Meet our Alumni
Page includes: Roger Bingham, John Cardy, Adam Dawson, Alastair Sloan, and David Flenley
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Attended School 1958-1965
John was born on 19th March 1947, in Blackpool and is a British – American Theoretical physicist at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his work in theoretical condensed matter physics and statistical mechanic, and in particular for research on critical phenomena and two-dimensional conformal field theory
After leaving Baines he was an undergraduate (BA 1968) in Mathematics and postgraduate (PhD 1971) in Theoretical Physics from Downing College, Cambridge University, before being elected to a fellowship at the college. After postdoctoral studies at CERN, Geneva and the University of California, Santa Barbara, he joined the faculty at Santa Barbara in 1977.
His research prior to 1978 was in particle physics, in particular the study of high-energy diffraction scattering. After this, he applied methods of quantum field theory and the renormalization group to condensed matter, especially to critical phenomena in both pure and disordered equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems. In the 1980s he helped develop the theory of conformal invariance and its applications to these problems, ideas which also had an impact in string theory and the physics of black holes.
In the 1990s he used conformal invariance to derive many exact results in percolation and related probabilistic problems. In 1991 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1993, he moved to the University of Oxford, where until 2014 he was a senior Research Fellow of All Souls College (now Emeritus) and a Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics. He currently holds a Visiting Professorship in the Physics Department at the University of California, Berkeley.
Awards
2000 - the Dirac Medal of the Institute of Physics
2004 - the Lars Onsager Prize by the American Physical Society
2010 - the Boltzmann Medal by IUPAP
2011 - the Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics.
He is most known for his contributions to conformal field theory. The Cardy formula for black hole entropy, the Cardy formula in percolation theory and the Cardy conditions in boundary conformal. More recently Professor Cardy has worked on questions of quantum entanglement and non-equilibrium dynamics in many-body systems.
His father was George Laurence Cardy who was head of Maths from 1955-67 at Baines and died in service following an operation.
The Art of John Cardy. Click on the image to take you to the Paintings of John Cardy.
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Adam was Head boy in year 11 and in the Sixth Form. After leaving Baines Adam studied Computer Science and Business Management at Loughborough University. He graduated with a first class honours degree. Upon graduation Adam had a series of jobs starting at GlaxoSmithKline then BAE Systems, Workdpay and AXA insurance until heading into the start up scene in Manchester. Immediately relocating to London where he worked for News UK as a senior business analyst.
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Attended School 1983-1990
I studied at Baines School from 1983 to 1990; being one of the first students to take the GCSE examinations. After leaving the Sixth Form in 1990, I read Biomedical Sciences at the University of Wales graduating in 1993 and then went on to do a PhD in Oral Pathology at the University of Birmingham graduating in 1997.
Following a short period as a postdoctoral scientist I became a Lecturer in Oral Biology at the School of Dentistry at the University of Birmingham in 2000. I completed my postgraduate certificate in Learning and Education in 2003. My research focused on stem cells and mineralised tissue repair and in 2005 I moved to Cardiff University to take up the post of Lecturer in Tissue Engineering & Bone Biology at the School of Dentistry in 2005. I became Professor of Tissue Engineering in 2012.
During my time in Cardiff I was Director of the Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair (2015-2017) and in the School of Dentistry was Director of Research and International before, in 2017 being appointed Dean and Head of School - Cardiff’s first non-clinical head of the School of Dentistry.
Having lead Cardiff School of Dentistry to the QS Global Top 50 for the first time I was approached by the University of Melbourne and was appointed Head of Melbourne School in January 2020 where I hold the substantive post of Professor of Tissue Engineering & Dental Biology.
As a researcher I have published over 80 research papers in the field of tissue repair/regeneration, written 7 books/book chapters and in 2011 was awarded the International Association for Dental Research Distinguished Scientist Award (Young Investigator). I sit on research funding bodies in the UK, EU and US and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
My interest in bioscience began at Baines with Mr Greg Hurst and Mrs Sue Royle. I have also managed to have a parallel career as a musician working professionally as a saxophone player and that’s probably because I spent many lunchtimes at Baines in the music room playing music - all thanks to Bob Richmond.
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Attended School 1959-1966
Roger was born in 1948 and attended Baines between 1959 and 1966. After leaving Baines and attended University College, London.
Roger, is a science educator, a prolific author and television presenter based in La Jolla, California. He is the co-founder and director of the Science Network (TSN), a virtual forum dedicated to science and its impact on society. He is also the creator of the Beyond Belief conferences and is a member of the research faculty at the Centre for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego, focusing on theoretical evolutionary neuroscience.
Roger developed the Science and Society Unit at the Los Angeles TV station, KCET. Where, he wrote, produced and presented the Frontiers of the Mind series which was broadcast in many countries. He also co-wrote and presented the television series The Human Quest. The Human Quest episode The Nature of Human Nature won a Writers Guild of America Award. In 2009, Roger was named a member of the Board of Advisers of Scientific American.
Roger Bingham – at the 2005 Skeptics Conference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv4STsi8AIY
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b.19 March 1933 d.27 March 1989
BSc(1954) MB ChB Edin(1957) MRCPE(1962) PhD(1967) MRCP(1965) FRCPE(1970) FRCP(1972)
David Flenley was professor of respiratory medicine in the University of Edinburgh. He was born and bred in Lancashire, attending Baines Grammar School. His father was a general practitioner, but he lived in Edinburgh from his student days until his untimely death at the age of 56.
After a brilliant undergraduate career, where he gained a first class honours degree in Physiology and resident posts at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, he was called on to do his National Service in the RAMC. He found the restrictions of Army life irksome and was glad to get out and back to academic medicine. From that time on, with the exception of an MRC travelling fellowship in San Francisco, USA, and Montreal, Canada, he spent all his time in the department of medicine, University of Edinburgh, where he was encouraged by Kenneth Donald to continue research into chronic bronchitis, which he made his special interest.
In 1969 he was appointed senior lecturer and honorary consultant physician and rapidly expanded the respiratory disease research of the department, particularly with regard to the pathophysiology of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and treatment with long term oxygen. He became one of the foremost British researchers in this field and acquired a considerable national and international reputation. In 1978, on the retirement of Sir John Crofton, he succeeded to the chair of respiratory medicine in the University. This involved moving his base from his beloved Royal Infirmary to the City Hospital but, with characteristic vigour and honesty, he decided that if he had to move there would be no regrets and he set out to make his department the best in Britain. With his reputation, energy and persuasive powers, he attracted considerable support with enabled him to set up the Rayne Laboratories to continue his research. He also developed an interest in sleep apnoea and many other related topics in respiratory disease.
Flenley was a prolific author of papers and books and in great demand as a teacher both in Edinburgh and all over the world. His lectures and rounds were very popular with both students and postgraduates, although at times the discussion could be very heated. In 1982 he was elected president of the European Society of Pneumology. For many years he was on the editorial board of Clinical Science and later chairman of the board. He was a classic ‘Type A’ personality, a hard-driving workaholic who demanded the highest standards from himself, his colleagues, junior staff and students.
He was not prepared to accept conventional dogma and would fearlessly - sometimes one would say recklessly - challenge the views of others. This practice extended outside the field of medicine and he would readily debate any topic on which he had a view so that one had to be fairly tough and thick-skinned to get involved in a discussion with him. However, if proved wrong, which was not often, he would honestly admit his error. Life with Flenley as a colleague was never dull.
He married Hilary Wingate in 1959 and they had two children, William and Claire. Social functions at their home were a delight, with vigorous but good humoured banter flying back and forth and usually ending with a nip or two of his favourite malt whisky. His death came swiftly from a subarachnoid haemorrhage and perhaps it was merciful that he did not survive with physical and intellectual disability which would have been unbearable for such a brilliant and mercurial man. Although a Lancastrian by birth, a fact of which he remained proud, he made Edinburgh - and Scotland - his home and fiercely upheld and enhanced the reputation of Edinburgh medicine.
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