Sheila Rowan (physicist)

Sheila Rowan CBE FRS FRSE FInstP[3] is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, and director of its Institute for Gravitational Research since 2009.[4][5][6] She is known for her work in advancing the detection of gravitation waves. In 2016, Rowan was appointed the (part-time) Chief Scientific Advisor to the Scottish Government.[7]

Sheila Rowan CBE FRS FRSE FInstP
Sheila Rowan at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2018
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Glasgow (BSc, PhD)
Awards	Philip Leverhulme Prize (2005) Hoyle Medal and Prize (2016) Suffrage Science award (2017)[1]
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Glasgow Stanford University
Thesis	Aspects of lasers for the illumination of interferometric gravitational wave detectors (1995)
Doctoral advisor	James Hough[2]
Website	www.gla.ac.uk/schools/physics/staff/sheilarowan/

Education

Rowan was educated at the University of Glasgow where, in 1991, she received a bachelor's degree in physics, followed by a PhD in 1995[2] for research on gravitational waves supervised by James Hough.[6]

Career

After her PhD, Rowan's work was split between the University of Glasgow and the Edward Ginzton Laboratory at Stanford University.[6] Since 2003, she has been based solely in Glasgow, and in 2006 was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics. Rowan's research has focused on developing optical materials for use in gravitational wave detectors.[8] She led a team which worked on the international Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration. This collaboration led in September 2015 to the detection of gravitational waves for the first time after Albert Einstein's prediction.[9]

In June 2016, Rowan was seconded (part-time) to chief scientific advisor to the Scottish Government,[3] a position vacant since December 2014, when Muffy Calder stood down.[10][11]

Awards and honours

• Rowan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2008[12] and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.[13][3]
• Rowan was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize for Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2005, elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 2006 and awarded Fellowship of the American Physical Society in 2012.[3] She was awarded the Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics in 2016 in recognition of her pioneering research on aspects of the technology of gravitational wave observatories.
• In 2016, Rowan and her team contributed to the 2016 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, for their work on the first detection of gravitational waves, which was announced in February 2016.[11]
• In 2016, Rowan was among a team of researches to be awarded the President's Medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[14][7]
• In 2017, Rowan won the Suffrage Science award[1]
• In July 2019, Rowan was elected to the role of president-elect by the Institute of Physics. She will take up the post in October 2019 and will become president on 1 October 2021.[15]
• In 2020, Rowan won the Sir Harold Hartley Medal by the Institute of Measurement and Control for outstanding contribution to the technology of measurement and control.[16]

Rowan was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours[6] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to science.[17]

Patents

• Rowan was awarded a patent for silicon carbide bonding in 2011 from the European Patent Office. The patent covers a novel method for bonding silicon carbide components to themselves and to other materials.[18][19]

References

1. "Suffrage Science awards for UofG physicists". www.gla.ac.uk.
2. Rowan, Sheila (1995). Aspects of lasers for the illumination of interferometric gravitational wave detectors. theses.gla.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow. OCLC 181873685. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.294173.
3. "Sheila Rowan". royalsociety.org.
4. "University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Physics & Astronomy - Our staff - Prof Sheila Rowan". gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
5. "University of Glasgow :: Schools :: School of Physics and Astronomy :: Research :: Research Groups - Institute for Gravitational Research - Our Staff and Students - Personal details". physics.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
6. "University of Glasgow - University news - Archive of news - 2016 - June - Professor Sheila Rowan appointed Chief Scientific Adviser". gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
7. "Sheila Rowan, University of Glasgow". aps.org. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
8. "Professor Sheila Rowan MBE". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
9. "Professor Sheila Rowan FRAS FRS MBE elected a Fellow of the Royal Society". The Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
10. Anon (8 June 2016). "New chief scientific adviser appointed". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
11. "Professor Sheila Rowan MBE - gov.scot". beta.gov.scot. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
12. "Professor Sheila Rowan MBE FRSE - The Royal Society of Edinburgh". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
13. "Distinguished scientists elected as Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society". The Royal Society. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
14. "President's Medals for gravitational wave researchers". gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
15. "Institute of Physics announces new president-elect and Council members". Institute of Physics announces new president-elect and Council members | Institute of Physics. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
16. "InstMC 2020 Awards" (PDF). Precision. 18: 20. December 2020.
17. "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N9.
18. , "Silicon Carbide Bonding", issued 2011
19. "Silicon Carbide Bonding". gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-19.

Sources

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