John William White FAIP FRACI (25 April 1937 – 16 August 2023) was an Australian chemist who was Professor of

Physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and Theoretical Chemistry, Research School of Chemistry, at the Australian National University. White was a past president of Royal Australian Chemical Institute and president of Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering. He held the Argonne Fellowship (U. of Chicago) and was for many years a Fellow of

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

. Between 1975 and 1981 he was director of the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France. He was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion White died on 16 August 2023, at the age of 86.

Research

White and his team have developed a simple method to produce a stable, thin (~90 Å) oil film on the surface of pure water, suitable for direct measurements of the oil-water interface using ellipsometry, X-ray or neutron reflectometry, or other experimental methods. Related research investigates nanoparticle interactions with protein. The public health implications of this research have also been evaluated.

Honours and awards

White was awarded fellowships of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1982), the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1986), the Australian Institute of Physics (1986), the Royal Society of London (1993) and the Australian Academy of Science (1991). He has received the H. G. Smith Medal (1997), the Craig Medal (2005), the Leighton Medal (2005) and the AONSA Prize (2015). White was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001. and appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 2016.It's an Honour: AO
Retrieved 12 December 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, John 1937 deaths 2023 deaths Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the International Society for Science and Religion Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellows of the Australian Institute of Physics University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford