G. Michael Bancroft

G. Michael Bancroft
Bancroft at the Canadian Light Source summer school in July 2012
Born	1942 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	University of Western Ontario Canadian Light Source
Alma mater	University of Manitoba University of Cambridge
Doctoral advisor	A.G. Maddock
Known for	Mössbauer spectroscopy Synchrotron science

G. Michael "Mike" Bancroft, FRSC, (born 1942) is a Canadian chemist and emeritus professor at the University of Western Ontario. One of the world's leading experts in Mössbauer spectroscopy, he is also known as one of the driving forces behind the development of synchrotron science in Canada, becoming the first director of the Canadian Light Source synchrotron after a 30-year "Odyssey".

Bancroft was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the son of an accountant, but grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba where he attended Kelvin High School. He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1963, subsequently earning an MSc in chemistry (1964) from the same institution. Later that year he went to the University of Cambridge, England to study for a PhD at Corpus Christi College. He worked under the supervision of A.G. Maddock on the development of Mössbauer spectroscopy, obtaining his PhD in 1967. Over a 20-year period Bancroft would become one of the world's leading experts in Mössbauer spectroscopy, publishing more than 80 papers, a major review and an authoritative textbook in the field.

After working as a postdoc at the University of Manitoba, Bancroft returned to Cambridge as a Fellow at Christ's College. Bancroft returned to Canada in 1970, as an Assistant Professor in the department of chemistry at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), becoming a Professor in 1974, spending two periods as Head of Department. Bancroft was director of the Centre for Chemical Physics from 1977 to 1981, establishing Surface Science Western during his tenure. At UWO Bancroft became interested in photoemission spectroscopy, and in 1972, with National Research Council (NRC) support, a spectrometer was purchased for research using far ultraviolet and X-ray photons. This purchase also involved the Universities of Toronto and Windsor in a Southwestern Ontario consortium.