Mr Peter Gillingham, at the UNSW graduation ceremony where he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science. (Photo: Alex Clark, UNSW)

In October 2004, UNSW awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science to Mr Peter Gillingham, one of the world’s most eminent instrument scientists and telescope engineers.

Mr Gillingham has had a career in astronomy spanning more than 30 years and his contributions to astronomical instrumentation have had a profound influence on developments in this field. He has played a leading role in the development of the Anglo-Australian Telescope and also made a significant contribution to the success of Japan’s largest telescope, Subaru. He was the first person to promote Antarctica as a site for high-resolution optical astronomy, and was instrumental in establishing the UNSW Antarctic astronomy group. This group now leads the world in Antarctic site testing, and in 2004 they obtained results which validated Mr Gillingham’s theory that Dome C in Antarctica will provide viewing conditions which are 2-4 times better that anywhere else on earth.