Paul Barnes

Professor Paul Barnes had a long and distinguished history at Birkbeck, both in academia and administration. Having completed a BSc in Physics in 1963, he gained a PhD in Physics and the Chemistry of Solids at Cambridge in 1967. Four years later he became a lecturer in Crystallography at Birkbeck, and was appointed to a personal chair in Applied Crystallography at London University in 1994.

On the administrative side, Paul served as a Governor of the College and as College Dean.

Despite being so well known and widely admired through the College, few beyond his immediate colleagues knew that Paul was also for many years a top-level gymnastics judge, a responsibility that required him to travel widely, for example to serve in the Los Angeles Olympics

Paul gave 40 years of service to his students, his colleagues and his discipline and was elected as a fellow of Birkbeck in 2007.