In the summer of 2023, the British liquid crystal community sadly said goodbye to Professor Harry J. Coles, Emeritus Professor of Photonics at the University of Cambridge (). Harry was a stalwart of the British and International Liquid Crystal Societies for more than 30 years and held academic positions both in the UK and in Europe.
Figure 1. Prof Harry J. Coles, Emeritus Professor of Photonics at the University of Cambridge.
Harry began his academic life reading physics at Queen Elizabeth College, which at that time was part of the University of London, but later merged with Kings College, London. Having completed his undergraduate studies in two years he then went on to study for a PhD at Brunel University under the supervision of Professor Barry Jennings where he focused on the electro-optical properties of macromolecular systems. Following the completion of his graduate studies, Harry was awarded a number of research Fellowships that eventually took him to Europe where he secured the position of lecturer at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg.
After a few years in France, Harry returned to the UK to join the faculty in the Department of Physics at the University of Manchester. Throughout the 1980s, Harry established a large research group that focused on the study and development of liquid crystals and polymers, with a particular interest in potential device technologies. Over the course of this decade, he quickly rose through the ranks of lecturer, senior lecturer, and reader to become Professor of Applied Physics in 1991. While in Manchester, Harry’s research group worked on the electro-optic properties of a wide-range of liquid crystal phases including the chiral nematic (cholesteric), smectic, and blue phases. His group also developed techniques for characterising liquid crystal phases in the form of electric field dynamic light scattering and Raman spectroscopy.
In 1995, Harry and his group travelled south to the University of Southampton where he became the Director of the Southampton Liquid Crystal Institute and Professor of Physics, and it was during this time that his team pioneered the development of liquid crystal ‘bimesogens’ for the flexoelectro-optic effect and blue phases. Harry’s interest in liquid crystal lasers also gained momentum during his time in Southampton, which continued to be a significant research theme in his group when he relocated to Cambridge in 2002. At Cambridge, Harry established the Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and served as its first Director from 2002 until his retirement in 2013. In parallel, Harry was also elected as a Professorial Fellow at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, where he tutored students reading Natural Sciences.
Over the course of his career, Harry supervised more than 60 graduate students, published more than 200 papers, and filed in excess of 30 patents. He held the posts of Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Berlin, the Science University of Tokyo, and the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg. Harry’s contributions to liquid crystals were recognised through numerous awards including the George Gray Medal and the Lifetime contribution to Liquid Crystals Research Prize from the British Liquid Crystal Society. He is survived by his wife, Ilona, son, Marcus, and grandchildren.