News · 11 May 2018
Professor Jim Al-Khalili elected Fellow of the Royal Society
NISA member Professor Jim (Jameel) Al-Khalili has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society — the world's oldest scientific academy, whose past Fellows include Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Dorothy Hodgkin, Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking.
From the announcement by his university, the University of Surrey (Wednesday 9 May 2018):
Announcing the honour today, the Royal Society recognised Professor Al-Khalili for his work on the neutron halo, as well as his dedicated service to public engagement. The highly prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society is made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from or working in the UK and the Commonwealth.
Professor Al-Khalili has been published widely in his field of nuclear reaction theory, contributing to our understanding of the structure of atomic nuclei. Along with this new honour from the Royal Society, he is a recipient of the Royal Society Michael Faraday medal, the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal and the Stephen Hawking Medal.
Professor Al-Khalili is a regular fixture on the country's television screens, radio waves and book shelves — presenting programmes such as BBC4's Bafta-nominated Chemistry: A Volatile History, Atom, The Beginning and End of the Universe and Gravity and Me. He also presents the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific. He has written eleven popular science books, translated into 26 languages. He received an OBE in 2007 for services to science.
Professor Max Lu, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: "The election of Professor Al-Khalili to the world's most prestigious academy is a strong testament to the excellence of his work and his tireless effort in promoting science to the public."
Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics and Professor of Engagement in Science at Surrey, said: "I feel honoured and grateful to the Royal Society for electing me a Fellow of their organisation, and I would like to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their support throughout the years."