Nuffield, William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount [key], 1877–1963, English automobile manufacturer and philanthropist. Beginning his career as the proprietor of a bicycle shop, he later became a manufacturer of motorcycles and, in 1912, of automobiles. The Morris cars quickly became one of the biggest mass-production industries in Great Britain, and Morris became known as the “British Ford.” During World War II, Morris, who was created Viscount Nuffield in 1938, engaged in the manufacture of aircraft. At the time of his death his philanthropic bequests amounted to over £30 million, the largest part of which was directed to research in medicine and social services, notably at Oxford, where Nuffield College is named in his honor.
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