James Hough

For other people with similar names, see James Hough (disambiguation).

Professor Sir James Hough OBE FRS FRSE FInstP FRAS
Born	(1945-08-06) 6 August 1945 (age 79)
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Awards	Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Glasgow University of Strathclyde
Thesis	An investigation of some techniques for the localisation of ionizing radiation  (1970)
Doctoral advisor	Ronald Drever
Doctoral students	Sheila Rowan [1]
Website	www.gla.ac.uk/schools/physics/staff/jameshough/

Sir James Hough^{[ pronunciation? ]} (born 6 August 1945) ^[2] is a British physicist and an international leader in the search for gravitational waves. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Career and research

Hough has held the following professional positions:

• Professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow. ^[8]
• Director of the Institute of Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow. ^[9]
• Member of the LISA International Science Team. ^[10]
• Delegate to the LIGO Council. ^[11]
• Chair of the Education, Training and Careers Committee and the Fellowships Panel of the Science and Technology Facilities Council. ^[12]

Awards and honours

• 2003 Hough was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. ^[13]
• 2004 Hough was awarded the Duddell Medal and Prize, a senior award from the Institute of Physics. ^[14] The award is made annually to "an individual or team for outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge through the application of physics, including invention or design of scientific instruments or by the discovery of materials used in their construction." ^[15]
• 2008 Hough was awarded the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his work on gravitational waves ^[16]
• 2013 Hough was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to science. ^[17]
• 2015 Hough was awarded the Institute of Physics Phillips Award. ^[18]
• 2018 Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for Astronomy ^[19]
• 2019 Hough was knighted (Knight Bachelor) by The Duke of Cambridge during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 31 January 2019, in recognition of Hough's international leadership in the search for gravitational waves ~ 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time. ^{[20] [21]}
• 2020 Hough was awarded the Royal Society's Bakerian Medal in 2020 ^[22]
• 2021 Became Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers.^{[ citation needed ]}

Appearances in media

Hough received widespread media coverage in 2004 when he placed a bet, against the odds, of detecting gravitational waves before 2010. The original odds were set at 500/1, but following huge interest, the betting company were forced to cut their odds to 6/1. ^[23]

In April 2007, during the run-up to the Scottish Parliamentary elections, Hough signed an open letter, along with sixty-one other top Scottish scientists, backing the retention of the Union between Scotland and England. ^{[24] [25]} They were concerned that Scottish independence would have "detrimental consequences for the health of the Scottish science base and for the long term viability of the Scottish economy and society."

References

1. Rowan, Sheila (1995). Aspects of lasers for the illumination of interferometric gravitational wave detectors. theses.gla.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow. OCLC   181873685. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.294173.
2. Anon (2017). "Hough, Prof. James" . Who's Who (online Oxford University Press  ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.44099.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. "Newsletter of the Institute of Physics in Scotland" (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2007.^{[ dead link ]}
4. Institute of Gravitational Research – Member Biography
5. University of Glasgow Staff Profile
6. List of publications
7. Duddell Medal and Prize
8. "Institute of Gravitational Research – Member Biography" . Retrieved 2 May 2007.
9. "Institute of Gravitational Research – Member Biography" . Retrieved 2 May 2007.
10. "LISA Science Team Membership". Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
11. "LIGO Council".
12. "Science & Technology Facitities Council – Committee Information" . Retrieved 2 May 2007.
13. "James Hough Biography". Royal Society. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
14. "Recipients of the Duddell award" . Retrieved 2 May 2007.
15. "The Duddell Medal and Prize" . Retrieved 2 May 2007.
16. "Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship" (PDF). RSE. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
17. "No. 60534". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2013. p. 11.
18. "Phillips Award recipients". www.iop.org. Institute of Physics . Retrieved 14 July 2021.
19. "The Gold Medal" (PDF). ras.ac.uk. Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). Retrieved 25 August 2020.
20. "Knighthood for Groundbreaking UofG Astrophysicist". UofG. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
21. "London Gazette, no 3369106". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
22. "Bakerian Medal and Lecture". royalsociety.org. Royal Society . Retrieved 14 July 2021.
23. "Bookmakers slash odds on science". BBC News. 31 August 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
24. "The Times – Letters to the Editor". London. Retrieved 5 May 2007.^{[ dead link ]}
25. "The Scotsman – Politics". Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2007.