| Description | Track 1 [01:08:34] [Session One: 18 July 2017] Professor Anthony Davies [AD], born in Shrewsbury in June 1938. AD mentions his childhood in Bexhill-on-Sea and attending the local grammar school. AD talks about the family’s move to Swansea when he was 15. AD talks about his father, a tax income attendant. AD talks about his great-aunt Gwen who got a Chemistry degree from Swansea University in the 1930s. AD talks about his mother and her job as a pharmacist. [00:03:10] AD talks about attending Bishop Gore Grammar School in Swansea. AD mentions the teachers and the high teaching quality. AD talks about his subject choices and the family expectation for him to study Chemistry at university. AD talks about chess and sailing. [00:05:10] AD talks about the expectation at school that he would go to study at university. [00:06:11] AD talks about Gwen’s and his own impressions of Swansea University. AD describes the collegial atmosphere, including a fresher’s dinner in the Refectory. AD describes fresher’s essays that were read to members of staff and Principal John Fulton [JF]. AD tells an anecdote about writing a fresher’s essay on intelligence tests. AD talks about the character of JF. AD talks about the lecturers’ emphasis on students wearing academic gowns. [00:10:50] AD compares student numbers from the 1930s to the 1960s. AD talks about temporary buildings from the 1920s that were still used in the 1960s. AD describes the look of the campus and the construction of Fulton House. [00:12:04] AD describes the structure of undergraduate courses in the 1960s. AD describes the structure of tutorial and lectures. AD talks about Head of Physics Department Frank Llewellyn-Jones [FLJ]’s focus on exams. AD compares the difficulty of Physics at university to Physics A-Levels. AD describes FLJ’s character and his impact on social life outside the university. [00:16:30] AD talks about his reasons for switching from Chemistry to Physics. AD talks about Melville Hopkins, Senior Lecturer in Physics, and his influence on convincing AD to switch. AD talks about the quality of Physics lecturers, including Granville Beynon and Percy Davidson [PD]. AD talks about the practical chemistry experiments and the smell in the labs. [00:18:28] AD talks about living at home during his undergraduate degree. AD talks about expenses as a student and mentions having a scholarship. [00:19:40] AD compares the percentages of school leavers going to university in the 1960s to today. AD describes the merits of alternative qualifications such as apprenticeships. [00:20:55] AD talks about his membership in societies, including the Physics Society [PhysSoc], the orchestra and the choir. AD talks about being convinced by choirmaster Hayden Jones to join St. Mary’s Choir. AD talks about playing cello in the orchestra under Professor Deval. AD mentions being a member of the City of Swansea Orchestra and the Swansea Philharmonic Choir. [00:23:29] AD talks about playing chess and sailing in the Mumbles Yacht Club. [00:24:30] AD talks about the reputation of Kingsley Amis, English lecturer and novelist. [00:25:20] AD talks about making friends both in his course and in extracurricular activities. AD talks about his timetable and mandatory attendance. AD describes the benefits of a foundation year. [00:26:51] AD talks about the research in the Physics department. AD describes the ionisation and the metal contact research groups, both led by FLJ. AD talks about members of the ionisation group, including Jack Dutton [JD] and PD. AD describes PD’s character and lecture style. [00:28:36] AD talks about events at the PhysSoc, including an annual dinner dance. [00:29:54] AD talks about the composition of the student and staff body with regards to gender and nationality. [00:31:13] AD talks about receiving a first class degree in Physics. AD talks about doing a one-year demonstratorship before beginning his PhD at 21. [00:33:30] AD describes his research project about the build-up of electric currents and the ionisation of electrons. AD talks about working with PD on theory and describes PD’s breakthrough and its impact on the Physics community. [00:35:22] AD talks about the beginning of computer techniques and describes using a computer at Oxford University. AD describes the functioning of a computer in the early 1960s. AD talks about the introduction of computers at Swansea. [00:37:41] AD describes his research in electric fields and talks about a breakthrough he made with Colin Evans [CE]. AD talks about attending a colloquium at Strathclyde University. [00:39:47] AD talks about collaborations between Swansea and other universities, including Oxford, Liverpool and Strathclyde. AD talks about a European research group consisting of universities from Britain, France, Germany and Italy. AD talks about the efforts of Colin Grey-Morgan to set up a collaboration with CERN. AD talks about Lyn Evans, a Swansea lecturer who was the project leader of the Large Hadron Collider. [00:43:53] AD talks about becoming an assistant lecturer at Swansea in 1962. AD describes his style of teaching and emphasis on students taking notes. AD mentions receiving a teaching prize for five years in a row. AD talks about the transition from a PhD student to a lecturer. [00:48:40] AD talks about the universities ability to transform students with poor A-Levels into first-class graduates. AD tells an anecdote about a mature student, a painter, who received a first. [00:49:45] AD talks about the beginning of his career as a lecturer and describes his duties. [00:50:28] AD talks about living at home as an assistant lecturer. AD talks about being a Rover Scout and meeting his future wife at a scouting party in Neath. AD mentions moving in with his wife in 1966. [00:52:30] AD talks about the changing in teaching during the 1960s and the changes to the academic system and its impact on Swansea. AD talks about the positive treatment of students by the university and describes the good relations between the students and the Physics department. [00:55:59] AD talks about the collegiate atmosphere between members of staff, including technicians. AD describes the role and duties of technicians and their importance to academic staff. [00:58:08] AD talks about the change of management in the 1960s. AD compares JF to his successors. AD describes the good relationship between staff and principals. [00:59:40] AD talks about his CERN research fellowship and describes his work at CERN. AD describes his living situation in Geneva. AD talks about working together with brilliant physicists. [01:03:56] AD talks about the construction of Vivian Tower, where the Physics Department moved to. AD talks about his work at the high-voltage laboratory built by the University Grants Committee [UGC]. AD describes high-voltage demonstrations to school children. [01:07:50] AD talks about the interaction of the Physics Department with the local community. AD talks about lectures for schools, including a Christmas lecture. [01:08:34]
Track 2 [00:24:42] [Session One: 18 July 2017] AD describes the development of the Physics Department at Swansea. AD talks about an evaluation of Physics and Chemistry at the University of Wales [UoW] and a proposed amalgamation of the Physics and Chemistry departments of Swansea and Aberystwyth. AD describes an influx of Chemistry staff at Swansea and its effect, including financial problems. [00:02:55] AD talks about an increase of collaboration in Physics within the UoW and describes the formation of the UoW Faculty of Physics. AD talks about joint undergraduate courses at Gregynog. AD mentions being a Pro-Vice-Chancellor [PVC] under Robin Williams [RW][00:06:40] AD talks about other developments in the department, including the pressure to raise student numbers. AD talks about collegiality and the increased interdepartmental collaboration within the sciences. [00:08:52] AD talks about his career development, including his experience as Head of Department [HoD]. AD highlights the importance of secretaries and technicians in keeping the department running and interacting with students and staff. AD talks about the power of a HoD. [00:11:33] AD talks about the development of research in the Physics Department. AD talks about the formation a new research group under two lecturers from Imperial College London, David Oliver and Ian Halliday, and its positive impact on the department at Swansea. AD talks about the new departmental focus on theoretical physics. [00:13:31] AD talks about outstanding students. AD mentions Lyn Evans and talks about Angharad Thomas, now the National Officer for the Institute of Physics in Wales. [00:15:02] AD talks about changes in students. AD describes a decline in maths ability. [00:16:29] AD talks about being a PVC under RW from 2000. AD talks about his duties and describes being in charge of personnel. AD describes the managerial organisation of the university. AD talks about the relationship of the university with the AUT. [00:19:02] AD talks about dealing with departmental problems as a PVC. [Section closed from 00:19:33 to 00:20:15] [00:21:13] AD talks about his retirement and his continued involvement with the university. AD talks about being a secretary for multiple organisations, including the Royal School of Church Music and Swansea Back Care. AD talks about his nine grand-children. AD compares his academic day to his day as a retiree. [00:24:42] |