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Chandra Wickramasinghe, a
former student of Sir Fred Hoyle, is a distinguished astronomer who
has made important contributions to the theory of cosmic dust.
In 1974 he first proposed the theory that dust in interstellar space
and in comets was largely organic, a theory that has now been
vindicated. Jointly with Sir Fred Hoyle he was awarded the
International Dag Hammarskjold Gold Medal for Science in 1986, and in
1992 he was decorated by the President of Sri Lanka with the titular
honour of Vidya Jyothi. He was awarded the International
Sahabdeen Prize for Science in 1996. He holds the highest
doctorate (ScD) from the University of Cambridge and an honorary
doctorate from the Soka University of Tokyo, Japan, along with several
other international distinctions. Formerly a Fellow of Jesus College
Cambridge, he is now Professor of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy at
Cardiff University of Wales. He is an award-winning poet and the
author or co-author of over 20 books and over 250 scientific
papers. He has held visiting professorial appointments in a
large number of Universities world-wide and has at one time been
advisor to the President of Sri Lanka. He is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. |
