Record

Authorised form of nameEnderby; Sir; John Edwin (1931 - 2021); experimental physicist
Dates1931 - 2021
NationalityBritish
Place of birthGrimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Date of birth16/01/1931
Date of death02/08/2021
OccupationPhysicist
Research fieldExperimental Physics
ActivityEducation:
Chester Grammar School; University of London BSc, PhD;
Career:
College of Technology, Huddersfield; University of Sheffield; University of Leicester; University of Bristol (1976-1996)
Honours:
CBE 1997; KB 2004
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election21/03/1985
Age at election54
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
Council:
Member (1990-1992); Physical Secretary and Vice President (1999-2004)

Committees:
Research Appointment Panel A(i) (1994-1996); Publishing Board (1996-2004); Summer Science Exhibition Committee (1999-2004); Library Committee (1999-2004); Elections to the Fellowship and Foreign Membership Committee Co-Chair (1999-2004); Research Appointment Panel A(i) Chair (1999-2004); Physical Sciences Awards Committee Chair (1999-2004); Education Committee (1999-2004); Partnership Grants Allocating Panel Chair (2005-2006); Remuneration Committee Chair (2006-2011)

Lectures:
Humphry Davy and Claude Bernard Lecture 1997
OtherInfoJohn Enderby was an experimental physicist who developed innovative ways of using neutrons to study matter at the microscopic level. His research particularly advanced our understanding of the structure of multicomponent liquids - those made up of two or more types of atoms - including commonly used liquid alloys and glasses.

John’s techniques meant that the relative positions of the various types of atomic nuclei can be deduced from diffraction patterns arising from the quantum wavelike scattering of the neutrons. His work included the surprise discovery that aqueous solutions - important in biology as the environment for an organism's chemical reactions - have a quasi-lattice structure.

Amongst John's awards were the Guthrie Medal of the Institute of Physics, an institution he later served as President. He was awarded a CBE in 1997 and knighted in 2004 for services to science and technology. Since retiring, John continued innovating: one of later inventions allows the measurement of insulin levels in people with diabetes without the need for blood tests.

Sir John was the Physical Secretary and Vice President of the Royal Society from 1999 until 2004.

Sir John Enderby CBE FRS died on 2 August 2021.
SourceReferences:
'Address of the President, Lord May of Oxford, AC, FRS, given at the Anniversary meeting on 30 November 2001' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 121-129
A Cook, 'Report. Robert Hooke at Christ Church, Oxford' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 93-95
Fellows' Directory, 'Sir John Enderby CBE FRS', accessed 18 October 2024. https://royalsociety.org/people/john-enderby-11400/
CodeNA6199
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
IM/001282Enderby, John Edwin2001
CMB/461Minutes of the Committee on Elections2001-2016
CMB/426Royal Society/Wolfson Foundation Laboratory Refurbishment Grants Committee1999-2017
EC/1985/15Enderby, John Edwin: certificate of election to the Royal Society1979
IM/003357Royal Society Officers at Anniversary Day 20002000
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