Adelaide University physics professor Tony Thomas's global repute as nuclear and particle physics educator
In 2004, Adelaide University physics professor Tony Thomas went to the USA as chief scientist and associate director for theoretical and computational physics at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, one of the US energy department’s two major fundamental nuclear physics laboratories
Professor Tony Thomas built an outstanding international reputation as an nuclear and particle physics educator, around his role as professor of physics at Adelaide University since and from 1990 its Elder professor of physics since 1990 – the sixth person to hold the chair since William Bragg in 1886.
Adelaide-born Thomas was educated at Adelaide Boys High School where he won the Thomas Price scholarship (for top student in the South Australian Leaving examinations) in 1966. He won the BHP Medal in 1967 as the top student in South Australia in mathematics, physics and chemistry in the (new) matriculation exams.
After completing a PhD at Flinders University in 1973, Thomas was Killam postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia and, in 1975-76, scientific associate of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. In 1976-83, he was a researcher (later senior research scientist) at TRIUMF (Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics) in Vancouver.
In 1984, Thomas took over Adelaide University chair of physics. He won the Walter Boas Medal (of the Australian Institute of Physics) in 1987.
In 1990, Thomas was appointed Adelaide University’s Elder professor of physics and elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In 1992, he won a research prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation. From 1991-93, he was president of the Australian Institute of Physics, held an Australian Research Council (ARC) senior research fellowship 1991-96, and from 1996-99 an ARC special investigator award.
Thomas served on the Council of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) 1992-95 and was elected a fellow of the (UK) Institute of Physics in 1996. He appointed director of the national institute for theoretical physics, based at Adelaide University, in 1995. In 1997, Adelaide University honoured him with the Stephen Cole the Elder Prize for scholarship.
That year the Academy of Science awarded him the Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, followed by the Harrie Massey Medal (of UK Institute of Physics) in 2000.
In 2004, Thomas went to the USA as chief scientist and associate director for theoretical and computational physics at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, one of the US energy department’s two major fundamental nuclear physics laboratories. He managed more than 300 scientists and engineers and was responsible for entire scientific program of the laboratory, with its 1200 international scientific users.
In 2009, Thomas returned to Adelaide University as an ARC Australian Laureate fellow. He directed the university research centre for complex systems and the structure of matter and associate director (and director of the Adelaide node) of the Australian research council centre of excellence in particle physics at the tera scale. This centre coordinated Australian research at the large hadron collider at CERN.
Thomas was South Australian scientist of the year 2014 for work on the structure of subatomic matter. He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2020 for “eminent service to scientific education and research, particularly in the field of nuclear and particle physics, through academic leadership roles.”