Professor Ian Shipsey FRS

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences

The University is saddened to convey the news of the death of Professor Ian Shipsey, Head of the Department of Physics.

Professor Shipsey was one of the leading experimental particle physicists of his generation. He was elected Head of Physics in 2018 and re-elected in 2023.

Born in London, Professor Shipsey took his first degree at Queen Mary in 1982 and his PhD at Edinburgh University in 1986, mostly working on the CERN NA31 experiment. He moved to the USA, working at Syracuse and then Purdue before coming to Oxford in 2013.

Ian’s work dealt with the study of subatomic particles to probe the ‘Standard Model’ of the building blocks of matter and the forces through which they interact. More recently, Ian’s research group has characterised with important new detail the decay of the Higgs boson, discovered at CERN in 2012. Ian was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2022.

He was a powerful supporter of improving the University’s provision for disabled students and colleagues, having himself been profoundly deaf since 1989. His YouTube videos on the physics of his cochlear implant have had thousands of views.

Jim Naismith, Head of MPLS Division, said, ‘We are deeply saddened by the news of the death of Professor Ian Shipsey – distinguished particle physicist, esteemed head of department, passionate champion of his field, and our colleague who will be greatly missed. His loss will impact the physics community here in the UK and the world. On behalf of the entire Division, I express my deepest condolences to all those who knew and worked with Ian.’

Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said, ‘Ian was one of a kind. He was one of the most impactful particle physicists of his generation: he transformed our understanding of heavy quarks, discovered new physics around b-quark & Higgs bosons and broke new ground in understanding dark matter. Ian was charming, determined, funny, energetic and an indefatigable advocate for world-leading physics.’

Further information can be found on the MPLS, Professor Ian Shipsey FRS — Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (ox.ac.uk) and Physics websites, Professor Ian Shipsey FRS | University of Oxford Department of Physics.