J. L. (Iain) Campbell

BSc. (Glas) 1963; PhD (Glas) 1967; DSc (Glas) 1982; DTech (Lund, Sweden) 1996.

After my post-doctoral year in Nat. Phil., Helen and I moved to Ontario, where she took a nursing job and I became an assistant professor at the University of Guelph. Eventually we had two daughters, one still living here and the younger married and living in Montréal. In addition, we are addicted to both labrador and golden retrievers and now have our fourth dog! The other major addiction is opera, and we are frequent attendees at the New York Metropolitan Opera - via the superb HDLive broadcasts to cinemas.

   My research shifted gradually from fundamental X-ray physics into applications based on use of small accelerators for materials analysis by ion beams, and my group’s computer software for proton-induced X-ray emission analysis is now used world-wide. In 1987 I detoured into university administration, becoming dean of the College of Physical and Engineering Science and then serving a term as the vice-president (academic). That last job cast me as (reluctant) chief enforcer for a 16% budget cut imposed by a right-wing government, so I was happy to turn down a second term and return to research.

   Although I officially retired in 2006, I continue as an emeritus professor and am involved as a co-investigator in the Mars Science Laboratory mission. My contribution there is in the calibration and use of the sole Canadian instrument, the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer on Curiosity.