Professor Anthony Thomas

Prof. Thomas obtained his Ph.D from Flinders University, Australia which lead to his first Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia, Canada. In 1975, he was offered a foundation position in the Theory group at the new laboratory subject to a one year period taken in the Theory group at CERN (1982). Prof. Thomas was elected to be a fellow of the America Institute of Physics in 1987, followed by the same title from the Australian Academy of Science in 1990. Prof. Thomas was then awarded the title of Elder Professor of Physics in 1989. From 1991 to 1996, Prof. Thomas held the position of ARC Senior Research Fellow which was followed by the ARC Special Investigator title from 1996-1999. He was also awarded the title of Fellow by the U.K. Institute of Physics in 1996. In 2009, he returned to Adelaide as an ARC Laureate Fellow. Currently, he is the Associate Director for the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Particle Physics at the Tera-scale (CoEPP) and the Director of the University Research Centre for Complex Systems and the Structure of Matter at the University of Adelaide.

Throughout his career, Prof. Thomas has been part of numerous committees, including: Experiment Evaluation Committee – Chair (1981-1987), Physics in Adelaide – Chair (1984), Department of Physics – Deputy Chair, Department of Physics and Mathematical Physics – Head, Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) – President, Australian Academy of Science – Council (1992-1995) Vice President (1994-1995), National Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics (NITP) – Director (1995), Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility – Chief Scientist/Associate Director (2004).

Prof. Thomas’ interests include: Quark and Gluon Structure of Matter, Origin of Proton Spin and Mass, Testing Fundamental Symmetries, Physics Beyond The Standard Model, Quark-Meson Coupling Model, Equation of State for Dense Matter and implications for neutron star properties, Dark Matter Searches, High energy and particle physics, Nuclear physics, Mathematical modeling, Complex systems.

Awards: Thomas Price Scholarship (1966); BHP Medal (1967); University Medal (1971); Walter Boas Medal (1987); Inaugural Silver Jubilee Convocation Medal - Flinders University (1991); Research prize - Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation (1992); Stephen Cole the Elder Prize for Scholarship (1997); Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal - Academy of Science (1997); Harrie Massey Medal - UK Institute of Physics (2000); Centenary Medal (2003); Australian Laureate Fellow and Elder Professor of Physics (2009); SA Scientist of the Year (2014).