Alan Davison FRS (24 March 1936 — 14 November 2015) was a British inorganic chemist known for his work on transition metals, and a professor at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Education

He earned a B.Sc. from

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

in 1959, and Ph.D. from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

in 1962, supervised by Nobel Laureate Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson.

Career and research

Davison discovered the radioactive heart imaging agent Cardiolite,

Technetium (99mTc) sestamibi Technetium (99mTc) sestamibi ( INN; commonly sestamibi; USP: technetium Tc 99m sestamibi; trade name Cardiolite) is a pharmaceutical agent used in nuclear medicine imaging. The drug is a coordination complex consisting of the radioisotope tech ...

Awards and honours

He was recipient of the following: * Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

(1967) * Paul C. Aebersold Award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic Science Applied to Nuclear Medicine (1993) * Ernest H. Swift Lectureship at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

(1999) * Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London (2000) *

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

Award for Creative Invention (2006) * Gabbay Award (2006) * Carothers Award for outstanding contributions and advances in industrial applications of Chemistry (2006) * George Charles de Hevesy Nuclear Pioneer Award (2009)

Personal life

Davison died after a long illness on 14 November 2015 at the age of 79.

In popular culture

In an episode of

Friday Night Dinner ''Friday Night Dinner'' is a British sitcom created by Robert Popper that aired on Channel 4 from 25 February 2011 to 1 May 2020. Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, it follows the regular Friday ...

, after mishearing his wife, Jackie, Martin Goodman asks if Alan Davison would know what he was holding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Alan 1936 births 2015 deaths British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of Imperial College London