A-F

Sir Granville Beynon

Sir Granville Beynon, born in Dunvant, graduated with an undergraduate degree in physics from University College Swansea in 1934, before continuing to complete a PhD. In 1938 he joined the National Physical Laboratory as a Scientific Officer, where he began his collaboration with Sir Edward Appleton. He also played a role in several major international cooperative research projects and was President of the EISCAT Council, Fellow of the Royal Society, President of the International Committee for Geophysics and Chree medallist of the Institute of Physics. In 1959, Sir Granville Beynon was awarded a CBE and in 1976, he was knighted.

John Beynon

John Beynon, born in Ystalyfera, started his physics undergraduate degree at Swansea University College age 16 and graduated age 19. During this period, he had entered war work as a scientific officer in tank armament research. In 1947, he left the government service to enter ICI and started his lifelong work, the development and application of mass spectronomy to everyday chemical and physical problems. In 1974, he returned to Swansea University to take up a Royal Society research chair and developed a new mass spectrometer design. He won many international awards as is considered the world-leader in his field. He was also founding chairman of the British Mass Spectronomy Society and a founding member of the corresponding American society, as well as holding several honorary fellowships from other universities. In 1971 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society, before retiring in 1986.

Edward Bowen

Edward George “Taffy” Bowen graduated in physics from University College Swansea in 1930. After graduating, he went on to do an MSc before continuing his research at Swansea and shortly after, moved to complete his research at the University of London, where he obtained his PhD. Edward joined the Radio Division of the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington and made a significant contribution the early development of Radar. He was posted to the British Air Commission in Washington, became chief of the Division of Radiophysics in Australia in 1946 and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1975.

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/alumni/alumni-profiles/george-bowen/

Martin Coles

Martin Coles attended Swansea University and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry in June 1977. He worked for Procter and Gamble, roles included an executive in New York and Cincinnati before joining PepsiCo in Chicago in 1987. He worked for Nike; as Executive Vice President of Reebok International Ltd and as President International of Starbucks. He was appointed president and chief executive officer of HaloSource in October 2011. He also served on the not-for-profit International Education Advisory Boards of the University of Washington Business School at Bothell and Seattle University, where he was also fellow of the Albers Business School.

 On receiving his honorary degree from Swansea University, Mr Coles said: "I am delighted to be recognised in this way and am truly humbled at the tremendous honour being bestowed on me which is so unexpected and so very much appreciated. The quality of education, and the care and attention my peers and I received at Swansea University is testament to the quality of this institution. Many, many great minds have passed through Swansea University's doors and I very much appreciate being a small part of its rich history."

Professor Davison left school in Bridgend at 16 to become an apprentice chemist at the Steel Company of Wales. He studied part-time for three years to gain his A Levels and consequently secured a place at Swansea in 1956. He gained his undergraduate degree in Chemistry in 1959 before starting his PhD at Impreial College London. In 1962 he accepted a position at Harvard University before moving to the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. In 1974 he was granted a full professorship there and awarded an Alfred P Sloan fellowship.