John Adams (physicist)

Sir John Bertram Adams KBE FRS[1] (24 May 1920 – 3 March 1984)[2] was an English accelerator physicist and administrator.

Sir

John Adams

KBE FRS
John Adams in his office at CERN
Born(1920-05-24)24 May 1920
Kingston, Surrey, England
Died3 March 1984(1984-03-03) (aged 63)
Geneva, Switzerland
Other namesSir John Bertram Adams
OccupationPhysicist and former CERN Director-General

During World War II, Adams worked in the Radar laboratories of the British Ministry of Aircraft Production where he learned physics and engineering on the job. After the war he moved to Harwell and the Atomic Energy Research Establishment. He had no qualifications but became expert in the design and construction of the advanced machines and instruments used in physics research, designing the Harwell Synchrocyclotron. In 1953 he joined CERN as director of the Proton Synchrotron division. After the death of Prof. C. J. Bakker, CERN Director-General, in April 1960, the Council of CERN appointed Adams to the post of acting Director-General. [3] He held this post until August 1961[4] when he returned to the UK as director of the Culham Fusion Laboratory, and then from 1966 to 1971 he was a member of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

Returning to CERN in 1971 as Director-General of Laboratory II, he led the design of the Super Proton Synchrotron. He split the duties of CERN Director General with Willibald Jentschke and then Léon Van Hove during the 1970s. With the reorganisation of CERN in 1976, he became the executive Director-General, working on obtaining funding for the LEP collider.[5][6][7]

John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science

The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science (JAI), an accelerator physics research institute comprising researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, University of Oxford and Imperial College London is named in his honour.[8][9][10][11] A main road ("Route Adams") in CERN's Prevessin site is also named after him.

See also

References
  1. Stafford, G. H. (1986). "John Bertram Adams. 24 May 1920 – 3 March 1984". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 32: 2–34. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1986.0001. JSTOR 770106. S2CID 72330820.
  2. "Obituary : Sir John Bertram Adams, 63; led European atomic center". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  3. "J. B. Adams : acting Director-General". CERN Courier. CERN. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  4. "Decisions of the 18th Council". CERN Courier. CERN. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  5. "Homage to Sir John". CERN Courier. 24 (6): 232–236. July 1984.
  6. "Sir John Adams 1920-1984". CERN Courier. 24 (3): 91. April 1984.
  7. "John Adams: Project Director". CERN Courier. 8 (12): 310. December 1968.
  8. "History". John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  9. "About us". John Adams Institute at Imperial College. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  10. "John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science". University of Oxford Department of Physics. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  11. "John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science". Royal Holloway, University of London. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
Preceded by
Cornelis Bakker		 Acting CERN Director General
03/05/1960–31/07/1961		 Succeeded by
Victor Weisskopf
Preceded by
Bernard Gregory		 CERN Director General
1971–1975 with Willibald Jentschke

1976–1980 with Léon Van Hove

Succeeded by
Herwig Schopper
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