Professor ‘Wordy’ of his scientific accolades

WHILE on a visit to his homeland in April 2002, Prof LV Wordsworth Price spoke of the 44 years he had spent in England lecturing in physics. Trinidadian-born “Wordy,” as he is called, was extremely shy about his  many achievements which started with a College Exhibition from Tranquillity Boys Intermediate School to Queen’s Royal College, where he sat and passed the Higher School Certificate three times in different mixes of the science subjects. In his final year, Wordy won two prizes which, in spite of all that he has achieved, remain the ultimate — the Barrow Prize for Physics and the Gerald Doorly prize for good citizenship, voted for by the whole school. 

In 1950 Wordy went on scholarship to the then University College of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica, where he completed the Bachelor of Science degree in physics, chemistry and applied mathematics. He was then invited to England to complete the Masters degree started in Jamaica. He obtained a Master of Science Degree at Birbeck College in London where he specialised in the “Measurement Of The Principal Component of the Di-electric Tension in a Single Crystal of Sapphire.” In 1971 he obtained a doctorate from the University of London, submitting the research topic “Electric Potential Theory with Special Relation to Calculate Electric Potential Distribution in Anisotropic Sisc of Arbitrary Shape.” 

When Wordy visited Trinidad last week to enjoy one of his passions, rifle shooting, in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Trinidad and Tobago Rifle Association, he was again very reticent about the very latest honour bestowed on him last July, just as he retired from Schiller International University in London, where he had lectured in physics since his first retirement in 1995 from Southbank University. The 74-year-old had been honoured with the designation Chartered Scientist (CSci) “through the simplified route,” which is what has made it even more important to Dr Price, since it did not entail lengthy applications with degree transcripts, supporters, and possibly interviews. Already a Chartered Physicist, Chartered Engineer, and member of the Institute of Physics for many years, the professor was invited to “use the simpler, fast-track route” and proudly received his accolade within a very short  time.

“There was I minding my own business, in July of this year, when the letter from the Institute of Physics telling me about this CSci thing arrived, and that I had all the qualifications, and to just sign on the dotted line. It was all the more special. I had already gone through the mechanics for the Chartered Physicist a long time ago and also the Chartered Electrical Engineer.” It was only on October 14 2003, that the Science Council received its Royal Charter from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, allowing licensed bodies on behalf of the Council to award the prestigious designation of Chartered Scientist to individual scientists who meet the high standards for the qualification. The Science Council is a leading independent body with a membership of over 25 professional institutions and learned societies, supported by member networks of more than 300,000 scientists across the breadth of science and mathematics.

Its main purpose is to promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of, and education in, science, pure and applied. The Institute of Physics is one of 13 member-bodies of the council, whose rigorous standards and procedures have been assessed and judged before being licensed to award CSci on behalf of the council to suitably qualified individual members. The chartered scientist qualification reflects best practice in science and is set at a benchmark level throughout the science professions. An accredited degree plus work experience is the benchmark route. With increasing focus on research in interdisciplinary areas, it is vital for scientists to have professional recognition that is applicable across a range of scientific disciplines.

Revalidation of licensed bodies takes place every five years as well as that of the individual chartered scientist, irrespective of the licensed body of which the CSci is a member. The designation CSci is awarded to individual scientists who may have reached the highest professional standard in that particular discipline. It is left to member institutes to say which of their members is sufficiently distinguished enough to be chartered. Prof Price has been engaged at the leading edge of all fields of physics and its applications.