Record

Authorised form of name	O'Brien; Paul (1954 - 2018)
Dates	1954 - 2018
Nationality	British
Date of birth	22/01/1954
Date of death	16/10/2018
Activity	Career: University of Durham 2011 Distinguished Fellow Institute of Advanced Study (Jan-March) Magdelan College Oxford 2009 Visiting Fellow (Oct-Dec) Victoria University of Manchester/University of Manchester 2004-09 Head of School of Chemistry, University of Manchester 2002-04 Head of Department of Chemistry (VuM) 2001 Founded Nanoco Technologies Ltd. 2000-02 Research Dean, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Manchester 1999- Professor of Inorganic Materials Chemistry 1999-02 Sumitomo/STS visiting Professor of Materials Chemistry, Imperial College. In 1999 invited to take up an especially created Chair of Inorganic Materials Chemistry at the University of Manchester. Initially Head of the Inorganic Chemistry Section, subsequently Research Dean for the Faculty of Science and Engineering and Head of the Department, then the School of Chemistry founded in 2004. Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine 1997-98 Royal Society Amersham International Research Fellow 1997-99 Sumitomo/STS Professor of Materials Chemistry 1996-99 Regents' appointed visiting Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology 1996-99 Distinguished visiting scholar at MDI at Georgia Institute of Technology 1995-99 Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Imperial College QMW/QMC University of London 1984-94 Lecturer, Reader (1991), Professor (1994) Inorganic Chemistry Queen Mary and Westfield College. As part of the restructuring of the University of London transferred to QMC in 1984 from Chelsea College. At QMW held a large number of responsible posts in the Department including: Head of Inorganic Chemistry, Postgraduate tutor and Research Laboratory Coordinator. Professor of Inorganic Materials in the Schools of Chemistry and Materials, University of Manchester Honours: Awarded the CBE in New Year Honours list 2016;
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	02/05/2013
Age at election	59
OtherInfo	Paul O’Brien was one of the world’s leading inorganic materials scientists focusing on developing new chemical processes for manufacturing thin films and nanoparticles. Amongst these are chemical vapour deposition techniques for compounds containing sulfur or selenium, and a very simple method for making quantum dots — semiconductor nanocrystals that show quantum behaviour. Paul was a strong believer in interdisciplinary work and collaborated on projects with physicists, computer scientists and electronic and electrical engineers. His interest in the toxicity of metal ions led to collaborations and publications with toxicologists, pharmacists and clinicians. Paul was a strong advocate of communicating science to a wider audience and gave popular talks — usually on nanotechnology — including Café Scientifique and school lectures. He edited many books, including a series on nanoscience and technology for the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). His accolades included the Kroll Award, the IOM3’s Sir Colin Humphries Award (for outreach) and Platinum Medal, the SDC Gold Medal, the RSC’s first Peter Day Award, and honorary degrees from the universities of Zululand, Liverpool and Aveiro.
Code	NA9858

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
P/0290	Portrait of Paul O'Brien	2023

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