We are pleased to announce that Professor Ray Pierrehumbert FRS, Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at Jesus College, has been honoured with an award by the Royal Society.
Professor Ray Pierrehumbert, Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at Jesus College.
Ray, who researches the physics of climate of the earth and other planets, including newly discovered exoplanets, as well as the nature and impact of climate disruption resulting from anthropogenic climate change, has been awarded the Rumford Medal 2022 for his outstanding contribution to the field of Physics. The citation for the award reads:
“The Rumford Medal 2022 is awarded to Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert FRS for his wide ranging contributions to atmospheric physics, employing fundamental principles of physics to elucidate phenomena across the spectrum of planetary atmospheres.”
The award was established in 1800 following a donation by Benjamin Thompson FRS, Count Rumford of the Holy Roman Empire, an American-born former soldier, spy, statesman and scientist who would go on to found the Royal Institution. The medal is of silver gilt, is awarded annually and is accompanied by a gift of £2,000.
Ray says, “I have long thought that planetary climate was solidly rooted in fundamental physics, so it is especially gratifying to have my work recognized by this award for accomplishments in physics.”
Of his research, he says, ‘We now know over 5000 planets orbiting stars other than our own, and that even potentially habitable planets are quite common. Yet many, perhaps most, of the planets we find have no real counterparts in our solar system. This ranges from tiny gassy planets with liquid water clouds to planets so hot they have a permanent magma ocean from which rock vapour evaporates and later snows out. My work deals with determining the climates of these new planets, and how they evolve over time. It yields fresh and exciting new phenomena, but rests on the same fundamental building blocks of physics that we use to understand earth and other solar system planets.’
To read more about Ray’s research, click here.
To read more about the eight University of Oxford 2021-22 Royal Society award winners, which also includes Emeritus Fellow Professor Richard Moxon, click here.