Cowley, John Maxwell - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry

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Cowley, John Maxwell (1923 - 2004)

FAA FRS

Physicist

Born: 18 February 1923 Peterborough, South Australia, Australia. Died: 18 May 2004 Arizona, United States of America.

John Maxwell Cowley began his career as a research assistant with CSIRO’s Section of Chemical Physics. He progressed through the ranks and was promoted to Chief Research Officer and Head of Crystallography. In 1962 he moved to the University of Melbourne as Professor of Physics, then to the Arizona State University in 1969 where he remained until his retirement in 1994. During this time, Cowley was appointed Director of the Facility for High Resolution Electron Microscopy in 1983 and Regents Professor in 1988. The latter being a rare honour which is only awarded to those who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship and achievements.

Career Highlights

Cowley pioneered work on high-resolution electron diffraction and structure analysis. His achievements were many and included the development of single-crystal structure analysis, the theory of direct imaging of atomic crystal structures and defects, and the interpretation and use of Fourier images. Cowley received numerous awards for his work (see Chronology section) throughout his 44 years of research. Even very early in his career he was making a name for himself, winning the Edgeworth David Medal and Research Medal of the Royal Societies of New South Wales and Victoria respectively.

Chronology
1945 Completed a Masters Degree (MSc). Location: University of Adelaide, South Australia
1949 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) completed. Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
1957 Doctorate of Science (DSc) received. Location: Univestiy of Adelaide, South Australia
1961 - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
1962 - Chamber of Manufacturers' Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne
1969 Galvin Professor of Physics. Location: Arizona State University, USA
1971 - 1980 Co-editor of Acta Crystallography
1976 Bertram Eugene Warren Award received. Location: USA
1979 Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
1983 Director of the Facility for High Resolution Electron Microscopy. Location: Arizona State University, USA
1984 Fellow of the American Physical Society. Location: USA
1987 Joint inaugural winner of the International Union of Chrystallography's Ewald Prize
1987 - 1990 Chairman of the Comission on Electron Diffraction of the International Union of Crystallography
1988 Regents Professorship appointment. Location: Arizona State University, USA
1994 Retired. Location: Arizona State University

Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.

Prepared by: McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993
Modified: 29 January 2007

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000331b.htm

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