he was then a lecturer at the cavendish laboratory in cambridge from 1905 to 1914 and had been appointed a fellow of st john's college in 1905. from 1914 to 1946 he was professor and head of the physics department at royal holloway college (rhc) and had been awarded a dsc from london university. during his early years at rhc he did research on thermionic emissions and gaseous ions. over this time he became increasingly involved in college administration. he moved the physics department from the main college building to a purpose-built building in 1926, later known as the horton laboratory, with the first floor housing botany. he was vice-chancellor of the university of london from 1939 to 1945. since 1993 the building has housed social policy and social science entirely and physics now occupies the tolansky and wilson laboratories. on his retirement in 1946, his successor in physics was samuel tolansky appointed in 1947.