Sir Anthony Kevin Cheetham (born 16 November 1946) is a British materials scientist. From 2012 to 2017 he was Vice-President and Treasurer of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Education

Cheetham was educated at Stockport Grammar School and read chemistry at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although th ...

, matriculating in 1965, and graduated with first class honours in 1969. He started his doctorate at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

in the same year, with a thesis on 'The Structures of some Non-stoichiometric Compounds'; his doctorate was awarded in 1972.

Career and research

After completing his doctorate, Cheetham became a Junior Research Fellow at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...

. In 1974 he became a University Lecturer in Chemical Crystallography, and in 1990 he became Ad Hominem Reader in Inorganic Materials. Cheetham moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

a year later to take up a position as Professor of Materials at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, where he became the first director of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL). In 2007, Cheetham moved back to the United Kingdom to become Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science at

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, a position he held until October 2017. He is now a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Department of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge. He also holds a Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

and a Research Professorship in the MRL at the

. Cheetham's area of research is inorganic and hybrid materials, and involves their synthesis, characterization and applications. He has worked on the development of advanced methods for the chemical and structural characterization of polycrystalline materials and the application of these techniques to the study of

zeolite Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a metal ion or H+. These pos ...

catalysts, molecular sieves, and optical materials. His current interests are in the field of functional metal-organic frameworks and hybrid perovskites. His former doctoral students include

Paul Attfield John Paul Attfield (born 1962) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: is a Professor of Materials science in the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the ...

Clare Grey Dame Clare Philomena Grey is Geoffrey Moorhouse Gibson Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Grey uses nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study and optimize ...

, Matthew Rosseinsky, and Russell E. Morris.

Honours and awards

*1982 Corday-Morgan Medal and Prize of Royal Society of Chemistry *1988 Solid State Chemistry Award of the

*1994 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) *1996

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

Structural Chemistry Award *1997 Chaire Internationale de Recherche "Blaise Pascal", Paris, France *1999 Elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) *2001 Elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

*2004 Somiya Award of th
International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS)
*2006 Docteur Honoris Causa, Université de Versailles, France *2008 Cheetham Award Lecture, UC Santa Barbara *2011 Platinum Medal of the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and applicatio ...

*2011 Elected a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) *2011 Raman Chair,

*2011 Honorary D.Sc.,

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, Scotland *2011 Honorary D.Sc.,

Tumkur University Tumkur University was established in 2004 in Tumkuru, Karnataka, India. It was carved out of Bangalore University to accommodate the needs of the students from Tumkuru district. Established under the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, as ...

, India *2012 Nyholm Prize for Inorganic Chemistry of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

. *2013 Elected a Member of the German National Academy of Engineering (acatech) *2014

Chemical Pioneer Award The Chemical Pioneer Award, established in 1966, is awarded by the American Institute of Chemists to recognize chemists or chemical engineers who have made outstanding contributions to advances in chemistry or the chemical profession. Recent rec ...

American Institute of Chemists The American Institute of Chemists (AIC) is an organization founded in 1923 with the goal of advancing the chemistry profession in the United States. The institute is known for its yearly awards recognizing contributions of individuals in this fie ...

*2014 Elected a Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

*2015 Honorary D.Sc.,

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, England *2017 Basolo Medal,

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, USA *2017 Elected an Honorary Fellow,

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, England *2018 Elected an Honorary Fellow,

Singapore National Academy of Science Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS) is a government funded body in Singapore founded in 1967 and re-purposed in 1976 when some functions were invested into the Singapore Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAS). Since 2011, SNAS h ...

*2019 Elected a Foreign Fellow,

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

Cheetham was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to materials chemistry, UK science and global outreach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheetham, Anthony Living people 1946 births English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Goldsmiths' Professors of Materials Science Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford C British materials scientists Knights Bachelor Rare earth scientists Solid state chemists