Edward Alexander Anderson, known as Ed Anderson, is an

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

based at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

. In 2016, the university awarded him the title of Professor of Organic Chemistry.

Life

Ed Anderson attended

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, and graduated from the university with

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in chemistry in 1997, having completed his research project on gold

nanoparticle A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is a particle of matter 1 to 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 100 nm in only two directions. At ...

s under the supervision of

Harry Anderson Harry Laverne Anderson (October 14, 1952 – April 16, 2018) was an American actor, comedian and magician. He is best known for his role as Judge Harry Stone on the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' (1984–1992). He later played Dave Barry on the C ...

. Between 1997 and 2001, he completed a doctorate at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

in the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

under the supervision of Andrew Holmes. His research focused on the applications and synthesis of medium-ring

lactone Lactones are cyclic carboxylic esters. They are derived from the corresponding hydroxycarboxylic acids by esterification. They can be saturated or unsaturated. Lactones are formed by lactonization, the intramolecular esterification of the corresp ...

s and

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...

s. He took up a two-year post-doctoral research position assisting Erik J. Sorensen at

The Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, tec ...

and helped to synthesise furanosteriod viridin. In 2003, he was appointed a Junior Research Fellow at

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

, and then took up an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship at Oxford in 2007, moving over to Jesus College two years later as a lecturer, and subsequently a fellow and tutor."Professor Edward Anderson"
''Jesus College''. Retrieved 21 January 2017. In 2016, the university awarded him with the title Professor of Organic Chemistry. In 2020, he was awarded the Bader Award by the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and 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 ...

. According to his Oxford University profile, Anderson's research has "a particular focus on the total synthesis of biologically active molecules, and the development of new reactions including cascade processes ... Within the theme of reaction development, we have particular interests in the use of metal-mediated reactions to rapidly construct complex functional molecules, and in new applications of organosilicon chemistry.""Professor Ed Anderson"
''University of Oxford Department of Chemistry''. Retrieved 21 January 2017. Anderson is married to Emma, a virologist at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Ed (chemist) British organic chemists Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Living people Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Fellows of Homerton College, Cambridge Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford 1975 births