Tribute to Professor D. Phil Woodruff, FRS.

It is with the greatest sadness that we learn of the death of one of the pioneers of the Warwick Physics Department, Professor D. Phil Woodruff, FRS. Phil came to Warwick from Bristol University with the founding Professor, John Forty, as his research student in 1965. From graduating as the Physics Department’s first PhD student, to becoming one of the country’s, and the world’s, leading experimental surface scientists and, in 2006, he was this Department’s first and only Fellow of the Royal Society, Phil remained at Warwick for the whole of his career.

In 1984 Phil wrote Modern Techniques of Surface Science, together with Trevor Delchar, another member of the Surface Science group that Phil established and led. Over the years the book has been reprinted in several editions and in different languages, and it remains an authoritative text and essential reading for all new entrants into the field. With the development of VUV and X-ray synchrotron sources, both within the UK at Daresbury Laboratory, and also more widely in Europe and the USA, Phil was an early adopter of these facilities and embraced the use of synchrotron radiation for his research. He spent a significant period working at the BESSY synchrotron in (West) Berlin, specifically working on BESSY I during the 1980’s and early 1990’s in collaboration with Professor Alex Bradshaw from the Fritz-Haber-Institüt der Max Planck Gesellschaft. That experience shaped much of the surface science work for which he would later become famous. He developed the technique of photoelectron diffraction, applying it especially to small molecules and molecular fragments adsorbed at metal surfaces. He was also internationally regarded for his work in X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and his contributions to the development of X-ray standing waves and surface X-ray diffraction techniques, experimental methods for collectively determining precise atomic positions at surfaces. Phil's ground-breaking experimental innovations were taken up by research groups worldwide, and he also found time to write and edit a major book series on all aspects of surface structure determination. He jointly led the development of the UK's Medium Energy Ion Scattering facility, also based at Daresbury, which was able to probe both surfaces and shallow buried interfaces, as well as thin film structures. Phil also worked extensively on the development of techniques such as Inverse Photoemission and Low Energy Ion Scattering, all within the Physics Department at Warwick.

After retirement Phil continued to remain research active, writing books on the application of synchrotron radiation to surface science and producing surface structure papers with many collaborators, despite his long-term battle with cancer. Over the 60 years that our department has existed, Phil has been scientifically active throughout all the decades, publishing over 560 papers, several book series; he is without doubt its most prestigious scientist. His memory will live on through the careers of the generations of research students and research fellows that he tutored and led by example, and by those of us who had the privilege to work in the department alongside him.

Phil’s funeral will be held on at 2 p.m. on 19th March at Harbury church (Church St, Harbury, Leamington Spa CV33 9HE). Family flowers only, please. Donations, if desired, in memory of Phil for the Alzheimer’s Society would be greatly appreciated. Other arrangements will be shared when we have the details.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need support, or if you have any concerns about someone else. Staff can contact the Employee Assistance Programme,Link opens in a new window which includes bereavement support and other counselling services, or you can access support through the Staff Wellbeing Hub.Link opens in a new window

Students can contact our wellbeing team through our wellbeing portalLink opens in a new window or by calling 024 765 75570.

Bereavement supportLink opens in a new window from the Chaplaincy is also available to all.

Written by: Professors Gavin Bell, Malcolm Cooper and Chris McConville.