Gates Cambridge is greatly saddened to learn of the death of Professor Paul Hewett who was a shortlister and interviewer for Gates Cambridge on the Physical Sciences panel for over a decade.
Professor Hewett [1956-2026] began his time at Gates Cambridge as a shortlister before becoming an interviewer.
Luisa Clarke, Sr. Programme Manager at the Gates Cambridge Trust, said: “Paul’s contribution to the Trust was highly valued. He was a committed champion of our Scholars and attended many welcome and graduation dinners. He will be greatly missed.”
Professor Hewett had an eminent career in Astronomy, having joined the University’s Institute of Astronomy in 1982. He was appointed Professor of Observational Cosmology and Astrophysics in 2007 and served at various points as Assistant Director of Research, Deputy Director and Director of the Institute.
His research career was shaped by the transformative instrumentation being developed at Cambridge during the 1980s. The Automated Plate Measuring (APM) machine made it possible, for the first time, to extract useful science from photographic survey plates at scale. Paul was among the earliest astronomers to exploit this capability for extragalactic work, contributing to multi-object spectroscopic programmes throughout the 1980s.
Beyond his research, Paul was deeply invested in the welfare and development of the IoA’s graduate students. Over much of the last three decades he looked after the IoA’s PhD research programme.
