Howard Wilson

Howard Read Wilson is a British physicist specialising in plasma physics and fusion energy. He is Director of Science and Technology for the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme.

He was previously Professor of Plasma Physics at the University of York, where he established the York Plasma Institute, and has held senior positions at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Early life and education Wilson studied physics at Durham University, graduating in 1985. He became interested in fusion energy through his final-year undergraduate project. He received his PhD in theoretical particle physics from the University of Cambridge in 1988. He subsequently played a leading role in developing the proposal for STEP and served as its first interim director from 2019 to 2020, before returning full-time to York.

Honours and awards Wilson is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.