Melvin Preston

Melvin Alexander Preston, Professor of Physics, McMaster University, is a nuclear theoretical physicist with an international reputation. A graduate from the honour Mathematics and Physics course of the University of Toronto, with a master's degree later in applied mathematics, he received his Ph.D. in mathematical physics from the University of Birmingham in 1949. During World War II he served as Captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery and Technical Staff Officer in the Directorate of Artillery. Until 1953 he was on the staff of the University of Toronto and Visiting Professor at Chalk River in the summers. Since 1953 he has been on the staff of McMaster. He is well known for his extension of the theory of alpha-decay, review work on beta-decay and its nature, and work on nucleon forces with repulsive cores.