Once again I have to use this blog to pass on some very sad news. Professor Peter Thomas of Sussex University passed away last weekend at the age of 62.
Peter Thomas (left) joined the University of Sussex as a lecturer in the Astronomy Centre in 1989 and remained there for his entire career. I know from my own time as Head of School that he was an excellent colleague. who made huge contributions to the University and indeed to his research discipline of cosmology.
Peter studied Mathematics at Cambridge University, graduating in 1983 and then did Part III (also known as the Certificate of Advanced Study) which he obtained in 1984. He stayed in Cambridge to do a PhD in the Institute of Astronomy under the supervision of Andy Fabian on Cooling Flows and Galaxy Formation, which he completed in 1987. He then spent a couple of years in Toronto as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) before taking up his lectureship at Sussex in 1989. His main research interests were in in the areas of galaxy formation, including numerical and semi-analytic models, and computer simulations of the formation of clusters of galaxies. He was a widely known and very highly respected researcher in the field of theoretical cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics.
I was a PDRA in the Astronomy Centre at Sussex when Peter joined in 1989; he was Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy when I returned there as Head of School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences in 2013, a position he himself subsequently held. He was a much-valued member of staff who made huge contributions to the Astronomy Centre, the Department of Physics & Astronomy, the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and the University of Sussex as a whole. I also remember him as a colleague on various panels for PPARC and then STFC on which he served diligently.
Having known Peter for 35 years, and being of similar age, it was a shock to hear that he passed away. I understand that he had been suffering from cancer for over a year. I send my deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. I understand that his funeral will be a private family affair, but there will be a more public occasion to celebrate his life at a later date.
