Sir Anthony Kevin Cheetham (born 16 November 1946) is a British materials scientist. From 2012 to 2017 he was Vice-President and Treasurer 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 ...

Education

Cheetham was educated at Stockport Grammar School and read chemistry at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, matriculating in 1965, and graduated with first class honours in 1969. He started his doctorate at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

in the same year, with a thesis on 'The Structures of some Non-stoichiometric Compounds'; his doctorate was awarded in 1972.

Career and research

After completing his doctorate, Cheetham became a Junior Research Fellow at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

. In 1974 he became a University Lecturer in Chemical Crystallography, and in 1990 he became Ad Hominem Reader in Inorganic Materials. Cheetham moved to the

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a year later to take up a position as Professor of Materials at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, where he became the first director of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL). In 2007, Cheetham moved back to the United Kingdom to become Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science at

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 ...

, a position he held until October 2017. He is now a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Department of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge. He also holds a Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

and a Research Professorship in the MRL at the

. Cheetham's area of research is inorganic and hybrid materials, and involves their synthesis, characterization and applications. He has worked on the development of advanced methods for the chemical and structural characterization of polycrystalline materials and the application of these techniques to the study of

zeolite Zeolites are a group of several microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a meta ...

catalysts,

molecular sieves A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry ...

, and optical materials. His current interests are in the field of functional metal-organic frameworks and hybrid perovskites. His former doctoral students include Paul Attfield, Clare Grey, Matthew Rosseinsky, and Russell E. Morris.

Honours and awards

*1982 Corday-Morgan Medal and Prize of Royal Society of Chemistry *1988 Solid State Chemistry Award of the

*1994 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) *1996 RSC Structural Chemistry Award *1997 Chaire Internationale de Recherche "Blaise Pascal", Paris, France *1999 Elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) *2001 Elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

*2004 Somiya Award of th
International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS)
*2006 Docteur Honoris Causa, Université de Versailles, France *2008 Cheetham Award Lecture, UC Santa Barbara *2011 Platinum Medal of the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a British engineering institution with activities including promotion of the development of materials science. It has been a registered charity governed by a royal charter and a member ...

*2011 Elected a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) *2011 Raman Chair,

*2011 Honorary D.Sc., University of St. Andrews, Scotland *2011 Honorary D.Sc., Tumkur University, India *2012 Nyholm Prize for Inorganic Chemistry of 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 ...

. *2013 Elected a Member of the German National Academy of Engineering (acatech) *2014 Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists *2014 Elected a Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

*2015 Honorary D.Sc.,

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 ...

, England *2017 Basolo Medal,

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, USA *2017 Elected an Honorary Fellow, Trinity College,

, England *2018 Elected an Honorary Fellow, Singapore National Academy of Science *2019 Elected a Foreign Fellow,

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

Cheetham was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to materials chemistry, UK science and global outreach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheetham, Anthony Living people 1946 births English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Goldsmiths' Professors of Materials Science Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford C British materials scientists Knights Bachelor Rare earth scientists Solid state chemists