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The obituary notice of Emeritus Professor James Desmond Caldwell MCCONNELL

Cambridge | Published in: Cambridge News.

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Emeritus Professor James Desmond CaldwellMCCONNELLPassed away in Cambridge on 2nd January 2026, aged 95. He was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, the eldest of Samuel and Cathleen (nee Coulter) McConnell's four children. He completed a PhD in Mineralogy, on intense thermal metamorphism of sedimentary rocks in County Antrim, at the University of Cambridge and pursued lifelong scientific studies. He was a Founding Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge and College lecturer in Crystallography; Head of the Department of Rock Physics at Schlumberger Cambridge Research; Honorary Fellow of St. Hugh's, Oxford; a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize in Mineral Physics. His professional website is: www.quantum-physics-revisited.co.uk.

Desmond was the beloved husband of the late Jean (nee Ironside) and father to Craig, Dr Deirdre and Elspeth. He was the brother of Professor John McConnell and his late sisters, Margaret and Irene. He is survived by grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

His funeral will take place at the East Chapel, Cambridge City Crematorium, on 20th January at 12.30pm.

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Published: 10/01/2026
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