William James Stirling (4 February 1953 – 9 November 2018) was a physicist who served as the first

Provost of Imperial College London The Provost of Imperial College London is the second highest academic official at Imperial College London. The post is currently held by Ian Walmsley, who has held the post since 2018, following on from the original title holder James Stirling. ...

. He was appointed to this role in August 2013 and retired in August 2018.

Biography

He was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and grew up in

Glengormley Glengormley () is the name of a townland (of 215 acres) and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Glengormley is within the urban area of Newtownabbey and the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It is also situated in the ...

, Co. Antrim, attending first Glengormley Primary School and then

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

. He was admitted as an undergraduate to

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, in 1972, taking a First in Part IB and Part II of the Mathematical Tripos and a Distinction in Part III. He graduated BA in 1975, and continued at Peterhouse to take a PhD (1979) in Theoretical Particle Physics in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. He won a

Smith's Prize The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the n ...

for Mathematics in 1978. After periods of research in the US, Cambridge and the

European Organization for Nuclear Research The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

(

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

) in Geneva, Stirling was appointed to a lectureship at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

in 1986. In 2000 he became the first Director of the University's new Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP), which together with the Institute for Computational Cosmology, forms part of the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, and before moving to Cambridge was Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) from 2005 to 2008. At Cambridge he was the

Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy The Jacksonian Professorship of Natural Philosophy is one of the senior chairs in natural philosophy, Natural and Experimental philosophy at University of Cambridge, Cambridge University, and was founded in 1782 by a bequest from the Reverend R ...

, Head of the

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

, and

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 ...

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. From 2001 to 2003, he served as the first Chair of the

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was one of a number of research councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK. Its head office w ...

Science Committee, the research council's top-level scientific advisory committee. He was a member of the Physics Sub-Panel in two

Research Assessment Exercise The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils ( HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British h ...

s (2001 and 2008) and was Deputy Chair of the 2008 panel. Stirling's research area was theoretical

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

. In a research career spanning more than 30 years, he published more than 300 research papers, including some of the most frequently cited papers in the physical sciences. His particular research interest was particle physics phenomenology – the interface between theory and experiment – and he worked closely with experimentalists at research laboratories in Europe and the United States. He was a member of the internationally renowned MSTW collaboration that studies the ‘ parton’ structure of the

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

. In recognition of his contribution to particle physics research, Stirling was elected to the Fellowship 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 ...

in May 1999. He was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 2006 New Year Honours list, for services to science. He was a member of the Council of the Royal Society in 2007-8, and from 2009 served on the Council of the

Science and Technology Facilities Council The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astro ...

(STFC).

References

External links

James Stirling web page
*
Scientific publications of James Stirling
on

INSPIRE-HEP INSPIRE-HEP is an open access digital library for the field of high energy physics (HEP). It is the successor of the Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) database, the main literature database for high energy physics since the 1970 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling, James 1953 births 2018 deaths Academics of Durham University Jacksonian Professors of Natural Philosophy Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge British physicists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Fellows of the Institute of Physics Fellows of the Royal Society People associated with CERN Provosts of Imperial College London People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Scientists from Belfast Scientists of the Cavendish Laboratory Physicists from Northern Ireland