Bobby Stanley Pons (born August 23, 1943) is an American electrochemist known for his work with

Martin Fleischmann Martin Fleischmann FRS (29 March 1927 – 3 August 2012) was a British chemist who worked in electrochemistry. By Associated Press. The premature announcement of his cold fusion research with Stanley Pons, regarding excess heat in hea ...

cold fusion Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the nuclear fusion, "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within Main sequence, stars and artific ...

in the 1980s and 1990s.

Early life

Pons was born in

Valdese, North Carolina Valdese ( ) is a town in Burke County, North Carolina, Burke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,689 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hickory, North Carolina, Hickory-Lenoir, North Carolina, Lenoir-Morganton, North Car ...

. He attended Valdese High School, then

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

, where he studied chemistry. He began his PhD studies in chemistry at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, but left before completing his PhD. His thesis resulted in a paper, co-authored in 1967 with Harry B. Mark, his adviser. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that it pioneered a way to measure the spectra of chemical reactions on the surface of an electrode. He decided to finish his PhD in England at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, where in 1975 he met Martin Fleischmann. Pons was a student in Alan Bewick's group; he earned his PhD in 1978.

Career

On March 23, 1989, while Pons was the chairman of the chemistry department at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, he and

announced the experimental production of "N-Fusion", which was quickly labeled by the press

. After a short period of public acclaim, hundreds of scientists attempted to reproduce the effects but generally failed. After the claims were found to be unreproducible, the scientific community determined the claims were incomplete and inaccurate. Pons moved to France in 1992, along with Fleischmann, to work at a

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

-sponsored laboratory. The laboratory closed in 1998 after a £12 million research investment without conclusive results. He gave up his US citizenship (page 2 of online version) and became a French citizen.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pons, Stanley 1943 births Alumni of the University of Southampton Electrochemists Living people American expatriates in France Naturalized citizens of France People who renounced United States citizenship University of Utah faculty Cold fusion People from Valdese, North Carolina