David Michael Patrick Mingos, FRS (born 6 August 1944) is a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

and academic. He was Principal of

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any universit ...

from 1999 to 2009, and Professor 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 disc ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

Education

Mingos attended the

Harvey Grammar School The Harvey Grammar School is located in Folkestone, Kent, England. It is a grammar school with academy status founded by the family of William Harvey in 1674. Admissions A selective school for boys only, the school has around 900 on its ro ...

, King Edward VII School Lytham St Anne's,

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...

(Chemistry Department Prize 1963,

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

First Class 1965, Hon DSc 2000), and the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

(

DPhil 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 a ...

1968, and Hon DSc 2001).

Career

Mingos undertook

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

(

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

1968–70) and at the

( ICI Fellow 1970–71). From 1971 until 1976 he was a Lecturer at

Queen Mary, University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

. He then moved to the University of Oxford as Fellow and Tutor at

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to t ...

and University Lecturer. From 1977 until 1992 he was also Lecturer at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named aft ...

. In 1978, Mingos,

Stephen G. Davies Stephen Graham Davies (born 24 February 1950) is a British chemist and was, until his retirement, the Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. Education Davies obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973 from New Coll ...

and Malcolm Green compiled a set of rules that summarise where nucleophilic additions will occur on pi ligands. Mingos' 1984 paper on the

polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory In chemistry the polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory (PSEPT) provides electron counting rules useful for predicting the structures of clusters such as borane and carborane clusters. The electron counting rules were originally formulated b ...

develops Wade's electron counting rules for predicting the

molecular geometry Molecular geometry is the three-dimensional space, 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 geometric ...

of cluster compounds. In 1990 he was appointed Reader in Inorganic Chemistry and for the academic year 1991/92 he served as

Assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...

. From 1992 until 1999 he worked 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 ...

as Sir Edward Frankland British Petroleum Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (1992–99) and Dean of the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

(1996–99). In 1999 Mingos was appointed Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford and at the same time he became a visiting professor at

. In 2000 he received as a

Title of Distinction The University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction for senior academics in the 1990s. These are not established chairs, which are posts funded by endowment for academics with a distinguished career in British and European universities. Howeve ...

the title of professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Oxford. He was superseded as principal by Professor

Keith Gull Professor Keith Gull (born 29 May 1948) is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Molecular microbiology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. He was the principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford fr ...

on 1 October 2009."Full History of the Hall"
St Edmund Hall With David J. Wales he is the co-author of the textbook ''Introduction to Cluster Chemistry''.

Honours and awards

In 1980, Mingos was award the Corday-Morgan Medal and Prize 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 ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1992.

Personal life

Michael Mingos is the son of Vasso Mingos, of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

, and Rose Enid Billie Mingos ''née'' Griffiths.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mingos, Michael 1944 births English chemists Inorganic chemists English science writers English people of Greek descent Fellows of the Royal Society Living people Scientists from Lancashire Academics of Queen Mary University of London Academics of Imperial College London Northwestern University faculty Fellows of Keble College, Oxford Principals of St Edmund Hall, Oxford People educated at King Edward VII and Queen Mary School People educated at The Harvey Grammar School Deans of the Royal College of Science