Ian Ward (physicist) facts for kids

Ian Macmillan Ward FRS FInstP (born April 9, 1928 – died November 5, 2018) was a British scientist. He was a physicist who studied polymers. Polymers are like plastics, rubber, and other materials made of long chains of molecules. He was a special professor at the University of Leeds and led a big research center there.

Early Life and Learning

Ian Ward went to school at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. He then studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, a famous university.

What He Did

In 1954, Ian Ward started working at a company called Imperial Chemical Industries. He worked in their Fibres division. He later became the head of the Basic Physics Section there.

In 1965, he joined the University of Leeds as a teacher. He became a full professor of physics in 1970. In 1989, he became the Cavendish Professor, a very important role. He retired in 1994.

Professor Ward also led the Physics Department at Leeds for several years. From 1984 to 1986, he was the president of the British Society of Rheology. This group studies how materials flow and change shape.

In 1989, he became the first director of the Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Centre. This center brought together different scientists to study polymers. He also taught as a visiting professor at the University of Bradford.

His Discoveries and Work

Ian Ward wrote about 700 scientific papers. He also wrote 6 textbooks and had 20 major patents. Patents protect new inventions. He was also the editor of a science magazine called Polymer.

He helped start several companies from the University of Leeds. These companies used his research to create new products. For example, Vantage Polymers made strong materials from single polymers. Leeds Lithium Power worked on special gels for lithium batteries.

Awards and Special Recognition

Ian Ward received many awards for his work. The Institute of Physics gave him the Charles Vernon Boys Medal in 1993. They also gave him the Glazebrook Medal in 2004.

The Institute of Materials also honored him. He received the Griffith Medal in 1982 and the Swinburne Medal in 1988. In 2004, he got the Netlon Award. The University of Bradford gave him an honorary doctorate in 1993. This is a special degree given to people who have achieved a lot.

In 1983, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. His election certificate said he was recognized for his deep studies of solid polymers. He helped us understand how these materials behave and how to make them stronger. His work led to super-strong materials like special fibers.

There is even a prize named after him! The Ian Macmillan Ward Prize is given to PhD students. It recognizes the best student publication in polymer physics.

In 2013, a university in Switzerland, ETH Zurich, gave him the Staudinger–Durrer Prize. This was for his important work on the strength of solid polymers.

Major Books

Ian Ward wrote several important books about polymer science.