Norman Neill Greenwood | |
---|---|
Born |
Melbourne, Australia |
19 January 1925
Died | 14 November 2012 Leeds, United Kingdom |
(aged 87)
Nationality | Australian-British |
Fields | Inorganic chemistry |
Institutions |
University of Newcastle upon Tyne University of Leeds |
Alma mater | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
Doctoral advisor | Harry Julius Emeléus |
Notable students | Kenneth Wade |
Known for |
Boron chemistry Determination of atomic weights The textbook Chemistry of the Elements |
Norman Neill Greenwood FRS CChem FRSC (19 January 1925 – 14 November 2012) was an Australian-British chemist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds. He is probably best known for the innovative textbook Chemistry of the Elements, co-authored with Alan Earnshaw, first published in 1984.
After attending University High School (1939–42), he read Chemistry at the University of Melbourne and graduated with a BSc in 1945 and an MSc in 1948. In 1948 he was awarded the Exhibition of 1851 Scholarship to enable him to read for a PhD at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge under the supervision of Harry Julius Emeléus. He received the PhD in 1951.
Greenwood was a Senior Research Fellow at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment from 1951 until 1953 when he was appointed a Lecturer at the University of Nottingham. His first PhD student at Nottingham was Kenneth Wade (1954-1957).
Professor William Wynne-Jones, who was the Chairman of the School of Chemistry at Kings College, Durham (which was to become the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963), recruited Greenwood to the first established Chair of Inorganic Chemistry in the country in 1961.
Greenwood was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Inorganic and Structural Chemistry at the University of Leeds in 1971, a post which he held until his retirement in 1990 when he was given the title Emeritus Professor.