Jeffery Lewis Tallon (born 1948) is a New Zealand physicist specialising in high-temperature superconductors.

Early life and education

Tallon was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

on 17 December 1948, the son of Phyllis Blanche Tallon (née Currie) and George Frederick Tallon. He grew up in Mount Albert, and was educated at Gladstone Primary School, and later

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

from 1962 to 1966. After a BSc(Hons) at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, he undertook doctoral studies 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 ...

under Stuart Smedley and Bill Robinson, completing his PhD in chemistry in 1976. In 1971, Tallon married Mary Elaine Turner, and the couple went on to have three children.

Academic career

He was awarded a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

by Victoria University of Wellington in 1996, on the basis of a selection of published papers.

Honours and awards

In 1990, Tallon was awarded the Michaelis Medal for physics research. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand 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 ...

in 1993, and in 1998 he won the society's Hector Medal jointly with

Paul Callaghan 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 2002, Tallon was awarded the Rutherford Medal, the highest award in New Zealand science. In 2011 Tallon was awarded the

Dan Walls Daniel Frank Walls Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 September 1942 – 12 May 1999) was a New Zealand theoretical physicist specialising in quantum optics. Education Walls gained a BSc in physics and mathematics and a first class honours M ...

Medal by the New Zealand Institute of Physics. In 1990, Tallon received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. In the

2009 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2009 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

, he was appointed a

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 (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to science.

References

External links

MacDiarmid Institute page

Callaghan Innovation page
1948 births Living people People from Hamilton, New Zealand People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School University of Auckland alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni Academic staff of the Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand chemists New Zealand physicists Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Recipients of the Rutherford Medal 20th-century New Zealand scientists 21st-century New Zealand scientists {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub