John Donald Rose FRS (2 January 1911 – 14 October 1976) was a British industrial chemist, who worked for

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

from 1935 to 1972. His posts at ICI included director of research and chairman of the paints division. He was also Master of the Worshipful Company of Salters.

Life and career

Rose was born in Greasbrough,

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

on 2 January 1911 and was educated at Rotherham Grammar School before matriculating at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

in 1929 to study chemistry. He graduated with a BA degree in 1932, and spent a further year in study with Robert Robinson to obtain a post-graduate BSc degree in 1933. A two-year fellowship awarded by the Salters' Company allowed him to continue his research with Robinson in Oxford and to spend a year at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich with

Leopold Ružička Leopold Ružička (; born Lavoslav Stjepan Ružička; 13 September 1887 – 26 September 1976) was a Croatian-Swiss scientist and joint winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his work on polymethylenes and higher terpenes" "including ...

on the structure of

abietic acid Abietic acid (also known as ''abietinic acid'' or ''sylvic acid'') is a diterpenoid found in coniferous trees. It is supposed to exist to defend the host plant from insect attack or various wounds. Chemically, it is a complicated molecule featurin ...

. In 1935, Rose started work as a research chemist for

Blackley Blackley is a suburban area of Manchester, in the county of Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is approximately north of Manchester city centre, on the River Irk. History The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Do ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, where his work included evaluating a new polymer called

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

. During the Second World War, Rose was part of a research group considering the possibilities for new business after the war, although plans to use

acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...

as an intermediary for making organic chemicals were not pursued when it became clear that it was uneconomic to do so. In 1949, Rose became associate research manager, and then director of research in 1951; the company's work in this period included research into Procion dyes and Terylene (an artificial fibre). In 1958, he became production director, followed in 1959 by the post of joint managing director (and later chairman) of the paints division. His final appointment within ICI was as research and development director in 1966 (although he spent a period in 1968 to 1969 as chairman of

Ilford Photo Harman Technology Limited, trading as Ilford Photo, is a UK-based manufacturer of photographic materials known worldwide for its Ilford branded black-and-white film, papers and chemicals and other analog photography supplies. Historically it al ...

, which had been acquired jointly by ICI and the Swiss company Ciba). He retired in 1972. He was elected as a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1971 and vice-president of the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

in 1968. After his retirement from ICI, he was a director of Laporte Industries and chairman of the Fulmer Research Institute. He was a governor of the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

(and was awarded an honorary

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

in 1972) and Master of the Salters' Company in 1973. He died on 14 October 1976 at his home in

Chalfont St Peter Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, John 1911 births 1976 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Imperial Chemical Industries people People associated with the University of Salford People from Greasbrough