Royal Society picture portraits of eminent scientists
Two leading University scientists, Professors Ken Pounds and Stan Cowley from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, have been photographed by Anne Purkiss for the Royal Society Picture Library.
The two Leicester Professors join a number of other distinguished figures from the University, or who are associated with the University, in the Royal Society portrait collection. They include Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, Sir Michael Atiyah and Sir David Attenborough amongst others.
Professor Kenneth Pounds is Emeritus Professor of physics at the University and was a pioneer in Space Science and the new discipline of X-Ray Astronomy. His research is in the area of active galaxies, and one of his many discoveries is that black holes are common in the universe.
Stan Cowley is Professor of Solar-Planetary Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester. He was elected to the Royal Society in 2011 and is one of the outstanding solar system scientists of his generation. His work in space plasma physics has been seminal in understanding the fundamental physical processes involved in the magnetosphere of the Earth and other planets.
The Royal Society is the oldest learned society in the world – and the most prestigious. It was founded in 1660, receiving Royal Consent from King Charles II. There are approximately 1,600 Fellows of the Royal Society.
Anne Purkiss’s portrait of Sir Alec is also included in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.