Denys Wilkinson | |
---|---|
Born | Denys Haigh Wilkinson September 5, 1922 |
Died | April 22, 2016 | (aged 93)
Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Nuclear physics |
Doctoral students | Samar Mubarakmand |
Sir Denys Haigh Wilkinson FRS (5 September 1922 – 22 April 2016) was a British nuclear physicist.
He was born on 5 September 1922 in Leeds, Yorkshire and educated at Loughborough Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating in 1943. [1]
After wartime work on the British and Canadian Atomic Energy projects, he returned to Cambridge in 1946, where he was awarded a PhD in 1947 and held posts culminating as Reader in Nuclear Physics from 1956–1957. [1] From 1944 to 1959, he was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. [1]
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1956. [2]
In 1957 he went to the University of Oxford as Professor of Nuclear Physics, and won the Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize the same year. [1] In 1959 he became Professor of Experimental Physics at Oxford, and from 1962 to 1976 was head of the Department of Nuclear Physics. [1] While he held his professorship at Oxford, he was a Fellow (there called a Student) of Christ Church, Oxford. [1] He was knighted in 1974. [3] In 2001 the Nuclear Physics Laboratory at the University of Oxford, which he had helped to create, was renamed the Denys Wilkinson Building in his honour. [4]
Denys Wilkinson served as chairman for both the Physics III Committee [5] and the Electronic Experiments Committee at CERN. [6]
On leaving Oxford, he served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex from 1976 to 1987. [1] [7] After his retirement, he was appointed Emeritus Professor of Physics at Sussex in 1987. [1]
Denys Wilkinson's work in nuclear physics included investigation of the properties of nuclei with low numbers of nucleons. [2] He was amongst the first to experimentally test rules relating to isospin. [2] He also applied concepts from physics to the study of bird navigation. [2]
He is also notable for the invention of the Wilkinson analog-to-digital converter, to support his experimental work. [2]
He died on 22 April 2016 at the age of 93. [7]
His papers are held at the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. [1] He was an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1961, and an Honorary Student of Christ Church, Oxford from 1979. [1] He won the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society in 1965 and the Royal Medal in 1980. [2] [8] [9] In 1980 he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at Uppsala University, Sweden. [10]
Denys Wilkinson | |
---|---|
Born | Denys Haigh Wilkinson September 5, 1922 |
Died | April 22, 2016 | (aged 93)
Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Nuclear physics |
Doctoral students | Samar Mubarakmand |
Sir Denys Haigh Wilkinson FRS (5 September 1922 – 22 April 2016) was a British nuclear physicist.
He was born on 5 September 1922 in Leeds, Yorkshire and educated at Loughborough Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating in 1943. [1]
After wartime work on the British and Canadian Atomic Energy projects, he returned to Cambridge in 1946, where he was awarded a PhD in 1947 and held posts culminating as Reader in Nuclear Physics from 1956–1957. [1] From 1944 to 1959, he was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. [1]
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1956. [2]
In 1957 he went to the University of Oxford as Professor of Nuclear Physics, and won the Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize the same year. [1] In 1959 he became Professor of Experimental Physics at Oxford, and from 1962 to 1976 was head of the Department of Nuclear Physics. [1] While he held his professorship at Oxford, he was a Fellow (there called a Student) of Christ Church, Oxford. [1] He was knighted in 1974. [3] In 2001 the Nuclear Physics Laboratory at the University of Oxford, which he had helped to create, was renamed the Denys Wilkinson Building in his honour. [4]
Denys Wilkinson served as chairman for both the Physics III Committee [5] and the Electronic Experiments Committee at CERN. [6]
On leaving Oxford, he served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex from 1976 to 1987. [1] [7] After his retirement, he was appointed Emeritus Professor of Physics at Sussex in 1987. [1]
Denys Wilkinson's work in nuclear physics included investigation of the properties of nuclei with low numbers of nucleons. [2] He was amongst the first to experimentally test rules relating to isospin. [2] He also applied concepts from physics to the study of bird navigation. [2]
He is also notable for the invention of the Wilkinson analog-to-digital converter, to support his experimental work. [2]
He died on 22 April 2016 at the age of 93. [7]
His papers are held at the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. [1] He was an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1961, and an Honorary Student of Christ Church, Oxford from 1979. [1] He won the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society in 1965 and the Royal Medal in 1980. [2] [8] [9] In 1980 he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at Uppsala University, Sweden. [10]