GOVERNANCE AND SENIOR STAFF

Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Guy Orpen

Special responsibilities:

  • Research
  • Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
  • Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Biography

Guy Orpen was born on the island of Trinidad, was educated in England and subsequently obtained his BSc at the University of Cape Town where he worked with Luigi Nassimbeni. He gained his PhD at the University of Cambridge under the guidance of George Sheldrick and Jack Lewis, during which time he carried out neutron diffraction research at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA with Dick McMullan and Tom Koetzle. In 1979 he was appointed to a lectureship in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and was promoted to Reader in 1990 and in 1994 to Professor of Structural Chemistry. Orpen has served as Head of the School of Chemistry (2001-6) and Dean of the Faculty of Science (2006-9). He served as Chair of the Heads of Chemistry UK in 2005-7. Since 2009 he has been Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise. In this role he has chaired the Steering Board of the National Composites Centre and serves on the Local Strategic Partnership for the City of Bristol and the Leadership Executive of the Bristol Research and Innovation Group for Health. He is Chair of the Board of Governors of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre.

His research has been recognised by the award of the Meldola and Corday-Morgan Medals, the Tilden Lectureship and the Structural Chemistry Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Royal Society Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship. In 2007 he was awarded the Nyholm Lectureship of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research has included structure determination using single crystal X-ray diffraction, molecular modelling and chemoinformatics studies using structural databases. Major themes of his research have been crystal engineering and ligand design. The former involves the use of supramolecular chemistry to direct the formation and exploitation of new crystal structures of metal complexes. In the latter he has explored development of knowledge bases to understand and inform the application of ligands in coordination chemistry and homogeneous catalysis.

Curriculum vitae

University education and qualifications

  • Undergraduate:
    • University of Cape Town, South Africa (1973-1975)
    • B.Sc. in Chemistry and Physics.
  • Postgraduate:
    • University of Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College (1976-1979). Ph.D. Degree in Chemistry. Thesis Title: Structures of Metal Cluster Hydrides. Adviser: Dr. G.M. Sheldrick (and, in part, Prof. J. Lewis).
  • Awards
    • B.P. Co. Ltd. Research Studentship (1976-1979)
    • Gonville and Caius College Studentship (1976-1979)
    • Walter C. Hamilton Scholarship (1979) to work at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA.

Employment history

  • Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, University of Bristol (1979 - 1990)
  • Reader in Structural Chemistry, University of Bristol (1990 - 1994)
  • Professor of Structural Chemistry, University of Bristol (1994 - ).

University committees and boards

  • Member of University of Bristol Senate (1990-3, 1995-8, 2001-)
  • Member of University of Bristol Court (1990, 1992, 1995-8, 2001-)
  • Member, University Planning and Resources Committee (2006 - )

External appointments

  • Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre Board of Governors, Vice Chair 2009-11; Chair 2011-.
  • Heads of Chemistry UK, Steering Committee 2003-8; Chair 2005 - 7.
  • Editorial Board of the Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions, Chair and Scientific Editor (1995-9)
  • British Crystallography Association / Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Crystallography Group, Vice-Chair 1997-9, Chair 1999-2001.

Awards

  • Royal Society of Chemistry Meldola Medal and Prize for 1982
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Corday-Morgan Medal and Prize for 1987
  • Ciba-Geigy Senior Research Fellowship (1992)
  • Polyhedron Prize for 1995
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Tilden Lectureship for 1999/2000
  • Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship 2000-1
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Structural Chemistry Award 2005
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Nyholm Lectureship 2007/8.

Publications

> 500 peer-reviewed papers in international journals of the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, International Union of Crystallography and others.

Interests

Italy, South Africa and Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Pro Vice-Chancellor

Contact

You may contact Professor Guy Orpen through Carly Durbin, Personal Assistant, Vice-Chancellor's Office.