Roy McWeeny (19 May 1924 – 29 April 2021) was a British academic physicist and chemist. McWeeny was born in Bradford,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in May 1924. His first degree was in physics from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. He then obtained a D.Phil. in

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The '' Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developme ...

and quantum theory under the supervision of

Charles Coulson Charles Alfred Coulson (13 December 1910 – 7 January 1974) was a British applied mathematician and theoretical chemist. Coulson's major scientific work was as a pioneer of the application of the quantum theory of valency to problems of m ...

at the

Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford The Mathematical Institute is the mathematics department at the University of Oxford in England. It is one of the nine departments of the university's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division. The institute includes both pure and appl ...

. From 1948 to 1957 he was lecturer in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

at King's College,

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

(King's College is now the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

). From 1957 to 1965 he was at the University of Keele rising to Professor of

Theoretical Physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

and

Theoretical Chemistry Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface o ...

. From 1966 to 1982 he was Professor of

at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. In 1982 he moved to the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

where he remained an

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

until his death. In 1996 a celebratory ''festschrift'' volume was published in his honour containing original papers by 132 scientists from 19 countries. He was awarded the 2006 Spiers Memorial Medal by the Faraday Division 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 chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...

and the Medal Lecture, "Quantum chemistry: The first seventy years", was published in Faraday Discussions. He has served on the editorial board of

Molecular Physics Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecules and molecular dynamics. The field overlaps significantly with physical chemistry, chemical physics, and quantum chemistry. It is often considered as a sub-field of atomic, m ...

Chemical Physics Letters ''Chemical Physics Letters'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in chemical physics and physical chemistry. It was established in 1967 and is published by Elsevier. The editors-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also ...

and

International Journal of Quantum Chemistry The ''International Journal of Quantum Chemistry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original, primary research and review articles on all aspects of quantum chemistry, including an expanded scope focusing on aspects of materials ...

. He has written many scientific papers and seven books, of which perhaps the best known are ''Coulson's Valence'' in 1979, an update of the famous book by

originally written in 1951, and the two editions of ''Methods of Molecular Quantum Mechanics'', (the first edition with B. T. Sutcliffe in 1969 and the second edition alone in 1989). He wrote several chapters in the three volumes of the ''Handbook of Molecular Physics and Quantum Chemistry''. In 1963 he wrote ''Symmetry : an introduction to group theory and its applications''. From 2002 he edited an open-access series o
Basic Books in Science
several of which he authored himself. He was also an elected member of the

International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science The International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (IAQMS) is an international scientific learned society covering all applications of quantum theory to chemistry and chemical physics. It was created in Menton in 1967. The founding members we ...

and the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and the Humanities. McWeeny died in Pisa,

in April 2021 at the age of 96.Ateneo in lutto per la scomparsa del professor Roy Mcweeny
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References

His International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science page

External links

His Learning Development Institute resume
*

, (1996), Volume 60, 3. His autobiography. {{DEFAULTSORT:McWeeny, Roy 1924 births 2021 deaths Academics of Durham University Academics of Keele University Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of University College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Leeds British physical chemists Members of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science People from Bradford Theoretical chemists