Sir Peter Michael Williams, (born 22 March 1945) is a British

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 cau ...

Education

Williams was educated at

Hymers College Hymers College is a co-educational independent day school in Kingston upon Hull, located on the site of the old Botanical Gardens. It is one of the leading schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistres ...

and completed his undergraduate degree at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, in 1966, and his PhD at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

, with a thesis entitled ''"Defect structure and luminescent properties of semiconductors"'' in 1969.

Career

He began an academic career at

. He then moved to industry and worked first at VG Instruments and later

Oxford Instruments Oxford Instruments plc is a United Kingdom manufacturing and research company that designs and manufactures tools and systems for industry and research. The company is headquartered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, with sites in the United Ki ...

. He was chairman of Oxford Instruments from 1991 until his retirement in 1999. Sir Peter is currently chairman of the National Physical Laboratory and vice-president and treasurer of the

Royal Society 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 previously master of

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although t ...

(2000–2002), president of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...

(2000–2002), president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (2002–2003) and chairman of the UK's

Engineering and Technology Board EngineeringUK is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Its stated purpose is to promote the contribution that engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and t ...

(2001–2006). He has been a member of the InterAcademy Council's Committee to Review the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that reported in August 2010. In 2005 Williams became the fifth chancellor of the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

. He was also appointed patron for research at

Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides care and support to people living with a terminal illness and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 19 ...

. He retired from this position in 2010. In 2015 Williams was appointed chairman of Kromek, an innovative British tech company making detectors for the medical, security and nuclear sectors.

Awards

He was elected as

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1996. He received the CBE in 1992 and was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 1998. He was 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 knowledge, including mathemat ...

in May 1999. He won the

Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize The Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Institute of Physics to recognise leadership in the field of physics. It was established in 1966 and named in honour of Sir Richard T. Glazebrook, the first president of the Insti ...

in 2005.

Other work

He was on the governing body of Abingdon School from 1997 to 2000.

Education

Career

Awards

Other work

References

Further reading