George Michael Sheldrick,
FRS (born 17 November 1942, in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, England) is a British chemist who specialises in
molecular structure
Molecular geometry is the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that constitute a molecule. It includes the general shape of the molecule as well as bond lengths, bond angles, torsional angles and any other geometrical parameters that determ ...
determination.
He is one of the most cited workers in the field, having over 280,000 citations as of 2020 and an
h-index
The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as winn ...
of 113. He was a professor at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
from 1978 until his retirement in 2011.
Early life
Sheldrick was born on 17 November 1942 in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, England. He was educated at
Huddersfield New College, then an all-boys
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
. He completed 9
O-Levels, 6
A-Levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
, and 2
S-Levels. At A-Level, he achieved a distinction (the highest
grade) in chemistry, mathematics and physics.
Sheldrick was awarded a Major Scholarship to study
Natural Sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
at
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...
. He specialised in
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 ...
in his final year. He graduated in 1963 with a
first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. He remained at the
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 ...
to undertake
postgraduate research under the
supervision
Supervision is an act or instance of directing, managing, or oversight.
Etymology
The English noun "supervision" derives from the two Latin words "super" (above) and "videre" (see, observe).
Spelling
The spelling is "Supervision" in Standard E ...
of
Evelyn Ebsworth
Evelyn may refer to:
Places
* Evelyn, London
*Evelyn Gardens, a garden square in London
* Evelyn, Ontario, Canada
* Evelyn, Michigan, United States
* Evelyn, Texas, United States
* Evelyn, Wirt County, West Virginia, United States
* Evelyn ...
. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1966. The topic of his thesis was the investigation of
inorganic hydrides
In chemistry, a hydride is formally the anion of hydrogen( H−). The term is applied loosely. At one extreme, all compounds containing covalently bound H atoms are called hydrides: water (H2O) is a hydride of oxygen, ammonia is a hydride of ...
using
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and was title "''N.M.R. Studies of Inorganic Hydrides''".
Academic career
In 1966, Sheldrick was elected a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...
. During his time as an academic at the
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 ...
, he also taught within the Faculty of Chemistry. He was a
demonstrator from 1966 to 1971, and a lecturer from 1971 to 1978.
Sheldrick joined the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
in 1978. There, he was first
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of
Inorganic Chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...
, then later Professor of
Structural Chemistry
Structural chemistry is a part of chemistry and deals with spatial structures of molecules (in the gaseous, liquid or solid state) and solids (with extended structures that cannot be subdivided into molecules).
The main tasks are:
* The formulat ...
. In 2011, he retired from full-time academia and was appointed Niedersachsen Professor (IE
Emeritus Professor).
Work
Sheldrick deals with molecular structure elucidation by X-ray diffraction. He is the lead developer of the SHELX program suite, which is freely available online. In 2011, a graphical user interface for SHELX refinements called
ShelXle
The program ShelXle is a graphical user interface for the structure refinement program SHELXL. ShelXle combines an editor with syntax highlighting for the SHELXL-associated (input) and (output) files with an interactive graphical display for vis ...
was released.
Personal life
On 13 July 1968, Sheldrick married Katherine Elizabeth Herford. Together they have four children.
His younger brother, William S. Sheldrick (1945-2015), was a professor of analytical chemistry at
Ruhr University
The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
in
Bochum
Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...
, Germany until his retirement in 2010.
Honours
*1970
Meldola Medal
The Meldola Medal and Prize was awarded annually from 1921 to 1979 by the Chemical Society and from 1980 to 2008 by the Royal Society of Chemistry to a British chemist who was under 32 years of age for promising original investigations in chemistr ...
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 ...
*1978
Corday-Morgan Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry
*1988
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (german: link=no, Förderpreis für deutsche Wissenschaftler im Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft), in short Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to ...
of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
*1999
Carl-Hermann Medal of the
German Society for Crystallography
*2001
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
*2004
Max Perutz Prize
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
of the
European Crystallographic Association
*2009
Gregori Aminoff Prize of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...
*2011
Ewald Prize
Ewald is a given name and surname used primarily in Germany and Scandinavia. It derives from the Germanic roots ''ewa'' meaning "law" and '' wald'' meaning "power, brightness". People and concepts with the name include:
Surnames
* Douglas Ewald ( ...
of the
International Union of Crystallography
References
External links
Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldrick, George Michael
English chemists
British crystallographers
Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge
1942 births
Living people
Fellows of the Royal Society
Academic staff of the University of Göttingen
People educated at Huddersfield New College
Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge