Michael Woolfson Michael Woolfson Michael Mark Woolfson (born 9 January 1927) is a British physicist and planetary scientist. His research interests lie in the fields of x-ray crystallography, biophysics and the formation of stars and planets. He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford and received his PhD from UMIST. He was a research assistant at UMIST 1950-52 and at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 1952-54. He was an ICI Fellow, University of Cambridge, 1954-55. At UMIST he was a lecturer, 1955–61, and a Reader, 1961-65. He was Professor of Theoretical Physics, 1965-94 University of York and head of the Department of Physics,
Cavendish Professor of Physics would cost £6,300. The then chancellor of the university, William Cavendish met that cost privately 18 months later, and named the department in honor of his relative, the 18th century natural philosopher Henry Cavendish. The first Cavendish Professor was the then relatively obscure James Clerk Maxwell, who had yet to complete the work that would make him the most renowned physicist of the nineteenth century. His appointment was announced on 8 March 1871, and despite initial disappointment at his being offered the place, his inaugural lecture was looked forward to by his likely students as well as his future colleagues.