Frank Harmsworth Allen FRSC CChem (1944–2014) was an internationally recognised crystallographer.

Biography

Frank Harmsworth Allen was born in 1944 in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

and raised in Pangbourne, a village 6 miles away and close to the River Thames. He was the only child of George W Allen and Gwendolen Retta (née Whittamore). He gained a First in chemistry and a PhD in crystallography at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, and in 1968 moved to Vancouver to take up a post-doctoral fellowship, working with James Trotter at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. Before long, they had established the structure and conformation of thalidomide. A little earlier, in the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge,

Olga Kennard Olga Kennard, Lady Burgen ( Weisz; born 23 March 1924) is a British scientist specialising in crystallography, and founder of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. Her research focused on determining the structures of organic molecule ...

had founded the

Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) is a non-profit organisation based in Cambridge, England. Its primary activity is the compilation and maintenance of the Cambridge Structural Database, a database of small molecule crystal struc ...

. She invited Frank Allen to join the group. He began in 1970, becoming Scientific Director and then executive director before retiring in 2008 and taking on the role of Emeritus Research Fellow. Initially, in his new role at Cambridge, Allen turned his attention to data and data processing, using the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). He worked with W D Samuel Motherwell and others “to write the programs that turned the CSD from a data library into a scientific instrument”.

Appointments and awards

*Won the

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

prize for Structural Chemistry in 1994 *Gained the ACS

Herman Skolnik Award The Herman Skolnik Award is awarded annually by the Division of Chemical Information of the American Chemical Society, "to recognize outstanding contributions to and achievements in the theory and practice of chemical information science". the awa ...

in 2003 *Visiting professor of Structural Chemistry at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

*Member of the International Advisory Board of the PDB (RCSB) *Member of many commissions and committees of the IUCr *Member of the Council of the European Crystallographic Association *Vice President of the

British Crystallographic Association The British Crystallographic Association (BCA) is an association for crystallographers, based in the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest crystallographic societies in the world. The Association administers a Dorothy Hodgkin Prize and an Arno ...

from 1997 to 2001 *Member of the Board of Lhasa Limited *Member of the editorial board for

Springer Publishing Springer Publishing Company is an American publishing company of academic journals and books, focusing on the fields of nursing, gerontology, psychology, social work, counseling, public health, and rehabilitation (neuropsychology). It was es ...

's ''Structural Chemistry'' journal.

Personal life

Robin Taylor, CCDC Emeritus Research Fellow, noted that He also had a dry sense of humour: Frank married Sandra J Newman (Sandy) in 1966. They had three children: Ashley, Andrew and Stuart. Ashley was killed in a road accident in 1988, aged 20. Frank Harmsworth Allen died on 10 November 2014. His funeral took place on the 27th at St Andrew's, Histon. He was then buried at Histon and Impington (Mill Road) Cemetery.Parish Clerk, Histon & Impington Parish Council, 14 August 2023 Frank_Harmsworth_Allen_Grave

References

{{Authority control 1944 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Imperial College London Crystallographers