UCLO Research Students

Although research activities in astrophysics and planetary sciences are now conducted primarily on the Bloomsbury campus, for many years the Observatory was the UCL centre for such studies (and effectively constituted the entirety of the ‘Department of Astronomy’); throughout this period it was still called the ‘University of London Observatory’. A number of scientists who went on to hold senior positions undertook their PhD studies here. The following notes are developed from an uncredited listing, dating from approximately 1976, discovered in 2012 while disposing of old papers. Original annotations are reproduced directly (it is presumed that anyone without a forename and not identified as “Miss” is male).

Gilbert Fielder’s ‘Lunar Laboratory’ was established in the Observatory Annexe in the mid-1960s, and John Guest, John Murray, and Lionel Wilson worked there. Fielder, Murray, and Wilson went on to academic posts elsewhere, but Guest built up a large group at the Annexe from ca. 1970 onwards (initially with Murray), researching into both terrestrial volcanism and planetary geophysics, before transferring to Bloomsbury.

The centre of gravity of astrophysics research began to move rapidly towards Bloomsbury when the Astronomy Department merged with Physics (1974). With the closure of the Annexe in 1998, and Guest’s move from Physics & Astronomy to Geological Sciences (later Earth Sciences) on Aug 1 1999, planetary-science research at Mill Hill also came to an end.

Listings post-1976 are a work in progress, largely based on anecdotal evidence, although thesis submission dates are based on Senate House library records. We would be pleased to hear from anyone with additional information, particularly in relation to Guest’s group at the Annexe.

Astronomy/Astrophysics Students
Miss Violet F. White	1931–32
C.V.C. Herbert	1931–34
C.M. Chao	1937–39	MSc.
I.H.A. Rahman	1938–39
P.C. Chaudhuri	1938–39	Transferred to Glasgow at outbreak of WWII
Miss E.M. Peachy	1939–42	PhD. Subsequently Professor Margaret Burbidge FRS
R.W. Pring	1948	PhD. Second Assistant at the Observatory, 1939–46; First Assistant 1946–48.
F. Steel	1949–51	MSc
K.R.W. Brewer	1950–52	MSc
Vincent C. Reddish	1952–54	PhD. Subsequently Astronomer Royal for Scotland.
A.S. Asaad	1953–56	PhD. Subsequently Director of the Helwan Observatory
J.S. Griffith	1957–59	PhD
Jeremy B. Tatum	1957–60	PhD. Subsequently Professor of Astronomy at the University of Victoria, and at the Dominion Observatory.
Th. Saemundsson	1959–62	PhD. Subsequently at the Institute of Geophysics, Reykjavik
Brian Warner	1961–64	PhD. Subsequently Professor of Astronomy at Cape Town
Bruce Woodgate	1961–65	PhD. Subsequently NASA (including PI on the HST STIS instrument)
Carole Jordan	1962–65	PhD. Subsequently FRS, Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford.
J.A. Dawe	1963–67	PhD. Subsequently ROE, RGO, and ANU
L.M. Dougherty	1964	MSc (external student). Subsequently Head of the Department of Physics, University of Huddersfield
T. Kiang	1965	PhD. Subsequently Professor, Dunsink Observatory
Alan E. Wright	1965–68	PhD. Subsequently CSIRO, Australia
Lionel Wilson	1965–68	PhD. Subsequently Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Lancaster
M.P. Jackson		“Resigned”
T. Hext		“Resigned”
Michael J. Disney	1966–68	PhD. Subsequently Professor of Astronomy, Cardiff
R. Bennett	1966–70	PhD
Miss A. Brown	1966–71	PhD
R.S. Picton	1968–71	“With RAF, still to present thesis”
Miss S. Youseff	1968–71	PhD. Subsequently lecturer, University of Cairo
Peter D. Bennewith	1969–74	PhD. Subsequently lecturer, University of Pretoria
David J. Carnochan	1969–75	PhD. Subsequently Research Associate at UCL, before joining UCL administration.
J. Christopher Blades	1970–75	PhD. Subsequently worked for ESA, and at STScI
Simon Pepper	1971–75	PhD
Jon Darius	1971–76	PhD. Subsequently Senior Curator at the Science Museum
Clive Chapman	1972–?	PhD; no thesis record at UoL (did not complete?)
Jeff Settle	1973–1977	PhD 1983. Subsequently Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Systems Science Centre.
Graham L. Pearce	1975–	PhD 1980
David Baines		PhD (did not complete)
Jerry Jacobs		PhD (did not complete)
Stephen J. Fossey	1983–1986	PhD 1990. Subsequently Senior Teaching Fellow at ULO
Paul C.T. Rees	1983–1986	PhD 1990. Subsequently Professor of Optics, Glyndwr University
Ian A. Crawford	1984–1988	PhD 1988. Subsequently Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College
Peter K. Thomas	1990 - 1995	Part-time PhD 1995. UCLO Observatory Manager 1987–2013.

Earth-/Planetary-Science Students
Antony W. Brian	1996? ?	PhD 2002.
Mark H. Bulmer	1990?–?	PhD 1994
Ben Bussey	1991?–?	PhD 1995. Subsequently Johns Hopkins University (Senior Staff Scientist, Applied Physics Laboratory)
Paul Butterworth	1974–1981	PhD 1981. Subsequently Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University, and Lead Scientist, NASA/GSFC
Julie Cave	?–1991	PhD 1992
Duncan L. Copp	1993–1997	PhD 1997. Subsequently film/TV producer.
Ann Edwards		PhD (did not complete).
David Heather	1994?–?	PhD 2000.
Wyn Hughes	1986–1991	PhD 1991. Subsequently Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge University Hospitals.
Christopher Kilburn	1979–1984	PhD 1984. Subsequently UCL Earth Sciences (Director, Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Centre)
Mike G. Lancaster	1990?–?	PhD 1994.
Rosaly M.C. Lopes	1979–1986	PhD. Subsequently JPL (Deputy Manager, Planetary Science)
Brendan J. Moore?		PhD; no thesis record at UoL (did not complete?)
John B. Murray	1967–1980	Subsequently Cambridge (PhD), OU
W.P. O’Donnell	1975–?	PhD 1980.
David Pearce	1985?–?	PhD (did not complete).
Cordula Robinson	1987–91	PhD 1991. Subsequently Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, and College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University
Gill Thornhill	1983–88	PhD 1988. Subsequently Environmental Systems Science Centre, and Research Fellow, UCL Dept. of Geography.
Charles R. Wiles	1985?–?	PhD (did not complete).