Bernal John Desmond 1901 - 1971 physicist

John Desmond Bernal, 1901-1971, was born in Nenagh, Ireland and educated at Bedford School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He embarked on a career in crystallography, becoming a lecturer and later Assistant Director of Research in Crystallography at Cambridge, 1934-1937, Professor of Physics at Birkbeck College, 1937-1963, and Professor of Crystallography at Birkbeck 1963-1968. He was made Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1965, and Fellow of Birkbeck College in 1969. He was also interested in the role that science could play in society and published books and pamphlets on this subject. He was a founder member of the World Peace Council, holding the presidency 1958-1965, and was awarded the Lenin Prize for Peace in 1958.