David Leslie Officer is a New Zealand

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

and materials scientist. He completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and PhD at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

in 1982 under the direction of Professor

Brian Halton Brian Halton (9 March 1941 – 23 February 2019) was a New Zealand organic chemist. He is noted for his investigation of highly strained and fused aromatic compounds, and was also active as an historian of chemistry. Early life, family and educ ...

, before undertaking postdoctoral positions at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, and the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

(as an

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

Research Fellow). Officer returned to New Zealand and took up his first academic post at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

in 1986, rising through the ranks to full professor. In 2005, Officer was appointed as a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry and moved to the

MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (often simply called the MacDiarmid Institute) is a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) specialising in materials science and nanotechnology. It is hosted by Victoria ...

. Officer is also currently listed as a professorial fellow with the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute and Department of Chemistry at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

, Australia.

Research interests

*Synthesis and use of porphyrins for photovoltaic and molecular devices. *Development of dye-sensitised solar cells. *Development and application of functionalised polythiophenes for photovoltaic cells, batteries, actuators and sensors. *Functionalisation of carbon nanotubes.

References

Academic staff of the Massey University New Zealand chemists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Victoria University of Wellington alumni Fellows of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry {{Chemist-stub