John Murrell (chemist)

John Norman Murrell FRS (2 March 1932 – 25 January 2016) was a British theoretical chemist who played a leading role in revolutionising the UK's reputation for theoretical chemistry during the second half of the 20th century.

John Murrell

Biography

Murrell was born in Brixton, London on 2 March 1932. His father, George Victor Murrell was a salesman and bakery manager and his mother was Winifred Edith née Walker. He read chemistry at King's College, London, graduating in 1953. He then joined Christopher Longuet-Higgins to study for a PhD at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.[1]

On 24 July 1954, he married hospital consultant (Dorothy) Shirley Read and they had four children together. Murrell died on 25 January 2016 at St Peter and St James Hospice, Chailey, East Sussex[1] Murrell spent some time at University of Chicago, working with Robert Mulliken, returning as a research fellow at Corpus Christi before becoming a lecturer at University of Sheffield in 1960. He became a first professor of theoretical chemistry at University of Sussex when it was founded in 1965, where he remained until he retired in 1999.[1]

Work

He made important contributions to the understanding of the spectra of organic molecules, to the theory of intermolecular forces and to the construction of potential energy surfaces. He established the University of Sussex as a world-leading centre for research and teaching in theoretical chemistry, co-authoring many influential textbooks for both undergraduate and graduate students.[2][3]

He was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Meldola Medal in 1961 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1991.[4]

The John Murrell Fund was set up upon his death in 2016 in order to support Sussex Chemistry PHD students facing financial difficulties.[5]

References
  1. Stace, A. J. (9 January 2020). "Murrell, John Norman (1932–2016)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. Clary, Sir David C.; Stace, Anthony J.; Tennyson, Jonathan (2017). "John Norman Murrell. 2 March 1932 — 25 January 2016". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 63: 467–486. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2016.0026.
  3. Stace, Anthony J.; Clary, David C. (2018-03-13). "Modern theoretical chemistry: the legacy of Prof. John N. Murrell". Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences. 376 (2115): 20170460. Bibcode:2018RSPTA.37670460S. doi:10.1098/rsta.2017.0460. ISSN 1364-503X. PMC 5805920. PMID 29431685.
  4. Clary, David (18 March 2016). "John Murrell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. Osborne, Mark. "John Murrell Fund available for Chemistry PhD research students". Sussex University. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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