Sir Theodore Morris Sugden FRS, (31 December 1919 – 3 January 1984) was a British chemist who specialised in combustion research.

Biography

Theodore Morris Sugden (Morris) was born in the village of

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

, the only child of Florence (née Chadwick) and Frederick Morris Sugden, a clerk in a mill. After attending Sowerby Bridge and District Secondary School he gained an open scholarship to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

in 1938, where he read chemistry and was awarded a First in 1940. That year he began research under physicist W C Price on the measurement of precise ionization potentials of molecules. He later switched to working with R G W Norrish for war-work on the suppression of gun flash. Sugden’s later research activities were in the fields of flame studies, flame photometry, ionization in flames, and microwave spectroscopy.

Appointments

* University Demonstrator in Physical Chemistry, 1946 *

Humphrey Owen Jones Humphrey Owen Jones (20 February 1878 – 15 August 1912) was a Welsh chemist and mountaineer. Life Jones was born at Goginan, Cardiganshire, and educated at Lewis School, Pengam, and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He subseque ...

Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, 1950 * Reader in Physical Chemistry, 1960 * Director of Research at the Shell Thornton Research Centre, near

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, 1964 * Director of Thornton Research Centre, 1967 * Chief Executive of Shell Research Limited, 1974-1975 * Master of

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, 1976

Awards and honours

* Elected to the Royal Society, 1963 * Awarded an honorary D Tech. by

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

, 1967 * Awarded an honorary doctorate of science by

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, Ontario, 1973 * Made a CBE, 1975 * Received the Davy Medal, 1975 * Awarded an honorary doctorate of science by

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 ...

, 1977 * Awarded an honorary doctorate of science by

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, 1978 * He was an Honorary Fellow of Jesus and Queens' Colleges, Cambridge. * Elected a Corresponding Member of the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (name since 2023 : )Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the oldest continuously existing institution among the eig ...

, 1975. * Chairman of the Combustion Institute Committee, 1970–1982, and an International Vice-President, 1974–1982. * President of the Chemical Society, 1978-1979 * Physical Secretary of the Royal Society, 1978-1984 * Knighted in the New Year Honours List, 1983

Family

Sugden married Marian Florence Cotton in 1945. They had one child, Andrew Morris, born in 1954. He graduated from Oxford in Botany in 1975, and later gained a doctorate in tropical rainforest ecology. He undertook an expedition to the

Serranía de Macuira Serranía de Macuira is a mountain range in northern Colombia located in the municipalities of Colombia, municipality of Uribia, Guajira, Uribia, La Guajira. The Serrania de Macuira stands in the middle of the La Guajira Desert at isolated from ...

in northern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, publishing a checklist to the plants of this area along with Enrique Forero. He has subsequently followed an editorial career. Sir Theodore Morris Sugden died at

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...

, Cambridge on 3 January 1984; he was cremated in Cambridge on the 10th. The Sugden Award for combustion research is named in his honour. Lady Marian Sugden died in December 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugden, Theodore Morris 1919 births 1984 deaths Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society British chemists Masters of Trinity Hall, Cambridge