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, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

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, 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 ...

, 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 University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

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

Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge The Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry is the University of Cambridge's chemistry department. It was formed from a merger in the early 1980s of two separate departments that had moved into the Lensfield Road building decades earlier: the Depar ...

Olga Kennard Olga Kennard, Lady Burgen ( Weisz; 23 March 1924 – 1 March 2023) was a Hungarian-born British scientist who specialised in crystallography. She was the founder of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. Kennard's research focused on dete ...

had founded the

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

. 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 The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

*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 The European Crystallographic Association (ECA) is an independent scientific organisation, representing both national crystallographic associations in Europe as well as individual members. ECA was founded in 1997. In May 2021 the association had 3 ...

*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 Ar ...

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

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'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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Frank 1944 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Imperial College London British crystallographers