Introduction
(Charles) Richard Arthur Catlow FRS FRSC FInstP (born 24 April 1947) is a British chemist, and professor at University College London. Previously, he was Director of the Davy Faraday Research Laboratory, and Wolfson Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution.Since 2016 he has served as the foreign secretary of the Royal Society.
Education
He earned a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in 1970, and Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1974, from the University of Oxford.
Career and research
Catlow is developing and applying computer models to solid state and materials chemistry — areas of chemistry that investigate the synthesis, structure and properties of materials in the solid phase. By combining his powerful computational methods with experiments, Richard has made considerable contributions to areas as diverse as catalysis and mineralogy.
His approach has also advanced our understanding of how defects — missing or extra atoms — in the structure of solids can result in non-stoichiometric compounds. Such compounds have special electrical or chemical properties since their contributing elements are present in slightly different proportions to those predicted by chemical formula.
Catlow’s work has offered insight into mechanisms of industrial catalysts, especially involving microporous materials and metal oxides. In structural chemistry and mineralogy. Simulation methods are now routinely used to predict the structures of complex solids and silicates, respectively, thanks to Catlow’s demonstrations of their power.
Awards and honours
In December 2014 he was the winner of the Gerhard Ertl Lecture at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin.He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2004 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).