This year’s National Eisteddfod Science and Technology Medal is awarded to Sir Robin Williams from Llanuwchllyn for his lifelong contribution to science.

He will be honoured at a special ceremony on the Eisteddfod Maes in Ceredigion from 30 July – 6 August.

Robin Williams is a physicist and an authority in the field of semiconductors. His research has been central to the development of digital electronics and the far-reaching changes in accountancy and communications.

He developed new methods for the study of semiconductors and was one of the first to use syncrotron radiation to study the surface of solids. He collaborated with numerous companies around the world.

Born on a hill farm in Llanuwchllyn he was educated at the village school and in Bala before going to Bangor University where he graduated in physics.

After completing his doctorate he worked in Ireland with periods in the United States and Germany before returning to Wales as head of the Department of Physics at Cardiff University. He was pleased to see so many Welsh students joining the Department and was always ready to offer classes in Welsh to those who were interested.

After a period as vice-principal of Cardiff University he was appointed principal of Swansea University where he was extremely supportive of the use of the Welsh language in all aspects of the College’s work. He was proud to oversee the establishment of Swansea Medical School and the opportunity to appoint brilliant teachers, many of whom could offer courses in Welsh.

In 2010, on behalf of the Welsh Government, he chaired the board to consider the teaching of Welsh at the universities of Wales which was a hot topic at the time. His report led to the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol which has now transformed the facilities to teach in Welsh and bilingually and which has been a huge success.

He has regularly advised British and Welsh governments on aspects of science and is a former chair of the Science Advisory Committee for Wales. A founding Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990, and appointed a Knight in 2019.