John Michael David Coey (born 24 February 1945), known as Michael Coey, is a

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

-born experimental physicist working in the fields of

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...

and

spintronics Spintronics (a portmanteau meaning spin transport electronics), also known as spin electronics, is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-st ...

. He is an

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor at the

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

(TCD).

Life

Education

Michael Coey got a BA in Physics at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

(1966), and a PhD from

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

(1971) for a thesis on "Mössbauer Effect of ⁵⁷Fe in Magnetic Oxides" with advisor Allan H. Morrish.Lifland (2009) He has been in the physics department of

(TCD) since 1978. He obtained his ScD in 1987 and passed his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

from the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

in 1986, and an honorary doctorate in 1994. He served as

Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin is a chair in physics founded in 1724 and funded by the Erasmus Smith Trust, which was established by Erasmus Smith, a wealthy London merchant, who liv ...

at TCD from 2007 to 2012.

Career

Michael Coey has been a Professor of Physics at TCD since 1987, and was the last appointed

(2007–2012), a chair that dates from 1724. In 1994 Coey founded Magnetic Solutions and went on to be the cofounder of CRANN Ireland's Nanoscience Research institute (2002) and conceived Dublin's unique Science Gallery (2006). He has published over 700 scientific articles on diverse aspects of magnetism, many of which have had significant impact on the scientific community.A. M. Fox (2011) His textbook ''Magnetism and Magnetic Materials'' has been well received. He delivered a public lecture on the History of Magnetism in Paris in 2010. Currently, Coey holds positions at National University Singapore and the

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI CPfS) () is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Located in Dresden, Germany, the institute primarily conducts basic research in the natural sciences in the fields of physic ...

in Dresden. He has been part of numerous collaborations including:

IBM Yorktown Heights The Thomas J. Watson Research Center is the headquarters for IBM Research. Its main laboratory is in Yorktown Heights, New York, 38 miles (61 km) north of New York City. It also operates facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Albany, N ...

(1979), Institute of Physics Peking (1980),

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(1982),

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

(1984), CEN-Grenoble (1985), Johns Hopkins APL (1986), Universite de Paris IV (1992),

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

(1997),

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

(1998), University of Paris XI (1998), Leman University Geneva (2001/3),

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

(2006). Coey pioneered a co-operation project between academic and industrial laboratories in the Concerted European Action on Magnets (1985–95). Throughout his career he has strongly identified himself with the European spirit and tradition of collaboration.

Honours and awards

Mike Coey is a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

(1987), a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(2003) and a Foreign Associate of the US

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(2005). He is also a fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

, the

Mineralogical Society of America The Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) is a scientific membership organization. MSA was founded in 1919 for the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology, and promotion of their uses in other sciences, industry, ...

and the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

. His numerous awards include a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

, the Charles Chree Medal of the Institute of Physics (1997), the Gold Medal of the Royal Irish Academy (2005) the RDS INTEL Prize Lecture on

Nanoscience Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

(2012) in addition to being the recipient of the Humboldt (2013), Gutenberg (2015) and Max Born Medal and Prize (2019) awards. He has an honorary doctorate from the Institute Institute National Polytechnique Grenoble (1994) and has been a Distinguished Lecturer,

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Magnetics Study (2006) and the Albert Einstein Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2010). He received the Max Born Medal and Prize from the

in 2012.

Books

* ''Magnetism and Magnetic Materials'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010) * (with R. Skomski) ''Permanent Magnetism'' (IOP 1999) * (with K Moorjani) ''Magnetic Glasses'' (Elsevier 1984) * (edited) ''Rare Earth Iron Permanent Magnets'' (Oxford 1996) * (edited) ''Concerted European Action on Magnets'' (Elsevier 1989) * (edited) ''Structural and Magnetic Phase Transitions in Minerals'' (Springer 1988) * (edited) ''Current Topics in Magnetism'' (CJP 1987)

Personal life

Since 1973, Coey has been married to poet Wong May Coey and has two sons.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coey, Mike 1945 births Living people Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Grenoble Institute of Technology alumni Irish physicists Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Spintronics 20th-century British physicists 21st-century British physicists University of Manila alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society