SaxonFest ~ A Celebration
SaxonFest ~ A Celebration
Professor David Saxon OBE retired on August 11th 2008, and to mark the occasion friends and colleagues from around the globe came to Glasgow in May to celebrate. The occasion was marked by a series of excellent talks by distinguished invited guests covering the various stages of David’s career.
Photo right: May 30th, 2008 ~ a memorable time at the SaxonFest.
The Early Years session, covering various aspects of particle physics research, was chaired by Norman McCubbin and opened with an insight to the world of bubble chambers by Roger Cashmore. This was followed by John Dainton’s tour of the North (Daresbury), the South (Oxford), and the New World (Batavia) including input from colleagues at Fermilab in the US. Erich Lohrmann then explored the strong and the weak side of nature, and finally the Rutherford years were discussed by George Kalmus.
The journey of discovery continued in the session chaired by Tony Doyle where physics at small distances was reviewed by Tobias Haas (ZEUS experiment spokesman). Research life at Glasgow before and after David was summarised by Ken Smith followed by a journey into new territory by Peter Jenni (ATLAS experiment spokesman). In later years David contributed hugely to the activities of the research councils and the learned societies as well as to the University. This was highlighted as “a chance to serve” by Brian Foster.
The final session was chaired by Andrew Long, and emphasised the Glasgow years with John Chapman and Robin Leake covering David’s life as Head of the Physics & Astronomy Department and Dean of the Physical Sciences Faculty.
In David’s closing words he addressed himself to the younger members of the audience, and said that if they wished to be standing in his shoes, there were three ways to progress: through admiration, hope, and love. He added that most of all he had learned to trust people, because in his experience that trust pays you back a hundredfold.
Photo right: A toast to David Saxon.
More photos from the Event
| Prof Saxon recently spoke at the XVII International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering (DIS 2009). After-dinner speech: Yesterday's Sensation: Tomorrow's Calibration |
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