Peter John Lawrenson, FIEE, FIEEE, FRS, FREng (12 March 1933 – 27 October 2017) was an Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Leeds who pioneered and championed the development of switched reluctance drive technology. He also made significant contributions to the analysis and computation of magnetic fields and electrical machines in general, writing several notable text books along with colleagues Kenneth Binns, Martyn Harris and J. Michael Stephenson and latterly with C.W. ("Bill") Trowbridge.