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Robert (“Bob”) Hewitt was appointed Director of the Science Foundation in January 2003.  He has had a long association with both the School of Physics and the Foundation.

Bob first enrolled as a student in the School in 1961. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree and then his Doctor of Philosophy in theoretical nuclear physics under the supervision of Dr Robert May, now Lord May of Oxford.  He was appointed as Lecturer in Physics in 1967 and remained on the staff of the School until his retirement at the end of 2003.  He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University for two years and at various times during his career he held visiting academic appointments at Harvard University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of British Columbia, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Australia Telescope National Facility, and at the University of Utrecht.  His primary research field was theoretical plasma astrophysics.  He now is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School.

Bob served for two years as Pro-Dean of the Faculty of Science, eleven years as Dean of that Faculty and for four years as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Sciences Group of faculties.  During his term as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, he was delegated University-wide responsibility for information technology and for the library system