James Stirling (physicist)
James Stirling Cambridge University University of Washington | |
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Thesis | Deep Inelastic Processes in Asymptotically Free Theories (1979) |
Doctoral advisor | John Polkinghorne[1] |
William James Stirling
Biography
He was born in Belfast and grew up in Glengormley, County Antrim, attending first Glengormley Primary School and then Belfast Royal Academy. He was admitted as an undergraduate to Peterhouse, Cambridge, 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 for Mathematics in 1978.[citation needed]
After periods of research in the US, Cambridge and the
From 2001 to 2003, he served as the first Chair of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Science Committee, the research council's top-level scientific advisory committee. He was a member of the Physics Sub-Panel in two Research Assessment Exercises (2001 and 2008) and was Deputy Chair of the 2008 panel.
Stirling's research area was theoretical particle physics. 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.
In recognition of his contribution to particle physics research, Stirling was elected to the Fellowship of the
The Stirling Lecture, an annual public lecture hosted by the IPPP in Durham since 2008, is named in his honour.[7]
References
- ^ "DAMTP theses". DAMTP. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "James Stirling to be Imperial's first Provost". Imperial College London. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Professor James Stirling appointed as Pro-Vice-Chancellor - Durham University".
- ^ "Pro-Vice chancellor (Research) - Durham University".
- ^ "Fellows of Peterhouse College, 2008-09". Cambridge University Reporter. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
- S2CID 209387052.
- ^ "The Stirling Lecture". Physics Major Lecture Series. Durham University. Retrieved 19 January 2023.