Our esteemed colleague, Emeritus Professor Gerry Pattenden celebrates his seventieth birthday this month. Gerry has made many outstanding contributions to the University of Nottingham over the last 38 years, and we all join in wishing him a very happy birthday.
Gerry was born in Woking, Surrey, on the 4th March 1940. Following a BSc at Brunel University in 1963 he obtained his PhD from Queen Mary College (University of London) in 1966, working with Basil Weedon (later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham) on carotenoids. He was appointed to a Lectureship at Cardiff University in the same year, where he quickly established an independent research career. Moving to Nottingham in 1972, he was promoted to Reader in 1975, Professor in 1980, and then succeeded Leslie Crombie as Sir Jesse Boot Professor in 1988. In Nottingham, he served as Head of School of Chemistry for eight years and as Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Industry of the University for six years. Stepping down from the Sir Jesse Boot Chair in 2005, Gerry remained a Research Professor in Nottingham until 2009, and is now Professor Emeritus.
Throughout his career, Gerry Pattenden’s name has been associated with the development of novel strategies for organic synthesis, intimately linked to natural products and biosynthetic processes, and to the total synthesis of a very wide range of natural products. Indeed, he has been one of the most consistently creative organic chemists of his generation, and the Pattenden group has a remarkable record of achievement in natural product synthesis, attaining a world-leading position in this internationally competitive arena.
Posted on Wednesday 3rd March 2010