Alfred William Rutherford is Professor and

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

Solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

in the Department of

Life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, ...

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 ...

Education

Rutherford was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys, Morpeth and the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in

in 1976. He moved to University College London (UCL) where he was awarded a PhD in 1979 for

electron paramagnetic resonance Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a method for studying materials that have unpaired electrons. The basic concepts of EPR are analogous to those of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but the spin ...

studies of photosynthetic electron transport in

purple bacteria Purple bacteria or purple photosynthetic bacteria are Gram-negative proteobacteria that are phototrophic, capable of producing their own food via photosynthesis. They are pigmented with bacteriochlorophyll ''a'' or ''b'', together with various ...

supervised by Michael C.W. Evans.

Research

Rutherford's research investigates: Rutherford's research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the

Wolfson Foundation The Wolfson Foundation is a British registered charity that awards grants to support science and medicine, health, education and the arts and humanities. It was established in 1955 and re-registered in 2014. , the endowment of the Wolfson Fo ...

and 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 ...

Awards and honours

Rutherford was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2014. His nomination reads: Rutherford has also been awarded the

Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award The Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship, known as the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award until 2020, is a 5 years fellowship awarded by the Royal Society since 2000. The scheme is described by the Royal Society as providing ''long-term flexib ...

, the Médaille d'argent of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2001 and was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2001. On 25 January 2013 Rutherford received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science and Technology at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, Sweden.

Personal life

Rutherford is a musician and has been a member of The Baskervilles Blues Band and Baskerville Willy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Bill Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of University College London Academics of Imperial College London Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization 1955 births