126-509: William George Penney, Baron Penney , OM , KBE , FRS , FRSE (24 June 1909 – 3 March 1991) was an English mathematician and professor of mathematical physics at the Imperial College London and later the rector of Imperial College London . He had a leading role in the development of High Explosive Research , Britain's clandestine nuclear programme that started in 1942 during
252-608: A "teaching university" for London. UCL and KCL considered separating from the university to form a separate university, variously known as the Albert University, Gresham University and Westminster University. Following two royal commissions the University of London Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 62) was passed, reforming the university and giving it a federal structure with responsibility for monitoring course content and academic standards within its institutions. This
378-518: A character as a University." This unusual remit may have been inspired by the fact that William Beveridge , having just become director of LSE, upon asking a taxi driver to take him to the University of London was met with the response "Oh, you mean the place near the Royal School of Needlework ". Holden responded by designing Senate House , the current headquarters of the university, and at
504-855: A conference convened in Geneva on 1 July 1958. Macmillan took Penney along as an advisor to the conference in Bermuda in December 1961, where Macmillan met with President John F. Kennedy and concluded the Nassau Agreement . Penney continued as the government's advisor on arms control and participated in the preliminary discussion leading up to, and the signing of, the Partial Test Ban Treaty in Moscow in July 1963. Nuclear development
630-635: A considerable central London estate of 12 hectares of freehold land in Bloomsbury , near Russell Square tube station . Some of the university's colleges have their main buildings on the estate. The Bloomsbury Campus also contains eight Halls of Residence and Senate House , which houses Senate House Library , the chancellor's official residence and previously housed the School of Slavonic and East European Studies , now part of University College London (UCL) and housed in its own new building. Almost all of
756-783: A difficult working relationship with the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). Penney's management style was to avoid confrontation and seek consensus whenever possible, and the role of the UKAEA in the nuclear power industry was an advisory one. He endorsed the CEGB's 1966 decision to develop the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor . He took the decision to proceed with the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay and to upgrade
882-528: A general degree awarding body for the schools was discussed in the medical press and in evidence taken by the Select Committee on Medical Education. However, the blocking of a bill to open up Oxford and Cambridge degrees to dissenters led to renewed pressure on the Government to grant degree awarding powers to an institution that would not apply religious tests, particularly as the degrees of
1008-465: A means to acknowledge "exceptionally meritorious service in Our Navy and Our Army, or who may have rendered exceptionally meritorious service towards the advancement of Art, Literature and Science". All modern aspects of the order were established under his direction, including the division for military figures. From the outset, prime ministers attempted to propose candidates or lobbied to influence
1134-623: A merger, raising the question of the future of the University of London and the smaller colleges within it. Subsequently, considerable opposition from academic staff of both UCL and Imperial led to a rejection of the merger. Despite this failure, the trend of decentralising power continued. A significant development in this process was the closing down of the Convocation of all the university's alumni in October 2003; this recognised that individual college alumni associations were now increasingly
1260-684: A neck ribbon (as a necklet ), while women wear theirs on a ribbon bow pinned to the left shoulder, and aides-de-camp may wear the insignia on their aiguillettes . Since 1991, the insignia must be returned upon the recipient's death. number appointment There have been no honorary members of the Order of Merit since the death of the last such member, Nelson Mandela , in December 2013. Secretary and Registrar : Robin Janvrin, Baron Janvrin GCB , GCVO , QSO , PC As
1386-507: A new charter opened up the examinations to everyone, effectively abolishing the weak link between the university and the colleges. This led the Earl of Kimberley , a member of the university's senate, to tell the House of Lords in 1888 "that there were no Colleges affiliated to the University of London, though there were some many years ago". The reforms of 1858 also incorporated the graduates of
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#17327718929221512-564: A number of residential and catering units further afield and the premises of the University of London Institute in Paris , which offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in French and historical studies. The university's board of trustees, the governing and executive body of the university, comprises eleven appointed independent persons – all of whom are non-executive; the vice-chancellor,
1638-641: A report on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He estimated that the bomb dropped on the former had a yield of 10 kilotons of TNT (42 TJ) and that of the Nagasaki bomb of about 30 kilotons of TNT (130 TJ). He wanted to return to academic life, and he was offered a chair of mathematics at the University of Oxford . At the end of the war the British government, now under the Labour Prime Minister , Clement Attlee , believed that America would share
1764-435: A school near Colchester , and finally, was at Sheerness Technical School for Boys from 1924 to 1926, where he displayed a talent for science. He participated in boxing and athletics , winning the school's 100-yard (91 m) dash. He also played cricket , and he was centre-forward on the school football team. In 1927, Penney's passion for science landed him in a local science laboratory where he worked for 10 shillings
1890-540: A senior witness Penney bore the brunt of the allegations, and his health was badly affected by the experience. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1991, and died on 3 March 1991 at his home in the village of East Hendred, aged 81. He burned his personal papers before he died. In Penney's obituary in the New York Times he was credited as the "father of the British bomb". The Guardian described him as its "guiding light" and his scientific and administrative leadership
2016-401: A target selection meeting. He gave advice regarding the height of the detonation which would ensure optimum destructive effects, whilst ensuring the fireball did not touch the earth, thereby avoiding permanent radiation contamination on the ground. The committee selected four cities from a list of seventeen. Penney attempted to forecast casualties and damage effects, but this was difficult because
2142-575: A teaching university in London had resulted in the university's reconstitution as a federal institution, went even further than becoming schools of the university and were actually merged into it. UCL's merger, under the University College London (Transfer) Act 1905 ( 5 Edw. 7 . c. xci), happened in 1907. The charter of 1836 was surrendered and all of UCL's property became the University of London's. King's College followed in 1910 under
2268-512: A time the sobriquet "the smiling killer." Penney's wife never recovered from post-natal depression after Christopher's birth, and died on 18 April 1945. He arranged for Joan Quennell, a nurse, to look after the boys. He wanted to return home, but Groves told James Chadwick , the British liaison to Manhattan Project in Washington, D.C. , that Penney was too important to the project to be released. On 27 April 1945 Penney went to Washington for
2394-577: A week (equivalent to £38 in 2023) as a laboratory assistant. This helped him to gain a Kent county scholarship and a royal scholarship to the Royal College of Science (RCS), a constituent college of Imperial College London . He played centre-forward on the RCS soccer team. He was permitted to skip the first year of the course, and graduated in 1929, obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics with First Class Honours at age 20. His talent
2520-916: The Wilhelm Exner Medal in 1967. Among the honours he received in 1969 was the Rumford Medal by the Royal Society , the Glazebrook Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics and the James Alfred Ewing Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers , and he was awarded the Kelvin Gold Medal the following year. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Melbourne in 1956,
2646-711: The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment which resulted in the first detonation of a British nuclear bomb in Operation Hurricane in 1952. After the test, Penney became chief advisor to the new United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). He was later chairman of the authority, which he used in international negotiations to control nuclear testing with the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty . Penney's notable scientific contributions included
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#17327718929222772-625: The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, First Lord of the Admiralty Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham and William Pitt exchanged correspondence concerning the possible creation of an order of merit, though nothing came of the idea. Later, Queen Victoria , her courtiers , and politicians alike, thought that a new order, based on the Prussian order Pour le Mérite , would make up for the insufficient recognition offered by
2898-594: The King's College London (Transfer) Act 1908 ( 8 Edw. 7 . c. xxxix). This was a slightly more complicated case, as the theological department of the college (founded in 1846) did not merge into the university but maintained a separate legal existence under King's College's 1829 charter. The expansion of the university's role meant that the Burlington Garden premises were insufficient, and in March 1900 it moved to
3024-575: The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia , stated that the Order of Merit was the highest civilian award for merit a Canadian could receive. Some orders of precedence are as follows: Order of wear University of London The University of London ( UoL ; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals ) is a federal public research university located in London , England , United Kingdom . The university
3150-497: The London School of Economics . Regent's Park College , which had affiliated in 1841, became an official divinity school of the university in 1901 (the new statutes having given London the right to award degrees in theology) and Richmond (Theological) College followed as a divinity school of the university in 1902; Goldsmiths College joined in 1904; Imperial College was founded in 1907; Queen Mary College joined in 1915;
3276-806: The Mulberry harbours that were placed off the Normandy beaches after the D-Day invasion. These mobile breakwaters protected landing craft and troops from the Atlantic rollers. Penney's job was to calculate the effects of waves on the Bombardons and devise the most efficient arrangement of them. The August 1943 Quebec Agreement provided for British support of the American Manhattan Project , which aimed to develop atomic bombs . Over
3402-698: The Operation Totem test series in 1953. Emu Field proved too remote, so Penney selected a more accessible site at Maralinga . The decision to develop a British hydrogen bomb meant that certain scientific information was urgently required and Maralinga was not yet ready, so a second series of tests, Operation Mosaic , was conducted in the Monte Bello Islands in 1956. The subsequent Operation Buffalo tests were carried out at Maralinga in September and October 1956. Penney personally supervised
3528-588: The Royal Air Force and, in 1969, the definition of honorary recipients was expanded to include members of the Commonwealth of Nations that are not realms. The order has always been open to women, Florence Nightingale being the first woman to receive the honour, in 1907. Several individuals have refused admission into the Order of Merit, including Rudyard Kipling , A. E. Housman , and George Bernard Shaw . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , remains
3654-520: The Royal Albert Hall were replaced by individual ceremonies at the colleges. One of the largest shifts in power of this period came in 1993, when HEFCE (now the Office for Students, OfS ) switched from funding the University of London, which then allocated money to the colleges, to funding the colleges directly and them paying a contribution to the university. There was also a tendency in
3780-607: The School of Advanced Study is housed in Senate House and neighbouring Stewart House. The university also owns many of the squares that formed part of the Bedford Estate, including Gordon Square , Tavistock Square , Torrington Square and Woburn Square , as well as several properties outside Bloomsbury, with many of the university's colleges and institutes occupying their own estates across London: The university also has several properties outside London, including
3906-490: The School of Oriental and African Studies was founded in 1916; and Birkbeck College , which was founded in 1823, joined in 1920. The previous provision for colleges outside London was not abandoned on federation, instead London offered two routes to degrees: "internal" degrees offered by schools of the university and "external" degrees offered at other colleges (now the University of London flexible and distance learning programmes ). UCL and King's College, whose campaign for
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4032-633: The Second World War which produced the first British atomic bomb in 1952. As the head of the British delegation working on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Laboratory , Penney initially carried out calculations to predict the damage effects generated by the blast wave of an atomic bomb . Upon returning home, Penney directed the British nuclear weapons directorate, codenamed Tube Alloys and directed scientific research at
4158-583: The Second World War , the colleges of the university (with the exception of Birkbeck) and their students left London for safer parts of the UK, while Senate House was used by the Ministry of Information , with its roof becoming an observation point for the Royal Observer Corps . Though the building was hit by bombs several times, it emerged from the war largely unscathed; rumour at the time had it that
4284-486: The University of California . He was a guest at Robert Oppenheimer 's ranch in New Mexico , saw Babe Ruth play baseball , and was a spectator at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics . On returning to England in 1933, Penney was granted the 1851 Exhibition Scholarship to attend Trinity College, Cambridge . He changed his mathematical career to physics, and conducted a thorough research and theoretical investigation into
4410-579: The University of Durham in 1957, the University of Oxford in 1959, the University of Bath in 1966 and by the University of Reading in 1970. For his services to the United States, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1946. Penney was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1946, and was raised to Knight Commander of the order in 1952. He was made a life peer , taking
4536-413: The University of London Press . All universities are different, but some are more different than others. The University of London is the most different of them all. University College London (UCL) was founded under the name "London University" (but without recognition by the state) in 1826 as a secular alternative to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge , which limited their degrees to members of
4662-437: The established Church of England . As a result of the controversy surrounding UCL's establishment, King's College London was founded as an Anglican college by royal charter in 1829. In 1830, UCL applied for a royal charter as a university which would allow it to confer degrees. This was rejected, but renewed in 1834. In response to this, opposition to "exclusive" rights grew among the London medical schools. The idea of
4788-478: The largest university by number of students in the United Kingdom. For most practical purposes, ranging from admissions to funding, the member institutions operate on an independent basis, with many awarding their own degrees whilst remaining in the federal university. Under the 2018 act, member institutions ceased to be termed colleges and gained the right to seek university status without having to leave
4914-513: The third-oldest university in England . It moved to a federal structure with constituent colleges in 1900. It is now incorporated by its fourth (1863) royal charter and governed by the University of London Act 2018 (c. iii). The university consists of 17 member institutions and three central academic bodies. The university has around 48,000 distance learning external students and around 219,410 campus-based internal students , making it
5040-444: The uranium enrichment plant at Capenhurst . Penney was Rector of Imperial College London from 1967 to 1973. The job was far more trying than he anticipated, and there was no time for personal research. The university sector had expanded rapidly in the 1960s, and there were many personnel and financial difficulties to contend with. There was staff and student unrest that he had to deal with. Penney agreed to have student observers on
5166-497: The "Order of Minerva " with membership restricted to 24 distinguished artists and authors. Knights would be entitled to the post-nominal letters KM , and would wear a silver nine-pointed breast star with the image of Minerva at its centre, along with a "straw-coloured" sash worn across the chest from the right shoulder. The motto of the Order would be "Omnia posthabita scientiae" (in Latin , 'Everything comes after science'). Once
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5292-494: The 30 key personnel that AWRE wanted. The site was taken over on 1 April 1950. Penney became Chief Superintendent High Explosive Research (CSHER). The first stage of work at Aldermaston was completed in December 1951, but the plutonium processing building was only handed over in April 1952, the month that the first plutonium was due to arrive from Windscale . At the peak of construction in 1953, over 4,000 personnel were working on
5418-580: The American observers. The subsequent successful development of British thermonuclear weapons, which coincided with the Sputnik crisis led to the amendment of the McMahon Act, and the re-establishment of the nuclear Special Relationship with the United States. In the late 1950s there was domestic and international pressure to discontinue atmospheric nuclear testing. Penney headed the UK delegation at
5544-716: The Board of Studies, and he brokered deals with the Association of University Teachers . Imperial College now had direct access to University Grants Committee funding and was no longer dependent on the University of London but money was still tight. Careful financial management created a surplus of income over expenditure. The college named the William Penney Laboratory at the South Kensington campus, which opened in 1988, in his honour. He served as
5670-699: The Collegiate Council and board of trustees, responsible for matters of academic policy. The Collegiate Council is made up of the heads of member institutions of the university. The 12 institutes, or Listed Bodies , within the University of London offer courses leading to degrees that are both examined and awarded by the University of London. Additionally, twelve universities in England, several in Canada and many in other Commonwealth countries (notably in East Africa) began life as associate colleges of
5796-472: The Imperial Institute in South Kensington . However, its continued rapid expansion meant that it had outgrown its new premises by the 1920s, requiring yet another move. A large parcel of land in Bloomsbury near the British Museum was acquired from the Duke of Bedford and Charles Holden was appointed architect with the instruction to create a building "not to suggest a passing fashion inappropriate to buildings which will house an institution of so permanent
5922-419: The Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 to assess the effects of nuclear weapons. Penney returned to the United Kingdom on a civilian flight from the United States in September 1945. He brought artefacts from Hiroshima and Nagasaki with him, and was charged £450 (equivalent to £25,000 in 2023) for excess baggage. He married Joan Quennell on 3 November 1945. Penney returned to Imperial College, where he wrote
6048-470: The King's proposal was made public, however, arguments within intellectual circles over who would be most deserving of the new order grew so heated that George ultimately dropped the idea, though he briefly reconsidered it in 1789; on 6 February of that year, he revised the design of the order, with the breast star to have sixteen points, the motto to be the Latin for "Learning improves character" and with membership to include distinguished scientists. Following
6174-420: The London University College, or at any similar institution which his Majesty might please hereafter to name". Following the issuing of its charter on 28 November 1836, the new University of London started drawing up regulations for degrees in March 1837. The death of William IV in June, however, resulted in a problem – the charter had been granted "during our Royal will and pleasure", meaning it
6300-426: The Order of Merit is open to the citizens of 15 countries, each with their own system of orders, decorations, and medals, the order's place of precedence varies from country to country. While, in the United Kingdom, the order's postnominal letters follow those of Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath , membership in the Order of Merit itself gives members no place in any of the orders of precedence in
6426-425: The Order of Merit, members are entitled to use the post-nominal letters OM and are entrusted with the badge of the order. The insignia consists of a badge, which consists of a golden crown from which is suspended a red enamelled cross pattée , itself centred by a disk of blue enamel, surrounded by a laurel wreath . The obverse of the badge's central disk bears the words FOR MERIT in gold lettering, while
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#17327718929226552-416: The Royal Air Force Lord Portal , in November 1946. In January 1947, Penney went to the United States to attend a symposium on the Crossroads tests. With almost all other aspects of atomic co-operation between the countries at an end, his personal role was seen as keeping the contact alive between the parties. He returned to the UK at the end of February 1947. Attlee's government decided that Britain required
6678-460: The Royal Arsenal and gave a two-hour talk on the principles of how to build an atomic bomb. By mid-1948, it was clear that Penney's initial estimate that he would require 220 staff was wide of the mark, and that he would need nearly 500. This meant not only taking personnel from other projects, but scrapping some entirely. In October 1948, he submitted a request for developing a new, separate site for HER on grounds of safety, security and economy. This
6804-432: The Second World War. As of 2004 the London University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), drawn from 52 universities and colleges in the London area (not just the University of London), was the largest UOTC in the country, with about 400 officer cadets. It has been based at Yeomanry House in Handel Street, London since 1992. In 2011, Canterbury Company was founded to recruit officer cadets from universities in Kent. During
6930-451: The Totem and Buffalo tests. Penney was aware of the public relations issues associated with the tests, and made clear-speaking presentations to the Australian press. Before one series of tests, Lord Carrington , the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia , described Penney's press presence: "Sir William Penney has established in Australia a reputation which is quite unique: his appearance, his obvious sincerity and honesty, and
7056-541: The UCL School of Pharmacy within the Faculty of Life Sciences. This was followed on 2 December 2014 by the Institute of Education also merging with UCL, becoming the UCL Institute of Education. Since 2010, the university has been outsourcing support services such as cleaning and portering. This has prompted industrial action by the largely Latin American workforce under the "3Cosas" campaign (the 3Cosas – 3 things – being sick pay , holiday pay , and pensions for outsourced workers on parity with staff employed directly by
7182-459: The US to change the McMahon Act, which prohibited sharing information even with the British, by demonstrating that the UK had the technology to make a thermonuclear weapon (an H-bomb), and he put Penney in charge of developing this bomb. The Orange Herald bomb was developed and was passed off as a thermonuclear bomb, when in fact it was a boosted fission weapon in which little of the energy came from fusion. The reports were unlikely to have fooled
7308-406: The United Kingdom . However, Stanley Martin says in his book The Order of Merit 1902–2002: One Hundred Years of Matchless Honour , that the Order of Merit is the pinnacle of the British honours system. Similarly, though it was not listed in the Canadian order of precedence for honours, decorations, and medals until December 2010, Christopher McCreery, an expert on Canadian honours and secretary to
7434-415: The United Kingdom to the European Communities in 1970. In later years he admitted to qualms about his work but felt it was necessary. When aggressively questioned by the McClelland Royal Commission investigating the test programmes at Monte Bello and Maralinga in 1985, he acknowledged that at least one of the twelve tests had unsafe levels of fallout. However, he maintained that due care was taken and that
7560-450: The University of London Act 2018 (c. iii), a member institution is defined as "an educational, academic or research institution which is a constituent member of the University and has for the time being―(a) the status of a college under the statutes; or (b) the status of a university". As of February 2019, 12 of the colleges of the university have said they are seeking university status. This does not affect their status as member institution of
7686-417: The atomic bomb to maintain its great power status. In the words of the Foreign Secretary , Ernest Bevin , "We've got to have this thing over here, whatever it costs ... We've got to have the bloody Union Jack flying on top of it." Officially, the decision to proceed with the British atomic bomb project was made in January 1947. The government also endorsed Portal's proposal to place Penney in charge of
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#17327718929227812-472: The authority to grant degrees in theology, considered the senior faculty in the other three English universities. In medicine, the university was given the right to determine which medical schools provided sufficient medical training. In arts and law, by contrast, it would examine students from UCL, King's College, or any other institution granted a royal warrant, effectively giving the government control of which institutions could submit students for examination by
7938-465: The behaviour of an electron in a periodic potential is still taught and used today in solid-state physics and is used to explain the origin of band gaps . Member of the Order of Merit The Order of Merit (French: Ordre du Mérite ) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms , recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII , admission into
8064-406: The bomb development effort. The project was based at the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich , and was code-named "High Explosive Research" (HER). In May 1947, Penney was officially named to head the HER project. The following month he began assembling teams of scientists and engineers to work on the new technologies that had to be developed. He gathered 34 senior members of his fledgling team in the library at
8190-479: The bombing of Nagasaki, flying with Cheshire in the B-29 observation plane Big Stink . Big Stink missed its rendezvous with the bomber Bockscar , so they witnessed the flash of the Nagasaki detonation from the air at too great a distance to photograph the fireball and the target was obscured by clouds. As the leading expert on the effects of explosions, Penney was a member of the team of scientists and military analysts who entered Hiroshima and Nagasaki following
8316-401: The central authorities in Senate House to the individual colleges. In the same period, UCL and King's College regained their legal independence via acts of parliament and the issuing of new royal charters. UCL was reincorporated in 1977, while King's College's new charter in 1980 reunited the main body of the college with the corporation formed in 1829. In 1992 centralised graduation ceremonies at
8442-409: The centre of focus for alumni. However, the university continued to grow even as it moved to a looser federation, and, in 2005, admitted the Central School of Speech and Drama . On 9 December 2005, Imperial College became the second constituent body (after Regent's Park College) to make a formal decision to leave the university. Its council announced that it was beginning negotiations to withdraw from
8568-422: The deputy vice chancellor and four heads of member institutions, appointed by the Collegiate Council. The board of trustees is supported by the Collegiate Council, which comprises the heads of the member institutions of the university, the deputy vice-chancellor, the dean and chief executive of the School of Advanced Study, the chief executive of the University of London Worldwide and the Collegiate Council's chair,
8694-424: The effects of the two nuclear detonations. His reputation was further enhanced when, after the sophisticated test gauges failed in the Able test due to the bomb missing the intended target, he was able to determine the yield using observations from simple devices made from petrol tins. The second test, Baker, was an underwater test, and it impressed Penney greatly. He speculated on the possible effects if an atomic bomb
8820-409: The established honours system to achievement outside public service, in fields such as art, music, literature, industry and science. Victoria's husband, Albert, Prince Consort , took an interest in the matter; it was recorded in his diary that he met Sir Robert Peel on 16 January 1844 to discuss the "idea of institution of a civil Order of Merit" and, three days later, he conferred with the Queen on
8946-501: The exact energy of the bombs was not known. This was answered by the Trinity test detonation on 16 July 1945. Penney was assigned as an observer on an aircraft, but the flight was cancelled due to bad weather, and he did not witness the test. Five days later, Penney gave a presentation on the results of the test, during which he predicted that the bomb would level a city of three or four hundred thousand people. The following month Penney went to Tinian Island as part of Project Alberta ,
9072-537: The federal University of London as they had done previously, from the start of the academic year starting in Autumn 2007. Although this plan to award their own degrees did not amount to a decision to leave the University of London, the THES suggested that this "rais[ed] new doubts about the future of the federal University of London". The School of Pharmacy, University of London , merged with UCL on 1 January 2012, becoming
9198-436: The federal university: Birkbeck, City, Goldsmiths, King's College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies, St George's, and University College London have all indicated that they intend to do so. As of 2015, there are around 2 million University of London alumni across
9324-668: The first chairman of the UK's Standing Committee on Structural Safety from 1976 to 1982. Penney was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1946. He was its treasurer from 1956 to 1960 and vice-president from 1958 to 1969. He became a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1962, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1970, and a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1973. He received
9450-470: The first major British higher education institution to close since the medieval University of Northampton in 1265. Its library of more than 250,000 volumes was moved to Senate House Library . In 2019, the University of London Press , founded in 1910, was relaunched as a fully open-access publisher specializing in "distinctive scholarship at the forefront of the Humanities ". The university owns
9576-401: The first university in the UK to admit women to degrees, via the grant of a supplemental charter. Four female students obtained Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1880 and two obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in 1881, again the first in the country. In the late 19th century, the university came under criticism for merely serving as a centre for the administration of tests, and there were calls for
9702-621: The general impression he gives that he would rather be digging his garden – and would be, but for the essential nature of his work – have made him a public figure of some magnitude in Australian eyes". Britain felt the need to quickly develop megaton -class weapons because it seemed that atmospheric testing could soon be outlawed by treaty. As a result, the UK wanted to demonstrate its ability to manufacture megaton-class weapons by proof-testing them before any legal prohibitions were in place. The Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan , hoped to convince
9828-638: The group of scientists and military personnel that assembled the atomic bombs. Along with Royal Air Force (RAF) Group Captain Leonard Cheshire from the British Joint Staff Mission in Washington, he represented the United Kingdom. The American authorities stopped them observing the bombing of Hiroshima but, after an appeal to Chadwick, they were permitted to accompany the second mission. On 9 August 1945 Penney witnessed
9954-414: The last person so honoured. Honorary members form another group, to which there is no numerical limit, though such appointments are rare; individuals from countries in the Commonwealth of Nations that are not headed by King Charles are therefore considered foreigners, and thus are granted only honorary admissions, such as Nelson Mandela (South Africa) and Mother Teresa (India). Upon admission into
10080-415: The late 20th century for smaller colleges to be amalgamated into larger "super-colleges". Some of the larger colleges (most notably UCL, King's College, LSE and Imperial) periodically put forward the possibility of their departure from the university, although no steps were taken to actually putting this into action until the early 21st century. In 2002, Imperial College and UCL mooted the possibility of
10206-512: The mathematics for complex wave dynamics, both in shock and gravity waves , proposing optimisation problems and solutions in hydrodynamics (which plays a major role in materials science and metallurgy .) During his later years, Penney lectured in mathematics and physics; he was the Rector of Imperial College London 1967–1973. William George Penney was born in Gibraltar on 24 June 1909,
10332-751: The monarch's decision on appointments. But, the Royal Household adamantly guarded information about potential names. After 1931, when the Statute of Westminster came into effect and the Dominions of the British Empire became independent countries within the empire, equal in status to the UK, the Order of Merit continued as an honour open to all these realms and, in many, became a part of their newly developing national honours systems. The order's statutes were amended in 1935 to include members of
10458-405: The new University of Durham were also to be closed to non-Anglicans. In 1835, the government announced the response to UCL's petition for a charter. Two charters would be issued, one to UCL incorporating it as a college rather than a university, without degree awarding powers, and a second "establishing a Metropolitan University, with power to grant academical degrees to those who should study at
10584-608: The objections of the Admiralty and Imperial College, Penney was sent to join the team of British scientists at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where expertise on explosions and their effects was in demand. At Los Alamos Penney gained recognition for his scientific talents, and also for his leadership qualities and ability to work in harmony with others. Within a few weeks of his arrival he
10710-585: The oldest child and only son of William Alfred Penney, a sergeant-major in the British Army 's Ordnance Corps who was then serving overseas, and Blanche Evelyn Johnson, who had worked as a cashier before her marriage. His parents moved about frequently, but Penney did not always accompany them. After the outbreak of the First World War , Penney, his mother and his sisters moved to Sheerness , Kent , where he went to primary school. He then attended
10836-568: The order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign—currently Edward VII's great-great-grandson Charles III —and is restricted to a maximum of 24 living recipients from the Commonwealth realms, plus honorary members. While all members are awarded the right to use the post-nominal letters OM and wear the badge of the order, the Order of Merit's precedence among other honours differs between countries. In around 1773, George III considered establishing an order of knighthood to be called
10962-541: The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. He was then approached by Geoffrey Taylor . Taylor was an expert on fluid dynamics , and was dealing with more questions from government departments regarding the effects of explosions than he had time to answer. He asked Penney if he could investigate the behaviour of an underwater explosion. Penney became a member of the Physics of Explosives Committee (Physex), and reported his results to another committee, Undex, which
11088-485: The possibility of joining the University of London. It was subsequently announced in July 2015 that City would join the University of London in August 2016. It will cease to be an independent university and become a college as "City, University of London". In 2016 reforms were proposed that would see the colleges become member institutions and be allowed to legally become universities in their own right. A bill to amend
11214-555: The post-nominal letters KMS , and the Order of Artistic Merit, for Knights of Merit in Art, with the post-nominal letters KMA . However, Frederic Leighton , President of the Royal Academy of Arts , advised against the new order, primarily because of its selection process. It was Victoria's son Edward VII who eventually founded the Order of Merit on 26 June 1902 (the date for which his coronation had been originally scheduled ) as
11340-529: The reason the building had fared so well was that Adolf Hitler had planned to use it as his headquarters in London. The latter half of the last century was less eventful. In 1948, Athlone Press was founded as the publishing house for the university, and sold to the Bemrose Corporation in 1979, subsequent to which it was acquired by Continuum publishing . However, the post-WWII period was mostly characterised by expansion and consolidation within
11466-447: The reigning monarch of the realms, currently Charles III , with the assistance of his private secretaries; the order has thus been described as "quite possibly, the most prestigious honour one can receive on planet Earth." Within the limited membership is a designated military division, with its own unique insignia; though it has not been abolished, it is currently unpopulated, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma having been
11592-414: The reverse bears the royal cypher of the reigning monarch in gold. The insignia for the military grouping is distinguished by a pair of crossed swords behind the central disk. The ribbon of the Order of Merit is divided into two stripes of red and blue. The neck ribbon is 50mm in width, while the ribbon bar width is the standard British 32mm size for military or civilian wear. Men wear their badges on
11718-577: The same year he returned to London and was appointed Reader in Mathematics at Imperial College London, a post he held from 1936 to 1945. On 27 July 1935, Penney married Adele Minnie Elms, a university student from Kent he had known since his days in Sheerness. They had two sons, Martin, who was born in 1938, and Christopher, who was born in 1941. Penney registered himself as available for scientific war work, but heard nothing for several months after
11844-596: The site. On 3 October 1952, under the code-name " Operation Hurricane ", the first British nuclear device was successfully detonated off the west coast of Australia in the Monte Bello Islands . Hurricane was but the first series of British nuclear weapons tests in Australia . Further tests required a site on land, so Penney visited Australia and chose a site at Emu Field in South Australia for
11970-578: The structure of metals and the magnetic properties of crystals with John Lennard-Jones . In 1935, Penney submitted his final thesis, which contained the fundamental work in the applications of quantum mechanics to the physics of crystals. The University of Cambridge awarded him a PhD in 1935 and a Doctor of Science in Mathematical Physics in 1936. In 1936, he was elected to the Stokes studentship at Pembroke College, Cambridge , but in
12096-497: The subject. Though nothing came of the idea at the time, the concept did not wither and, more than 40 years later, on 5 January 1888, Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury submitted to the by then long-widowed Queen a draft constitution for an Order of Merit in Science and Art, consisting of one grade split into two branches of knighthood: the Order of Scientific Merit, for Knights of Merit in Science, with
12222-537: The technology that British leaders saw as a joint discovery under the terms of the 1943 Quebec Agreement and the 1944 Hyde Park Agreement . In December 1945, Attlee ordered the construction of an atomic pile to produce plutonium and requested a report to detail requirements for Britain's atomic bombs. Penney was approached by C. P. Snow and asked to take up post as Chief Superintendent Armament Research (CSAR, called "Caesar") at Fort Halstead in Kent, as he suspected Britain
12348-402: The tests conformed to the internationally accepted safety standards of the time. Jim McClelland broadly accepted Penney's view but anecdotal evidence to the contrary received wide coverage in the press. By promoting a more Australian nationalist view, then current in the government of Bob Hawke , McClelland had also identified "villains" in the previous Australian and British administrations. As
12474-594: The time of completion the second largest building in London. The University of London contingent of the Officers' Training Corps (OTC) was formed in 1908 and had enrolled 950 students by autumn 1914. During the First World War, the OTC supplied 500 officers to the British Army between August 1914 and March 1915. Some 665 officers associated with the university died during the First World War and 245 officers in
12600-566: The title Baron Penney , of East Hendred in the Royal County of Berkshire on 7 July 1967, and was awarded the Order of Merit in 1969. As a life peer he was entitled to sit in the House of Lords , but did so only twelve times between 1967 and 1973, and voted for only three bills: for sanctions on Rhodesia in 1968, for an amendment to the redistribution bill in 1969, and for the accession of
12726-668: The university in time for its own centenary celebrations, and in order to be able to award its own degrees. On 5 October 2006, the University of London accepted Imperial's formal request to withdraw from it. Imperial became fully independent on 9 July 2007, as part of the celebrations of the college's centenary. The Times Higher Education Supplement announced in February 2007 that the London School of Economics, University College London and King's College London all planned to start awarding their own degrees, rather than degrees from
12852-413: The university into a convocation , similar to those of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, and authorised the granting of degrees in science, the first BSc being awarded in 1860. The expanded role meant the university needed more space, particularly with the growing number of students at the provincial university colleges . Between 1867 and 1870 a new headquarters was built at 6 Burlington Gardens , providing
12978-541: The university offering such degrees. By the 1970s, almost all of these colleges had achieved independence from the University of London. An increasing number of overseas and UK-based academic institutes offer courses to support students registered for the University of London flexible and distance learning diplomas and degrees and the Teaching Institutions Recognition Framework enables the recognition of these institutions. Under
13104-399: The university with exam halls and offices. In 1863, via a fourth charter, the university gained the right to grant degrees in surgery. This 1863 charter remains the authority under which the university is incorporated, although all its other provisions were abolished under the University of London Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 62). In 1878, the university set another first when it became
13230-416: The university's statutes was introduced into the House of Lords in late 2016. The bill was held up by procedural matters in the House of Commons, with MP Christopher Chope objecting to it receiving a second reading without debate and no time having been scheduled for such debate. Twelve of the colleges, including UCL and King's, said that they would seek university status once the bill was passed. The bill
13356-676: The university). The 3Cosas campaigners were members of the UNISON trade union. However, documents leaked in 2014 revealed that UNISON representatives tried to counter the 3Cosas campaign in meetings with university management. The 3Cosas workers subsequently transferred to the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain. Following good results in the Research Excellence Framework in December 2014, City University London said that they were exploring
13482-461: The university, such as the acquisition as a constituent body of the Jesuit theological institution Heythrop College on its move from Oxfordshire in 1969. ` The University of London Act 1978 (c. ii) saw the university defined as a federation of self-governing colleges, starting the process of decentralisation that would lead to a marked transference of academic and financial power in this period from
13608-716: The university. Beyond this right to submit students for examination, there was no other connection between the colleges and the university. In 1849 the university held its first graduation ceremony at Somerset House following a petition to the senate from the graduates, who had previously received their degrees without any ceremony. About 250 students graduated at this ceremony. The London academic robes of this period were distinguished by their "rich velvet facings". The list of institutions whose students could enter University of London examinations grew rapidly by 1858, including all other British universities as well as more than 30 other schools and colleges outside of London. In that year,
13734-420: The university. Some member institutions also have the power to award their own degrees instead of those of the university; those which exercise that power include: Most decisions affecting the member institutions and institutes of the University of London are made at the level of the member institutions or institutes themselves. The University of London does retain its own decision-making structure, however, with
13860-399: The vice-chancellor. The chancellors of the University of London since its founding are as follows: For most practical purposes, ranging from admission of students to negotiating funding from the government, the 17 member institutions are treated as individual universities. Legally speaking they are known as Recognised Bodies , with the authority to examine students and award them degrees of
13986-486: The world, including at least 14 monarchs or royalty, more than 60 presidents or prime ministers in the world (including five prime ministers of the United Kingdom ), two Cabinet Secretaries of the UK , 98 Nobel laureates , five Fields Medallists , four Turing Award winners, six Grammy winners, two Oscar winners, three Olympic gold medalists and the " Father of the Nation " of several countries. The university owns
14112-553: The youngest person ever inducted into the Order, having been admitted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, when he was 47 years old. Robin Eames , Baron Eames represented the order at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla on 6 May 2023. All citizens of the Commonwealth realms are eligible for appointment to the Order of Merit. There may be, however, only 24 living individuals in the order at any given time, not including honorary appointees, and new members are personally selected by
14238-516: Was added to the core group of scientists making key decisions in the direction of the programme. Major General Leslie Groves , the director of the Manhattan Project, later wrote: Throughout the life of the project, vital decisions were reached only after the most careful consideration and discussion with the men I thought were able to offer the soundest advice. Generally, for this operation, they were Oppenheimer, Von Neumann , Penney, Parsons and Ramsey . One of Penney's assignments at Los Alamos
14364-414: Was annulled by the king's death. Queen Victoria issued a second charter on 5 December 1837, reincorporating the university. The university awarded its first degrees in 1839, all to students from UCL and King's College. The university established by the charters of 1836 and 1837 was essentially an examining board with the right to award degrees in arts, laws and medicine. However, the university did not have
14490-506: Was approved, but it took another six months to locate a suitable site. A former airbase, RAF Aldermaston , was selected. At the same time, it was decided to separate HER from the Armaments Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE). This resulted in a painful bureaucratic battle over personnel whose expertise was wanted for research on both nuclear weapons and guided missiles . In the end, HER kept 25 of
14616-546: Was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Mathematics in 1931. He accepted a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship and travelled to the United States, where he became foreign research associate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , studying under John H. Van Vleck , and was awarded a Master of Arts degree. While in the United States he visited Carl Anderson 's laboratory at the California Institute of Technology and Ernest Lawrence 's Radiation Laboratory at
14742-514: Was debated and passed its second reading on 16 October 2018. It received royal assent on 20 December 2018, becoming the University of London Act 2018 (c. iii) The twelve colleges (namely, all except The Courtauld, ICR, LBS, RAM and RCSSD) subsequently applied for university status, although stating they did not intend to change their names, with notice being given in the London Gazette on 4 February 2019. In 2018, Heythrop College became
14868-484: Was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree-awarding examination board for students holding certificates from University College London , King's College London and "other such institutions, corporate or unincorporated, as shall be established for the purpose of Education, whether within the Metropolis or elsewhere within our United Kingdom". It is one of three institutions to have advertised themselves as
14994-525: Was exploded near a port city in the UK. The passage of the McMahon Act (Atomic Energy Act) in August 1946 made it clear that Britain would no longer be allowed access to US atomic research. Penney left the United States and returned to the United Kingdom where he drew up plans for an atomic weapons section in his department, submitting them to the Controller of Production, Atomic Energy, Marshal of
15120-557: Was going to build an atomic bomb of its own and he wanted Penney in this job. As CSAR he was responsible for all types of armaments research. In 1946, at the request of Groves and the United States Navy , Penney returned to the United States where he was put in charge of the blast effects studies for Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in July 1946. He wrote the after action reports on
15246-651: Was implemented in 1900 with the approval of new statutes for the university. The London University should stand to the British empire as the great technological institution in Berlin, the Charlottenburg, stood to the German empire. The reforms initiated by the 1898 act came into force with the approval of the new federal statutes in 1900. Many of the colleges in London became schools of the university, including UCL, King's College, Bedford College , Royal Holloway and
15372-652: Was recognised by the Governor's Prize for Mathematics from the faculty of science. Penney was offered a research position at the London University , where he studied for a doctorate. He spent a term at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, where he worked with Ralph Kronig . Together, they developed the Kronig–Penney model , which described the motions of electrons in periodic fields. Penney
15498-471: Was run by the Admiralty and was interested in underwater explosions such as those created by mines , torpedoes and depth charges , and their effects on the hulls of ships and submarines . Most of the data on underwater explosions was from the First World War. With Royal Navy engineer officers Penney designed and supervised development of Bombardon breakwaters , steel structures that formed part of
15624-527: Was said to be crucial in its successful and timely creation. His leadership of the team that exploded the first British hydrogen bomb at Christmas Island was instrumental in restoring the exchange of nuclear technology between Britain and the US in 1958, and he was credited as playing a leading part in the negotiations which led to the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963. His Kronig-Penney model for
15750-449: Was to predict the damage effects from the blast wave of an atomic bomb. Soon after he arrived at Los Alamos, he gave a talk on the subject. Fellow Manhattan Project scientist Rudolf Peierls recalled that: Soon after his arrival he gave a talk about the effect of blast waves on people, including many gruesome details to which his American audience was not accustomed. He presented all this with his usual cheerful manner, and so acquired for
15876-576: Was transferred from the Ministry of Supply (MoS) to the newly formed United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Penney became a member of the UKAEA Board in 1954, and he chaired its official inquiry in the 1957 Windscale fire . When Sir John Cockcroft left in 1959 to become the master of Churchill College, Cambridge , Penney succeeded him as the Member for Scientific Research. He became deputy chairman in 1961 and chairman in 1964. The UKAEA had
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