Sir Edward Appleton

Edward Victor Appleton was born on 6 September 1892 in Bradford. He went to Hanson Grammar School and then attended and worked at Bradford College and following this he studied natural sciences at Cambridge.

In 1926, Appleton discovered 'the Appleton layer' in the atmosphere which has contributed to telecommunication across the continents. On the outbreak of war, Appleton was appointed secretary of the department of scientific and industrial research, a senior British government post concerned with physical science. Working on Appleton's findings, Robert Watson-Watt and his colleagues developed radar, a crucial weapon in the war. Appleton was knighted in 1941. In 1947 Appleton was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics and, two years later, moved to the University of Edinburgh to become principal and vice-chancellor, a position he held for the rest of his life. He died on 21 April 1965.

As science will be the most important specialism at the Academy it is fitting that it should be named after such a famous scientist born in the city.