| AdminHistory | Geoffrey Eglinton was born in Cardiff in 1927. He took his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the Victoria University of Manchester, graduating in 1948, and he remained at Manchester for his PhD degree which he recieved in 1951, later receiving a DSc degree from the university in 1966.
Hs spent a year at the Univerity of Ohio in 1951-52, carrying out post-doctoral research on steroid hormones, and on his return to England he took up a post as an ICI Fellow at Liverpool University. In 1954 was appointed lecturer in chemistry at Glasgow University. While at Glasgow, he investigated plant leaf waxes, leading him towards studies of organic geochemistry and molecular evidence for ancient life and studying chemical fossils preserved in the rock record.
He established the Organic Geochemistry Unit at the University of Bristol in 1967. He was involved in planning for the Apollo sampling programme and led research studying the chemistry of the Moon samples on their return to Earth. Eglinton's research was recgonised with numerous awards, including a Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Society, the V. M. Goldschmidt Medal of the Geochemical Society, the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society, and the Dan David Prize. |