalf of his students, who as a result held him in high esteem.
Michael’s research contributions led to early recognition and he became a Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology (FSGT) in 1967.

In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Otto Schott Memorial Medal by the Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft (DGG) for his research over fifty years and his work with Glastechnische Berichte for over 25 years.
He served as Associate Editor of Glass Technology for twelve years and as editor for one year.
In 1997 the SGT honoured him by electing him to the select company of Honorary Fellows.
Michael applied his expertise in the industrial sector, leading to the award of Honorary Doctorate of Technology (TkD) by Åbo Akademi, Finland, and received the ICG’s esteemed President’s Award in 1998.
In later life Michael was committed to the history of glass making, including translating a number of important historic glass-making texts for publication under the SGT banner.

The inaugural Professor Michael Cable Lecture was made ate International Congress of glass in Boston 2019

by Dr Richard Hulme Cent. FSGT

In the first Michael Cable Memorial Lecture, “You ought to go away and think again!” Dr Hulme, who studied for his PhD under Professor Cable, described some of the things he learned from one of the most eminent glass technologists and why everyone should continue to reflect on and acknowledge his contributions to our field of work. Glass making is not a complicated affair but the science underlying the processes involved can be extremely complex. Michael Cable wrote extensively about the history and development of glass making and throughout his career he pioneered research into some of the fundamental principles that are currently taken for granted, have been forgotten or are ignore at our peril. 

Dr Manoj Choudhary FSGT  below with a commemorative piece of glasswarepresented at the
ESG15/NCM15/SGT conference in Cambridge July 2024

Dr Richard Hulme Cent.FSGT below with a commemorative piece of Glassware presented in Boston USA June 2019

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