约翰·梅里格·托马斯1932—2020

Sir John Meurig Thomas (15 December 1932 – 13 November 2020), also known as JMT, was a Welsh scientist, educator, university administrator, and historian of science primarily known for his work on heterogeneous catalysis, solid-state chemistry, and surface and materials science.

He was one of the founders of solid-state chemistry, starting with his work at the University of Wales, Bangor, in 1958 when he investigated the various ways in which dislocations influence the chemical, electronic and excitonic properties of a range of solids. He was one of the first to exploit electron microscopy as a chemical tool, especially to deduce active-site reactivities from the surface topography of many minerals and crystal hydrates. At the University of Aberystwyth (1969–1978) he elucidated the surface chemistry of diamond, clay minerals, metals and intercalates by pioneering UV and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. He also initiated the field of crystal engineering of organic molecules. As head of physical chemistry department at the University of Cambridge (1978–1986), then a separate department to chemistry, he used magic-angle-spinning NMR and high-resolution electron microscopy to characterize and determine the structures of zeolites and other nanoporous catalysts. As Fullerian Professor and Director of the Royal Institution and of the Davy–Faraday Research Laboratory, he utilized synchrotron radiation to characterize, in situ, new catalysts designed for green chemistry and clean technology.

He was the recipient of many national and international awards; and, for his contribution to geochemistry, the mineral meurigite was named in his honour. He was Master of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge (1993–2002), and was knighted in 1991 "for services to chemistry and the popularisation of science".

Thomas authored more than 1200 scientific articles and several books, including Michael Faraday and the Royal Institution: The Genius of Man and Place (1991),

Principles and Practice of Heterogeneous Catalysis (with W. John Thomas, 1997, 2014), and Design and Applications of Single-Site Heterogeneous Catalysts: Contributions to Green Chemistry, Clean Technology and Sustainability (2012).

Biography

Early life and education

Thomas was born and brought up in the Gwendraeth Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the mining town of Llanelli, where his father and brother were miners. He attended Gwendraeth Grammar School.

Thomas earned a BSc degree from the University College of Wales, Swansea (later Swansea University) in 1954. He earned a PhD from Queen Mary College (later Queen Mary University of London) in 1958, working with Keble W. Sykes.

Personal life

In 1959, Thomas married Margaret Edwards with whom he had two daughters. Margaret Thomas died in 2002.

In April 2010, Thomas married Jehane Ragai of the American University in Cairo; the events took place in Cambridge and London.

The recreations he lists in Who's Who include ancient civilisations, bird watching, and Welsh literature.

Awards and honours

Thomas held an Honorary Distinguished Professorship of Materials Chemistry at Cardiff University. He was an Advisory Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and at the Catalysis Center of Hokkaido University. He was an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn.

Thomas received twenty-three honorary degrees from Australian, British, Canadian, Chinese, Dutch, Egyptian, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and U.S. universities, including an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from the University of St Andrews in 2012.

Selected scientific publications

Part 1: On the design and application of solid catalysts

Sheet silicates: Broad spectrum catalysts for organic synthesis.(See also U.S. Patent 4,999,319 (1985), which is the basis of the world's largest solvent-free, single-step production of ethyl acetate.)

Uniform heterogeneous catalysts: The role of solid-state chemistry in their development and design.

New micro-crystalline catalysts Bakerian Lecture 1990.

Solid acid catalysts

Heterogeneous catalysts obtained by grafting metallocene complexes onto mesoporous silica

Design, synthesis and in situ characterisation of new solid catalysts (Linus Pauling Lecture, California Institute of Technology, March 1999 and Karl Ziegler Lecture, Max Planck Institute, Mülheim, November 1998.)