Sir Paul Terence Callaghan
[ ( ; 19 August 1947 – 24 March 2012) was a New Zealand ]physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
who, as the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (often simply called the MacDiarmid Institute) is a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) specialising in materials science and nanotechnology. It is hosted by Victoria ...
at Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand.
The university is well know ...
, held the position of Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences and was President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.
Biography
Callaghan was born on 19 August 1947, the son of Mavis and Ernest Callaghan. He had an older brother Jim, older sister Jeanine, and younger sister Mary. His maternal grandparents were Agnes and Francis Hogg.
A native of Whanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
, Callaghan attended Wanganui Technical College (now Wanganui City College). He took his first degree in physics at Victoria University of Wellington and subsequently earned a DPhil
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
degree at the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, working in low temperature physics
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
. On his return to New Zealand in 1974, he took up a lecturing position at Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
, where he began researching the applications of magnetic resonance
Magnetic resonance is a process by which a physical excitation (resonance) is set up via magnetism.
This process was used to develop magnetic resonance imaging and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy technology.
It is also being used to ...
to the study of soft matter. He was made Professor of Physics in 1984, and was appointed Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences in 2001. The following year, as its founding director, he helped establish the multi-university MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
Callaghan was President of the Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ), and published over 240 articles in scientific journals, as well as the books ''Principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Microscopy'' in 1994 and ''Translational Dynamics and Magnetic Resonance'' in 2011. He was a founding director and shareholder of Magritek Magritek is a scientific instrument company based in Wellington, New Zealand, and Aachen, Germany, that was established in 2004 and specialises in compact, portable and benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) ...
, a technology company based in Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
that sells nuclear magnetic resonance and MRI instruments. He was a regular public speaker on science matters and, in 2007, one of his radio series, of discussions with Kim Hill on Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...
appeared in book form as ''As Far as We Know: Conversations about Science, Life and the Universe''. A 2009 book, ''Wool to Weta: Transforming New Zealand's Culture and Economy'', dealt with the potential for science and technology entrepreneurialism to diversify New Zealand's economy. He was the presenter of a concurrent documentary, ''Beyond the Farm and the Themepark'', which deals with the same issues.
In 2001 Callaghan became the 36th New Zealander to be made a Fellow of the Royal Society of London
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. He was awarded the Ampere Prize in 2004 and the RSNZ's Rutherford Medal in 2005. He was appointed a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
in the 2006 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in
the United Kingdom,
New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to cel ...
, and in 2007 was recognised with a World Class New Zealander Award and the Sir Peter Blake Medal. He was awarded a two-year James Cook Research Fellowship by the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2008. In 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, he accepted re-designation as a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
following the reinstatement of titular honours by the New Zealand government.
In 2010 he was awarded the Günther Laukien Prize for Magnetic Resonance and shared the New Zealand Prime Minister's Science Prize. In 2011 he was named Kiwibank
Kiwibank Limited is a New Zealand state-owned bank and financial services provider with approximately 4% of market share in terms of assets. Kiwibank is owned by the New Zealand Government and provides some of its banking services through its ...
's New Zealander of the Year
The New Zealander of the Year Awards, currently known as the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, celebrate the achievements of New Zealanders, and were founded in 2010 by Australian Jeffrey John Hopp. Nominations are accepted from the gene ...
and later that year elected an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...
.
Callaghan died on 24 March 2012, aged 64, after a long battle with colon cancer. He was survived by his first wife, Sue Roberts, two children, Catherine and Chris, and his second wife Miang Lim. After his death, Callaghan was again recognised with a World Class New Zealand award, becoming the Supreme winner in May 2012.
The New Zealand Crown entity, Callaghan Innovation
Callaghan Innovation, a Crown entity of New Zealand, has the task of making New Zealand business more innovative. It was established in February 2013 and Industrial Research Limited, a Crown Research Institute, was merged into it. The institute t ...
, formed in February 2013, was named after him.
He was an atheist.
Areas of contribution
Callaghan was an author of over 230 journal articles. His research group specialised in developing NMR methodologies for the study of molecular dynamics and molecular organisation in complex fluids, soft matter and porous materials. Major areas of contribution include:
* Rheo-NMR (rheology of fluids studied by nuclear magnetic resonance)
* Diffusion of molecules in porous media (for example, studying the microscopic structure of sea ice).
* Development of NMR techniques that use the earth’s magnetic field.
Positions
* 1974 Lecturer, Massey University, Palmerston North
* 1984 Professor of Physics, Massey University, Palmerston North
* 2001 Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences at Victoria University, Wellington
Awards and honours
* 2001 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
[
* 2004 Ampere Prize
* 2005 Rutherford Medal
* 2006 Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
* 2007 Sir Peter Blake Medal
* 2008 James Cook Research Fellowship by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
* 2009 Knighted
* 2010 Günther Laukien Prize for Magnetic Resonance
* 2010 New Zealand Prime Minister's Science Prize.
* 2011 ]New Zealander of the Year
The New Zealander of the Year Awards, currently known as the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, celebrate the achievements of New Zealanders, and were founded in 2010 by Australian Jeffrey John Hopp. Nominations are accepted from the gene ...
Callaghan Medal
The Royal Society of New Zealand established the Callaghan Medal
Sir Paul Terence Callaghan ( ; 19 August 1947 – 24 March 2012) was a New Zealand physicist who, as the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, held t ...
in 2011 for "an outstanding contribution to science communication and raising public awareness of the value of science to human progress". Winners include:
* 2011 Peter Gluckman
Sir Peter David Gluckman (born 8 February 1949) is a New Zealand scientist. Originally trained as a paediatrician, he served as the inaugural Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Prime Minister from 2009 to 2018. He is a founding member a ...
* 2012 Shaun Hendy
Shaun Cameron Hendy is a New Zealand physicist. He is currently a professor at the University of Auckland and was the first director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence in complex systems and data analytics. During the COVI ...
* 2013 Siouxsie Wiles
* 2014 Peter Dearden
* 2015 Michelle Dickinson
Michelle Emma Dickinson , also known as Nanogirl, is a nanotechnologist and science educator based in New Zealand.
Early life and education
Dickinson grew up in Hong Kong, the USA, and the United Kingdom. She had a grandmother from Malta, a gra ...
* 2016 Hamish Spencer
* 2017 Peter Shepherd
* 2018 Helen Taylor
* 2019 Ocean Mercier
* 2020 Rangi Mātamua
* 2022 Michael Baker
Books
* Callaghan, P. (1994). ''Principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Microscopy''. Oxford University Press.
* Callaghan, P. and Hill, K. (2007). ''As Far as We Know: Conversations about Science, Life and the Universe''. Penguin.
* Callaghan, P. (2009). ''Wool to Weta: Transforming New Zealand's Culture and Economy''. Auckland University Press.
* Callaghan, P. (2011). ''Translational Dynamics and Magnetic Resonance: Principles of Pulsed Gradient Spin Echo NMR''. Oxford University Press
* Callaghan, P. and Hendy, S. (2013). ''Get off the Grass: Kickstarting New Zealand’s Innovation Economy''. Auckland University Press
References
External links
Paul Callaghan
at the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
Soft Matter and Porous Media Group
at the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW)
Dancing With Atoms
2018 documentary film on Callaghan's life and work by Shirley Horrocks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Paul
1947 births
2012 deaths
New Zealand Fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Knights Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Massey University faculty
New Zealand physicists
People from Whanganui
Victoria University of Wellington faculty
Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Recipients of the Rutherford Medal
Deaths from colorectal cancer
Deaths from cancer in New Zealand
People educated at Whanganui City College
20th-century New Zealand scientists
21st-century New Zealand scientists