A CHIRK man has paid tribute to his sociable and intelligent brother who died last month.

Trevor Morris described his brother, Professor George Rowlands, labelling him ‘outstandingly clever’.

Professor Rowlands, a physicist who worked at the University of Warwick for more than 50 years, died at the age of 88 in April.

Mr Morris, who spent a large part of his childhood with Prof. Rowlands, described him as a proud Welshman and an eminent physicist with a passion for science and mathematics.

He said: “He was a smashing lad, a good sportsman and very very sociable.

“We were close and he was often the life and soul of the party.

“He was very proud of being Welsh. He was much older than me – we had eight years between us.

“By the time I was old enough to communicate on a level with him, he had gone away for university and he never came back.

“However, we did have a close relationship and we kept in touch with each other.

“He also had a good relationship with his sister, Dorothy.”

Prof. Rowlands grew up in Chirk, spending his early years studying at Chirk Boys School and Llangollen Grammar School.

He was the son of the late Edmund Rowlands, who started an undertaking business in Chirk.

He was brother to Dorothy Hill, Trevor and the late Edmund.

After deciding against joining the family business in a bid to pursue his passion of mathematics and Physics at Leeds University, Prof. Rowlands graduated with a first class degree, before studying for his PhD.

In 1956 he was awarded a doctorate in Theoretical Physics. He worked for 10 years at the Atomic Energy Establishment at Harwell, and after working in Canada and Russia, in 1966 he joined the new University of Warwick, where he worked for 55 years.

Trevor said: “He was a very clever person – outstandingly clever.

“He also did a fellowship in Ottawa for 12 months and received numerous accolades in his career.”

In 2001, he was awarded a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship, and in 2006 he won the Andrzeja Sottana Medal for distinguished research with the Sottan Institute for Nuclear Studies in Poland.

He became the only non- Polish recipient of the award.

Prof. Rowlands leaves behind his sons Gwilym and Mathew, grandchildren Lucy and Alun, sister and brother, nephew and nieces.