Presenter: Prof David Leigh, University of Manchester
David Leigh obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield in 1987 and, after postdoctoral research at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, David returned to the UK as a Lecturer at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1989. In 1998 he moved to the University of Warwick as Professor of Synthetic Chemistry and in 2001 he took up the Forbes Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. In 2012 David returned to Manchester where he is currently the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry.
David’s research interests include the development of new strategies for interlocked molecule synthesis and the design and construction of artificial molecular motors and machines. He has won a number of major international awards including the Izatt-Christensen Award for Macrocyclic Chemistry, EU Descartes Prize and the Feynman Prize for Nanotechnology. He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2009.
About T. G. H. Jones Memorial Lecture
This annual UQ public lecture is a memorial to the late Thomas Gilbert Henry Jones, who joined UQ as an assistant lecturer and demonstrator in 1915. Following service in WWI as a munitions and explosives producer, he returned to UQ as a lecturer in inorganic chemistry, being promoted to professor and Head of Department in 1940. During his 50 years of service to UQ, Professor Jones was a member of the Senate (from 1944 to 1968), Dean of the Faculty of Science (from 1942 to 1949 and again from 1960 to 1961) and President of the Professorial Board (from 1951 to 1956).
Professor Jones initiated a program of research into the chemistry of natural (plant) products. He held officer positions in the Royal Society of Queensland and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. He led a public meeting in City Hall in 1957 to protest against State Government legislation that threatened the University’s autonomy in making appointments. He was awarded a CBE in 1960 and received honorary doctorates from UQ and the University of Newcastle.
The lecture was not offered in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2022 it is offered every second year, alternating with the School's other chemistry public lecture, the Bertram Dillon Steele Lecture.
Read more about Professor Jones on our history page.