Alan Quayle was a British chemist and mass spectrometrist.

Career

During the 1950s, Quayle worked at the research laboratories of the Shell Refining & Marketing Co. Ltd at the Thornton Research Centre. Quayle spent time working at the Shell oil refinery in

Deer Park, Texas Deer Park is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city is located in southeast Harris County. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Deer Park was 34,495. Deer P ...

laboratory with

Jack O'Neill Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neill is a fictional character in the MGM's military science fiction franchise ''Stargate'', primarily as one of the main characters of the television series ''Stargate SG-1''. Richard Dean Anderson played O'Neill in all th ...

in the USA, where he also attended meetings of the ASTM Committee E-14 at the Pittsburgh Analytical Conference. Much of his early work involved the development of "high molecular weight" analysis up to ''m/z'' 800 using the MS2 with a heated inlet. He later worked at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

in its Department of Molecular Sciences. Quayle was a founding member of the

British Mass Spectrometry Society The British Mass Spectrometry Society is a registered charity founded in 1964 that encourages participation in every aspect of mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio ...

and its 3rd Chair during 1966–67. He was also a key member of the Hydrocarbon Research Group of the

Institute of Petroleum The Institute of Petroleum (IP) was a UK-based professional organisation founded in 1913 as the Institute of Petroleum Technologists. It changed its name to the Institute of Petroleum in 1938. The institute became defunct when it merged with the ...

. He was the first editor of the

International Journal of Mass Spectrometry The ''International Journal of Mass Spectrometry'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of mass spectrometry, including instrumentation and applications in biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. It was established i ...

Personal life

Alan Quayle was born on 28 July 1923 in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, the only child of John Quayle, an elementary teacher, and Mary Elizabeth (née Emery). He married Thelma Marie Lindop in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

in 1952. They had two sons: Andrew John and William Duncan (who died aged 18). Alan Quayle died on 2 January 1994 in

Mollington, Cheshire Mollington is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is two miles north of the city of Chester, with the A41 road, A41 Liver ...

; he was survived by his wife, son and two grandsons. Thelma died on 5 March 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quayle, Alan British chemists Mass spectrometrists People associated with Aston University Shell plc people