At a January ceremony in London, the UK’s Institute of Physics presented its awards for 2001 to 16 physicists. IOP also named 3 honorary fellows.
Jeremy J. Baumberg, a professor of physics and astronomy and of electronics and computer science at Southampton University in the UK, was honored with the Charles Vernon Boys Medal and Prize for “his outstanding contributions to the application of ultrafast laser spectroscopy to a wide variety of problems in solid-state physics,” according to the citation.
The Mott Medal and Prize went to Manuel Cardona in recognition of “his broad and important contributions to the detailed understanding of the optical and electronic properties of solids.” He is an emeritus professor of physics at the Max Planck Institute of Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany.
Paul Davies won the Kelvin Medal and Prize for “his outstanding contribution to the popularization of physics through his books, articles, and public lectures.” Davies is a visiting professor at Imperial College, London, and an honorary professor of physics at the University of Queensland in Australia. He also runs a science, media, and publishing consultancy called Orion Productions in South Australia.
Laurence Eaves, Lancashire-Spencer Professor of Physics at the University of Nottingham in the UK, received the Guthrie Medal and Prize. He was recognized for “his outstanding contributions to the field of semiconductor physics, especially on the quantum transport properties of semiconductors.”
Three winners shared the Charles Chree Medal and Prize for “their part in the discovery of the ‘ozone hole’ over the Antarctic and for linking this to the growth of ‘CFCs’ [chlorofluorocarbons] in the atmosphere.” Joseph Charles Farman is a consultant with the European ozone research coordinating unit in Cambridge, UK; Brian Gerard Gardiner is the head of the meteorological and ozone monitoring unit at the British Antarctic Survey; and Jonathan David Shanklin is a senior scientist also with that unit at the Survey.
James K. Gimzewski received the Duddell Medal and Prize for “his contribution to nanoscale science in the use of scanning probe microscopy for the understanding and development of nanomechanics and tunnelling phenomena in atoms and molecules.” He is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA.
Volker Heine was awarded the Max Born Medal and Prize for “his pioneering theoretical and computational studies of the electronic structure of solids and their application to physical properties.” Heine is a retired professor of theoretical physics at Cambridge University in the UK.
The recipient of the Paterson Medal and Prize was Joseph Keddie, a lecturer in the department of physics and an experimental physicist at the UK’s University of Surrey. He was acknowledged for “his major contributions of industrial importance to the understanding of the dynamics of polymers at surfaces, in thin films, and in colloidal dispersions.”
George Marx was honored with the Bragg Medal and Prize in recognition of “a lifetime of achievement in physics education.” He is a professor emeritus of atomic physics at Roland Eötvös University in Budapest.
Stephen J. Pennycook, leader of the electron microscopy group in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s solid-state division, received the Thomas Young Medal and Prize for “his pioneering work in the development of atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM).”
The Paul Dirac Medal and Prize went to Brian Kidd Ridley in recognition of “his profound influence on semiconductor theory stretching over four decades.” He is a research professor of physics at the UK’s University of Essex in Colchester.
Benjamin Simons was awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize for “his major contribution of profound insight into mesoscopic physics over the past 10 years, particularly in the area of ‘quantum chaos.’ ” He is a reader at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory.
The Harrie Massey Medal went to Anthony W. Thomas for “his outstanding contributions to a broad variety of problems in nuclear and particle physics.” He is Elder Professor of Physics and director of the Special Research Centre for Subatomic Structure of Matter at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
Colin Webb won the Glazebrook Medal and Prize for “his leading role in the organization and promotion of laser physics in the UK and internationally.” He is the ad hominem professor of laser physics at Oxford University; a senior research fellow of Jesus College in Oxford; chair of Oxford Lasers Ltd in Abingdon, UK; and president of the UK Consortium for Photonics and Optics.
IOP’s new honorary fellows are Georges Charpak, Cyril Hilsum, and Joseph Rotblat. Charpak, who won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of particle detectors, retired from CERN as a physicist in 1989. He continues to work on the development of the Micromegas detector at Saclay near Paris; the detector will be used at CERN in the n-TOF experiment and in the instrumentation industry. Charpak also is involved in the reform of primary school science programs, called “Main à la Pâte” (Hands On), with the help of the French Academy of Sciences and the French Ministry of Education.
Hilsum is a visiting professor in physics with University College London. He also is a corporate research adviser for the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium; Unilever PLC in London; and Cambridge Display Technology in Cambridge, UK.
Rotblat, who, with the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for efforts to diminish the role played by nuclear arms in international politics and to eliminate nuclear arms in the longer term, is the president emeritus of Pugwash. He also is an emeritus professor of physics at the University of London at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College.
