21 Facts About David Cockayne

David Cockayne was the president of the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy from 2003 till 2007, then vice-president 2007 to 2010.

David Cockayne was born in Balham, London, the second of three children of John Henry David Cockayne, policeman and later staff manager, and his wife, Ivy, nee Hatton.

In 1952 they moved to a newly-built house in Geelong, and David Cockayne attended a new school, from where he was awarded a scholarship to Geelong Grammar School in 1953, where he excelled in chemistry, physics and mathematics.

In 1961 David Cockayne enrolled at the University of Melbourne to read physics; he graduated in 1964 with first-class honours.

David Cockayne went on to do research on electron diffraction for an MSc, again gaining a first in 1966.

David Cockayne was then awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to read for a DPhil at Magdalen College, Oxford.

David Cockayne joined the Department of Metallurgy in Oxford in September 1966 to conduct research on electron microscope images of defects in crystal lattices, under the supervision of Dr M J Whelan.

At the age of 32, David Cockayne took up the post of director of the University of Sydney Electron Microscope Unit in June 1974.

David Cockayne was promoted to full professor in 1986, and then to a personal chair in 1992.

David Cockayne built up an important research base at Sydney; with David McKenzie he developed a high-precision electron diffraction technique within an electron microscope to study the structure of amorphous materials.

David Cockayne cared deeply about research, teaching, and university administration, and brought lucidity and commitment in equal measure to all three.

David Cockayne was resident in the next-door hall, and they got to know each other early in 1962 and became close friends in 1964 Shortly before he left for Oxford in September 1966, he proposed to Jean and they announced their engagement.

David Cockayne travelled to England in January 1967, and they were married in Shilton, Oxfordshire on 28 July 1967.

David Cockayne died from lung cancer on 22 December 2010.

David Cockayne was cremated in Oxford following a funeral service at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin on 5 January 2011.

David Cockayne wrote his own eulogy to give himself 'the pleasure of knowing what will have been said at my funeral'.

When David Cockayne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999 his certificate of election noted that he was:.

David Cockayne developed the theory, and with Ray the experimental procedures for the "weak beam" technique, which improved by an order of magnitude, to 1.5nm, the resolution at which complex lattice defect geometries could be studied.

David Cockayne applied the technique inter alia to measure accurate values of stacking fault energies, demonstrated unambiguously for the first time that dislocations in semiconductors are dissociated, whether stationary or gliding, and elucidated the structure and positions of misfit dislocations in strained layer superlattices.

David Cockayne has made important contributions to the interpretation of lattice fringes.

David Cockayne's work is remarkable for his deep physical insight, and his ability to apply this insight to the development of powerful and widely applicable techniques.