By Abiola Olawale
The family members of Prof. David Thouless, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, have donated his medal to the Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge.
Thouless, a graduate of Trinity Hall, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016 but passed away in 2019.
At the handing-over event, the family of the deceased Nobel Prize Winner expressed their wish for his medal to be showcased at the college. They cited the profound influence that Trinity Hall had on Thouless’s life as the reason for this decision.
In her address, Dr Helen Thouless said her father had very much enjoyed his time at Trinity Hall where he had made lifelong friendships.
She added the family wanted the Prize to be shared and displayed and the college seemed the perfect place to do this.
“Thinking about the friends he made and the influence that Trinity Hall had on his life, this is why we wanted to donate it to (them),” she said.
The college’s senior tutor, Michael Sutherland, said: “We hope that this generous gift inspires future generations of Trinity Hall physicists.”
Prof. Thouless won the Nobel Prize “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.”
In 2016, the Physics Prize was awarded to three British-born scientists for discoveries about strange forms of matter.
The honour came more than 60 years after the professor completed his undergraduate degree at Trinity Hall.
