Mark Warner FRS (26 January 1952—24 December 2021) was a pioneer in the field of

liquid crystal Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal can flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a common direction as i ...

elastomers, and proponent of physics education in the UK.

Life

Born and raised in New Zealand, Mark Warner arrived in the UK after being awarded a scholarship in 1969 to study at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Corpus Christi College—where he would be based for the majority of his career. After completing his PhD on the molecular motion of polymeric systems, he moved to

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

for a postdoctoral position that introduced him to liquid crystals, the field that would define his research career. Recognition of his work in liquid crystal elastomers included the 2003 EuroPhysics Prize from the

European Physical Society The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach, supporting physicists to engage in the design and implementation of European s ...

. Beyond research, Mark also played an important role in physics education in schools, culminating in the Isaac Physics program, which he founded with Prof. Lisa Jardine-Wright. They were awarded IOP Lawrence Bragg Medal and Prize for this initiative. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

in 2002, and Fellow of

the Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

in 2012.

References

1952 births 2021 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge {{Improve categories, date=June 2025