Thomas Parnell (5 July 1881 – 1 September 1948) was the first Professor of Physics at the University of Queensland. He started the famous pitch drop experiment there. Thomas was born in Northants, England and died in Brisbane. He was educated at St. John's College, in Cambridge, and received his B.A. in 1903. He was a tutor at Trinity College, at the University of Melbourne, between 1904 and 1911. He lectured physics at the University of Queensland between 1911 and 1918, and was a professor between 1919 and 1948. In October 2005 he was awarded the Ig Nobel prize for Physics for the pitch drop experiment, along with John Mainstone.
