Russell Stannard was born on 24 December 1931 in London. A physicist, he was one of the first to join the Open University and was awarded the Templeton Project Trust Award for contributing to ‘a greater understanding of science and religion’. Beginning in 1959, he worked at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and CERN. Made Lecturer at University College London in 1960, he moved to the Open University in 1969, became Professor in 1971 and eventually Head of the Physics Department and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, retiring in 1997.
Fellow of the Institute of Physics, he was its Vice President from 1987 to 1991. Stannard was Visiting Fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton and Fellow of University College London. In 1998, he was made OBE for his contributions to physics. Notable works include his Uncle Albert children’s book series, Science and the Renewal of Belief (1982), Grounds for Reasonable Belief (1989), and a chapter in Evidence of Purpose (1994). He wrote Science and Wonders for BBC Radio 4 and presented on Thought for the Day.
