Rodney Deane Davies CBE. 8 January 1930—8 November 2015

Abstract

Following early life on a farm in South Australia and a degree in Physics at the University of Adelaide, Rod Davies began his research career at the Radiophysics Laboratory in Sydney in 1951, working on the development of radio interferometers for solar observations. In 1953, he moved to the University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank, working with Bernard Lovell, later becoming the Director of Jodrell Bank from 1988 to 1997 and the President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1987 to 1989. He is best known for leading observations of the structure of the cosmic microwave background, first carried out at Jodrell Bank and then transferred to Tenerife during the 1980s and 90s. Later, he was instrumental in establishing the European Space Agency's Planck spacecraft mission and continued after retirement to be closely involved in the interpretation of the data from Planck . He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1992 and awarded a CBE in 1995. During Rod's tenure as Director of Jodrell Bank, he was responsible for the start of a major project to upgrade the Lovell Telescope, recognizing that with increased capability it could play a leading role into the 21st century. He was also Director during a major upgrade to the MERLIN telescope array, completed around 1991, and making MERLIN a modern, useable, open-access instrument. It was transformed into a true national facility, funded by government, and widely used by the national and international radio astronomy community. Rod Davies was always a kind and generous colleague, and a great inspiration to several generations of radio astronomers.