The University of Edinburgh has appointed CERN's David Williams as an honorary professor in the School of Physics. This is in recognition of his work on particle physics, for promoting the development of networking across Europe to address the digital divide, and for his advice to the UK e-Science programme. Peter Clarke, from the School of Physics and the UK National e-Science Centre, said: "We are delighted with this move and look forward to David's association with Edinburgh."
Williams has worked for CERN in a variety of roles, including leading the Computing and Networks Division from 1989 until 1996. During that period Sir Tim Berners-Lee and collaborators created the World Wide Web. Williams is now responsible for the co-ordination of CERN's relations with the organizations of the European Union. Historically, his relations with Edinburgh have been with the Department of Physics, the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, and, more recently, the National e-Science Centre and the associated e-Science Institute. He has been a fellow of the British Computer Society since 1981.
Williams was one of the initial European promoters of Grid computing, and is a member of the UK's e-Science steering committee and of the related technical advisory group. He is also a member of the UKLight steering committee, and chairs the e-Science advisory board of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils.
Following his appointment at Edinburgh University he will work closely with the e-Science Institute, where he will act in an external advisory capacity for future planning activities. He will also be a visiting member of the Particle Physics Research Group in the School of Physics.
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Compiled by Hannelore Hämmerle and Nicole Crémel