Wyndham John Albery, FRS (5 April 1936 – 3 December 2013) was a British physical chemist and academic.

Early life

Wyndham John Albery was born on 5 April 1936. His father Michael James Albery (1910-75), a barrister, was part of a sprawling theatrical family network as the son of Gertrude Mary (née Jones, daughter of dramatist

Henry Arthur Jones Henry Arthur Jones (20 September 1851 – 7 January 1929) was an English dramatist, who was first noted for his melodrama '' The Silver King'' (1882), and went on to write prolifically, often appearing to mirror Ibsen from the opposite (conserva ...

) and Irving Albery a Conservative MP and the son of actress and theatrical manager Mary Moore (later Lady Wyndham) and dramatist James Albery. His aunt

Jessica Mary Albery Jessica Albery (1908–1990) was a British architect and town planner, and one of the first generation of professional women architects in the UK in the early 20th century. Early life and education Jessica Albery was born in London on 11 June ...

was one of Britain's first female professional architects. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and Balliol College, Oxford. He undertook his

D.Phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

at Oxford with

Ronnie Bell Ronald Percy Bell FRS FRSC FRSE (24 November 1907 – 9 January 1996) was a leading British physical chemist who worked in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Oxford. Life Ronald Percy Bell was the eldest child of Edwin ...

, starting in 1960.

Academic career

Albery was appointed to a Weir Junior Research

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 ...

ship in October 1962 and then to a Fellowship and

Praelectorship A praelector is a traditional role at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The role differs somewhat between the two ancient universities. University of Cambridge At Cambridge, a praelector is the Fellow#Oxford, Cambridge and ...

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 ...

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

in October 1963, where he was briefly a colleague of

E. J. Bowen Edmund ("Ted") John Bowen Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (29 April 1898 – 19 November 1980) was a British physical chemist. Life Born in Worcester, England, Worcester, England, E. J. Bowen attended the Royal Grammar School Worcester. He w ...

. He served in his college as Junior Dean and Dean, and was Tutor for Admissions from 1968 to 1975. This period culminated in University College coming top of the

Norrington Table The Norrington Table is an annual ranking of the colleges of the University of Oxford based on a score computed from the proportions of undergraduate students earning each of the various degree classifications based on that year's final examinati ...

in 1975. Coming from the theatrical Albery family, he was an enthusiastic senior member of the

University College Players The University College Players (or Univ Players for short) are the theatrical society of University College, Oxford. History The first production was in May 1941 when Shakespeare's ''The Comedy of Errors'' was performed in co-operation with Me ...

, organiser of the

Univ Revue The University College Players (or Univ Players for short) are the theatrical society of University College, Oxford. History The first production was in May 1941 when William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's ''The Comedy of Errors'' was performed in ...

, held in the college Hall, and script-writer for Experimental Theatre Club revues staged by the Etceteras. Early in his career, in 1962, he wrote for ground-breaking

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

satirical comedy television show '' That Was The Week That Was''. After

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Albery became Professor of Physical Chemistry from 1978 at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. In 1989, he returned to Oxford to be Master of University College. He hosted the visit of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

(a former student of University College) and his wife

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

to the college in June 1994. Albery subsequently became Barrer Fellow in Chemistry at Imperial College. He was a

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 ...

in 1985, the first Master of University College to be so. He was an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford, and a celebration of his 75th birthday was held in Oxford in 2011. Albery was a long-term collaborator of Jeremy Knowles, and published many articles with him, for example in studying the energetics of the reaction catalysed by

proline racemase In enzymology, a proline racemase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :L-proline \rightleftharpoons D-proline Hence, this enzyme has two substrates, L- and D-proline, and two products, D- and L- proline. This enzyme belongs ...

Later life

He died of cancer on 3 December 2013. A memorial service was held at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford on 5 April 2014 with tributes by Leslie Mitchell and Robert Hillman.

Books

* ''Ring-Disc Electrodes'', with M. L. Hitchman,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1971 (). * ''Electrode Kinetics'', Oxford University Press, 1975 ().

References

External links

*
Portrait of John Albery
at University College, Oxford {{DEFAULTSORT:Albery, John 1936 births 2013 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Academics of Imperial College London English physical chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of University College, Oxford Masters of University College, Oxford Deaths from cancer in England Deans of the Royal College of Science