IOP Bestows Awards

On 22 January, Britain’s Institute of Physics is presenting its prizes for 2004 at an awards dinner in London.

The Charles Vernon Boys Medal and Prize are going to Mark Lancaster, lecturer in the department of physics and astronomy at University College London. He is being recognized for his “important contributions to experimental high-energy physics, in particular to the ZEUS experiment (DESY, Hamburg) to investigate the structure of the proton and to the experiment at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (US) to measure the mass of the W-boson.”

Elizabeth Swinbank, Fellow in Science Education at the University of York, is the recipient of the Bragg Medal and Prize. She is being honored for her “innovative contributions to the development of the school physics curriculum, in particular as director of the [university’s] Salters Horners Advanced Physics project.”

The IOP is awarding its Charles Chree Medal and Prize to Joanna Haigh for her “outstanding contributions to atmospheric physics, in particular for her work on solar variability and its effect on climate.” She is a professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London.

Michael B. Green, John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge, is this year’s recipient of the Paul Dirac Medal and Prize. He is being cited for his “crucial role in the development of superstring theory as a credible new framework for physics.”

The Duddell Medal and Prize are going to James Hough for his “seminal contributions to the design and development of gravitational wave detectors worldwide.” He is the director of the Institute for Gravitational Research, Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow.

Ian Ward, recipient of the Glaze-brook Medal and Prize, is being acknowledged for his “outstanding contributions to the structural understanding of polymeric materials and the development of innovative processing methods for their manufacture.” He is an emeritus professor in the physics and astronomy department at the University of Leeds.

The IOP is handing out its Guthrie Medal and Prize to Henry Hall, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Manchester. The society is citing him for his “outstanding experimental and theoretical contributions to quantum fluids and in particular for the development of the ³He–⁴He dilution refrigerator.”

Sharing the Kelvin Medal and Prize are Mike Gluyas, who formerly was a lecturer in the University of Salford’s department of pure and applied physics, and Wendy Gluyas, who taught English as a foreign language to undergraduates, linguists, and educators. The husband–wife team, now retired, are being recognized for their “outstanding lecture-demonstrations on the physics of sound and music, delivered to over 200 000 schoolchildren, university students, and the public throughout the UK, Eire, and internationally.” The pair currently travels worldwide to deliver an illustrated demonstration lecture entitled “Musical Squares—Adventures in Sound,” which explores the many aspects of sound and hearing.

Martin Bodo Plenio of Imperial College London is being honored with the Maxwell Medal and Prize for his “influential contributions to quantum information theory, in particular the characterization and manipulation of quantum entanglement and its application to the processing of information.” He is a professor of quantum physics.

The Mott Medal and Prize are being bestowed on Ted Forgan for his “outstanding contributions to condensed matter physics, in particular for his influential work on the study of vortices in superconductors using small-angle neutron scattering and muon spin rotation.” He is a professor of condensed matter physics at the University of Birmingham.

Ian Gilmore, principal research scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, is the recipient of the Paterson Medal and Prize. He is being cited for his “major contributions to the analysis of molecules at surfaces, particularly for the development of a new technique (G-SIMS), which allows direct interpretation of spectra. This technique is now available commercially, providing solutions for polymer liquid-crystal display and hard disk developments in industry.”

The IOP is awarding its Rutherford Medal and Prize to David Wark for his “personal contributions to particle astrophysics, in particular to the field of solar neutrinos.” He is a professor of physics at the University of Sussex and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Didcot in Oxfordshire.