Christopher Alexander Hunter, FRS (born 19 February 1965) is a British chemist and academic. Since 2014, he has been

Herchel Smith Herchel Smith (May 6, 1925 – December 20, 2001) was an Anglo-American organic chemist. His discoveries include the key inventions underlying oral and injectable contraceptives. In later life, he was a major benefactor to university science. In E ...

Professor of Organic Chemistry in the

Department of Chemistry An academic department is a division of a university or school faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline. This article covers United States usage at the university level. In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, universi ...

at the University of Cambridge. His research is currently focused on molecular recognition. He was previously a lecturer at the University of Otago and a lecturer then professor at the University of Sheffield.

Early life and education

Hunter was born on 19 February 1965 in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is the son of John Alexander Hunter and his wife Alice Mary Hunter. He and his family moved to Northern Ireland in 1969. He was educated at Portstewart Primary School and the Coleraine Academical Institution, an all-boys grammar school in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

, County Londonderry. He studied Natural Sciences and then

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the University of Cambridge. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1986, this was later promoted to Master of Arts (MA Cantab) as per tradition, and with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1989.

Career and research

Hunter returned to New Zealand to begin his academic career. He was a lecturer in bioorganic chemistry at the University of Otago from 1989 to 1991. He then returned to the United Kingdom and joined the University of Sheffield. He was a lecturer from 1991 to 1994 and reader from 1994 to 1997. He was promoted to professor of chemistry in 1997. He held a Lister Institute Research Fellowship from 1994 to 1999, and an

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to universi ...

Senior Research Fellowship from 2005 to 2010. In September 2013, he was selected as the next

Professor of Organic Chemistry. He joined the University of Cambridge in early 2014 to take up the appointment. There, he is a member of the Synthetic Chemistry Research Interest Group. He is also a Fellow of

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

Personal life

In 2008, Hunter married Rosaleen Theresa McHugh. Together they have three children; two sons and one daughter.

Awards and honours

In 1992, Hunter was jointly awarded the Meldola Medal and Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry. It is awarded to a British chemist who was under 32 years of age for promising original investigations in chemistry. In 1999, he was jointly awarded the Corday–Morgan Medal and Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry. It is awarded for 'the most meritorious contributions to chemistry'. In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), the premier learned society for science in the United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Chris 1965 births Organic chemists New Zealand Fellows of the Royal Society New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom People educated at Coleraine Academical Institution Academic staff of the University of Otago Academics of the University of Sheffield Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry Biochemists from Northern Ireland Living people 20th-century chemists from Northern Ireland 21st-century chemists from Northern Ireland Scientists from County Londonderry