About
PRESENT POSITION & BACKGROUND
I graduated from Leicester University with a PhD in Theoretical Solid State Physics in 1976, working in the field of gas-surface dynamics. I spent 6 years in continental Europe working in universities in Berlin, Copenhagen and Gothenburg. I joined the University of Liverpool in 1984 as a lecturer in the Department of Inorganic, Physical and Industrial Chemistry under the direction of Sir David King. I was part of the team that founded the UK Research Council Interdisciplinary Surface Science Centre in 1988 and was their Head of Theory until 2000 when I became the Head of the Chemistry Department. I served in this role for 7 years when I became (in succession) the Dean of Science (2007), The Dean of Science and Engineering (2008) assuming position the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Science and Engineering in 2009. In August 2013 I was appointed Provost, assuming the academic responsibility for innovation, partnerships and alumni relations. Under the new administration I will assume the role of Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for entrepreneurship and Civic engagement. During my research career I studied the theory of interfacial processes, from passive spectroscopic studies to reactions on catalysts, publishing approximately 150 papers. I have a particular interest in using the gas-surface system as a relatively simple model for investigating in detail the transition between quantum and classical dynamics.