Walter Thompson Welford
Walter Thompson Welford was a British physicist with expertise in optics.Biography
Welford attended Hackney Technical College, leaving at 16 to work as a technician at the London Hospital and then Oxford University Biochemistry Department. He studied mathematics privately and in 1942 obtained a first-class external degree from the University of London. After working for a time at the optical instrument manufacturer Adam Hilger Ltd., he came to Imperial College London in 1947 as a research assistant. He was appointed lecturer in 1951 and after successive promotions became a full professor of physics in 1973, retiring in 1983. He continued to be scientifically active at Imperial College and the University of Chicago until his death in 1990.Honours and awards
Welford was awarded the Institute of Physics Young Medal in 1974. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1980.
