David Beaglehole
{{Short description|New Zealand physicist (1938–2014)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = David Beaglehole
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|01|08|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Wellington, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|03|21|1938|01|08|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| residence =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| fields = Physics
| workplaces = University of Chicago
University of Maryland
Victoria University of Wellington
| alma_mater = Trinity College, Cambridge
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year = 1963
| doctoral_advisor = Tom Faber
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Condensed matter physics
Optical properties of materials
Ellipsometry
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
| spouse = {{Marriage|Ann Beaglehole|||end=div.}}
| partner = Bhagee Ramanathan
| children = 4
}}
David Beaglehole (8 January 1938 – 21 March 2014) was a New Zealand physicist.
Early life, family and education
Beaglehole was born in Wellington in 1938 into an academic family.{{cite web |url=http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/organisation/academy/fellowship/obituaries/david-beaglehole/ |title=David Beaglehole |date=18 June 2014 |publisher=Royal Society of New Zealand |access-date=28 February 2015 | first1=Andy | last1=Edgar | first2=Alan |last2=Kaiser | first3=John | last3=Lekner | first4=Denis | last4=Sullivan | first5=Joe | last5=Trodahl}} His parents were American-born linguist Pearl Beaglehole (née Malsin) and her husband Ernest Beaglehole, a psychologist and ethnologist, who had met while they were both studying at the London School of Economics. His uncle was historian John Beaglehole.{{DNZB|title=Beaglehole, Ernest|first1= James |last1=Ritchie | first2=Jane |last2=Ritchie | id=5b15 |accessdate=28 February 2015}}
Educated at Wellington College from 1951 to 1954,{{cite journal |date=October 2014 |title=Obituaries |url=http://www.wellington-college.school.nz/sites/default/files/Lampstand%20for%202014.pdf |journal=The Lampstand |publisher=Wellington College Old Boys' Association |issue=24 |page=64 |access-date=28 February 2015}} he then studied physics, chemistry and psychology at Victoria University College, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1958 and a Master of Science with first-class honours in 1960.{{cite web |url=http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university2.html |title=NZ university graduates 1871–1960: Ba–Be |access-date=28 February 2015}} He then carried out doctoral research into the optical properties of copper and gold in the far ultraviolet at Trinity College, Cambridge under Tom Faber, and was awarded his PhD in 1963.
He had three children with his wife Ann Beaglehole; after their marriage ended, he had another child with his long-term partner Bhagee Ramanathan.{{cite web |title=Beaglehole, Ann (Dr), 1948- |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22427885 |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=20 September 2022}}{{cite web |title=Ann Beaglehole (Person) |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/name-120265.html |website=New Zealand Electronic Text Collection |publisher=Victoria University of Wellington |access-date=20 September 2022}}
Academic career
After post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago from 1964 to 1966, Beaglehole was an assistant professor and then associate professor at the University of Maryland. He returned to Victoria University of Wellington in 1969 as professor of physical electronics, and began research into condensed matter physics and astronomy at the university. He also developed an improved ellipsometric method for measuring the thickness of liquid interfaces, which led to the establishment of Beaglehole Instruments in 1993.{{cite web |url=http://www.macdiarmid.ac.nz/interface_article/metamorphosis-from-academic-to-businessman/ |title= Metamorphosis from academic to businessman |date=17 January 2012 |publisher=MacDiarmid Institute |access-date=28 February 2015}}
Beaglehole was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1992.{{cite web |url=http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/organisation/academy/fellowship/fellows-1919-present/a-c/ |title=The Academy: A–C |publisher=Royal Society of New Zealand |access-date=28 February 2015}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaglehole, David}}
Category:Scientists from Wellington City
Category:People educated at Wellington College, Wellington
Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni
Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Category:University of Maryland, College Park faculty
Category:Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Category:20th-century New Zealand physicists
Category:21st-century New Zealand physicists