Dr Lyn Evans (born Lyndon Evans in 1945 in Aberdare), is a Welsh scientist, the project leader of the CERN, Switzerland-based Large Hadron Collider.[1]
Born and raised in Aberdare in the South Wales Valleys, he had a youth interest in chemistry,[2] initially enrolling in university to study the subject before switching to physics because he found the subject easier.[3] Evans was educated at Aberdare Boys' Grammar School, where he developed an interest in physics. However, he found it difficult to pass his O Level in French, a qualification which was required to allow him to enter his course at the University College of Swansea (now Swansea University), from where he graduated in 1969.[4] He switched to physics in his second year of undergraduate study at Swansea.[3] He was made an honorary fellow of the University of Wales Swansea in 2002.[1] He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Glamorgan in July 2010. He went to CERN initially as a research fellow, having previous visited the establishment in 1969 as a visitor.[3]
In 1994,[5] he became involved in the planning of the project which would become the Large Hadron Collider, and in light of his leadership role in the LHC, Evans was redubbed by the press as Evans the Atom.[2]
University of Glamorgan Doctorate: http://news.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2009/jul/14/honorary-doctorate-welsh-physicist/