Keith Mason (scientist)

Keith Mason was, until 1 November 2011, the Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom. He assumed the post on 1 April 2007 after the merger of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, having previously been chief executive of PPARC.

Early life

He attended Ysgol John Bright, the John Bright Grammar School. After a farming childhood on the Llŷn Peninsula, Mason initially trained as an astronomer, studying for a BSc and PhD in Physics at University College London, and was a candidate astronaut.

Career

He subsequently worked on X-ray astronomy at UC Berkeley before returning to the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, eventually becoming a professor at UCL and director of the Mullard Laboratory in 2003.