James Hough Explained

Honorific Prefix:	Sir
Jim Hough
Birth Name:	James Hough
Alma Mater:	University of Glasgow
Thesis Title:	An investigation of some techniques for the localisation of ionizing radiation
Thesis Url:	https://theses.gla.ac.uk/41031/
Awards:	Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize
Workplaces:	University of Glasgow University of Strathclyde
Birth Date:	6 August 1945
Thesis Year:	1970
Doctoral Advisor:	Ronald Drever
Doctoral Students:	Sheila Rowan^[1]

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

Career and research

Hough has held the following professional positions:

• Professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow.^[7]
• Director of the Institute of Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow.^[8]
• Member of the LISA International Science Team.^[9]
• Delegate to the LIGO Council.^[10]
• Chair of the Education, Training and Careers Committee and the Fellowships Panel of the Science and Technology Facilities Council.^[11]

Awards and honours

• 2003 Hough was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.^[12]
• 2004 Hough was awarded the Duddell Medal and Prize, a senior award from the Institute of Physics.^[13] 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."^[14]
• 2008 Hough was awarded the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his work on gravitational waves^[15]
• 2013 Hough was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to science.
• 2015 Hough was awarded the Institute of Physics Phillips Award.^[16]
• 2018 Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for Astronomy^[17]
• 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.^{[18] [19]}
• 2020 Hough was awarded the Royal Society's Bakerian Medal in 2020^[20]
• 2021 Became Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers.

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.^[21]

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.^{[22] [23]} 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."

Notes and References

1. PhD. University of Glasgow. Aspects of lasers for the illumination of interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Sheila. Rowan. 1995. . theses.gla.ac.uk. 181873685.
2. Web site: Newsletter of the Institute of Physics in Scotland . 23 March 2007.
3. http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/igr/index.php?content=bio&person=jhough Institute of Gravitational Research – Member Biography
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724180621/http://dept.physics.gla.ac.uk/staff/default.asp?record=99 University of Glasgow Staff Profile
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724180621/http://dept.physics.gla.ac.uk/staff/default.asp?record=99 List of publications
6. http://www.iop.org/activity/awards/Senior_Awards/The_Duddell_Medal_and_Prize/page_1786.html Duddell Medal and Prize
7. Web site: Institute of Gravitational Research – Member Biography . 2 May 2007.
8. Web site: Institute of Gravitational Research – Member Biography . 2 May 2007.
9. Web site: LISA Science Team Membership . 2 May 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070703191658/http://www.srl.caltech.edu/lisa/people/list.html . 3 July 2007 . dmy-all .
10. Web site: LIGO Council.
11. Web site: Science & Technology Facitities Council – Committee Information. 2 May 2007.
12. Web site: James Hough Biography. Royal Society. 19 November 2017.
13. Web site: Recipients of the Duddell award. 2 May 2007.
14. Web site: The Duddell Medal and Prize. 2 May 2007.
15. Web site: Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship. RSE. 19 November 2017.
16. Web site: Phillips Award recipients . www.iop.org . . 14 July 2021.
17. Web site: The Gold Medal. Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) . ras.ac.uk. 25 August 2020.
18. Web site: Knighthood for Groundbreaking UofG Astrophysicist. UofG. 3 February 2019.
19. Web site: London Gazette, no 3369106. www.thegazette.co.uk. 20 July 2021.
20. Web site: Bakerian Medal and Lecture . royalsociety.org . Royal Society. 14 July 2021.
21. News: Bookmakers slash odds on science . BBC News . 2 May 2007 . 31 August 2004.
22. News: The Times – Letters to the Editor . 5 May 2007 . London .
23. Web site: The Scotsman – Politics. https://archive.today/20120715155640/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=655262007. dead. 15 July 2012. 5 May 2007.