Professor and Canada 150 Research Chair

Department of Chemistry,
University of Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada.

Ian is both Canadian and British and he was born in London, England. After completing his Ph.D., he moved to Germany and then the USA for postdoctoral work. He then joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in 1990. He was promoted to Full Professor in 1995 and became a Canada Research Chair in 2001. After 15 enjoyable years in Canada, he moved back to his Alma Mater, the University of Bristol in England, in 2006 as an EU Marie-Curie Chair. In 2018 he was awarded a Canada 150 Research Chair which enabled his return to Canada and the relocation of his research group to the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island on Canada's west coast. Ian also has a position as a Visiting Professor at Shanghai Jiao-Tong University in China where he cosupervises a small group of students and postdocs.

Ian's research interests focus on the development of new synthetic approaches involving catalysis and self-assembly and their applications in molecular chemistry, polymer and materials science, nanoscience, optoelectronics, biomedicine, and energy-related science. His outside interests include music, nature, hiking, history and politics, travel, cricket, German and local Vancouver Island beer, and excellent pubs and restaurants. Ian and his wife, Deborah, are excited to live in the Highlands, a wild rural location around 40 minutes northwest of Victoria and bears and even a cougar have been spotted in their garden. They have two adult children, Hayley and Chris, and two grandsons, Rhys and Gavin, and a grand-daughter, Alys.

Ian also holds an Adjunct Position as Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, an Honorary Professorship at Jilin University, Changchun, China, and a Visiting Professor position at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

Publications, Invited Lectures, and Metrics

Over 800 papers in scientific journals, 12 patents and 4 books.
Over 600 invited, keynote, and plenary lectures nationally and internationally.
H-index = 123. Google Scholar page here

Career

Faculty
1990 - Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
1994 - Associate Professor (Tenured) Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
1995 - Full Professor Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2001 - Canada Research Chair, University of Toronto, Canada
2006 - Professor and Chair of Inorganic, Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, and Marie Curie Chair, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
2018 - Canada 150 Research Chair, Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Postdoctoral
1988-90 - Research Associate, Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Advisor; Prof. H. R. Allcock. Area of Research: polymer chemistry (polyphosphazenes)
1986-87 - Postdoctoral, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Aachen, Aachen, West Germany. Advisor; Prof. P. Paetzold. Area of research: main group chemistry (iminoboranes)

Predoctoral
1982-85 - Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, England. Advisor; Prof. N.G. Connelly. Area of research: oganometallic chemistry (organotransition metal radicals)
1979-82 - B.Sc. Chemistry, First Class Honors, University of Bristol, England

Selected Research and Teaching Awards, Honours, Fellowships, and Lectureships

Stairs Lectureship, Trent University, Ontario, Canada (2023)
E.W.R. Steacie Award, Canadian Society of Chemistry (2023)
WIN Distinguished Lecturer, University of Waterloo, Canada (2022)
NOVA Chemicals Keynote Lecture, 39th High Polymer Forum. Gananoque, Ontario, Canada (2022)
Henry Marshall Tory Medal, Royal Society of Canada (2021)
Allcock Alumni Lectureship, Penn State University USA (2021)
Fellow of The European Academy of Sciences (EurASc) (2021)
Faculty Lecturer: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India (2020)
Neil Bartlett Lectureship at University of California at Berkeley, USA (2020)
2019 Inaugural Ray and Dorothy Wilson Lecture at UCLA, USA (2019)
Timms Lecture, University of Bristol, UK (2019)
Murtiashaw Lecture, University of South Carolina, USA (2019)
ERC Advanced Investigator Grant (2018)
Canada 150 Research Chair (2018)
Distinguished Visiting Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University / Thousand Talents Program (2018-2021)
RSC de Gennes Prize (for outstanding and exceptional work in the field of materials chemistry) (2017)
Frankland Lecture, Imperial College (2017)
Inaugural SCG Chemical Seminar, Univerity of Oxford (2017)
Eastman Lecture at University of North Carolina (2017)
List of Most Cited Researchers in Materials Science and Engineering by Elsevier Scopus Data (2016)
Honorable Plenary Speaker, International Conference of Polymer Advanced Technology, Hangzhou, China (2015)
Invited Speaker at the Seoul Inter-Academy Science Forum (IASSF), South Korea (2014)
Honorary Professorship at Jilin University, Changchun, China (2014)
University of Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology Distinguished Lecturer, Ontario, Canada (2014)
3M University Lecturer in Chemistry, Western University, Ontario, Canada (2013)
Center for Self-Assembled Chemical Structures (CSACS) Lecturer (Concordia Univ., McGill Univ., and Univ. of Montreal) (2013)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) (2012)
RSC Peter Day Award (for Soft Matter Materials Chemistry) (2012)
Visiting Scientist at the University of Bayreuth (2011)
Gordon Stone Lecturer at the University of Bristol (2011)
Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) (British National Academy of Science) (2011)
Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2011)
Siedle Lecturer, University of Indiana, USA (2011)
Spinks Lecturer, University of Saskatchewan, Canada (2011)
Macrogroup UK Medal (2010)
Humphrey Memorial Symposium Lecturer, University of Vermont, USA (2010)
Kilpatrick Lecture Series 2010, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA, (2010)
European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant (2010-2014)
Ralph Milkovich Memorial Lecturer, The University of Akron, Ohio, USA (2009)
2009 Distinguished Lecturer, Hong Kong Baptist University (2009)
Frontiers in Chemical Research Lecturer, Texas A&M University, USA (2008)
2008 Bayer Distinguished Lecturer, Washington University in St. Louis, USA (2008)
Wiberg Lecturer: Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Germany (2008)
George W. and Pauline Watt Centennial Lectureship, University of Texas at Austin (2007)
Tilden Lectureship, Royal Society of Chemistry (2007)
Royal Society of Chemistry Award in Main Group Chemistry (2005)
Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award (2005)
European Union Marie Curie Chair (2005)
Reed Lecturer at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY, US (2003)
2002 Fall Lecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, US (2002)
Karasek Lectureship, University of Waterloo, Canada (2002)
Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award, Canadian Institute of Chemistry (2002)
Canadian Institute of Advanced Research Young Investigator Award (Canada's "top 20 under 40" in Science and Engineering) (2002)
Steacie Prize (2000) (top award in Canada in all areas of science and engineering given to one person per year aged 40 or under)
Elected as Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) (Canadian National Academy of Science) (2001)
Tier I (Senior) Canada Research Chair (2001)
Visiting Professor at University of Bochum, Germany (2001)
Visiting Professor at University of Rennes, France (2000)
Premier's Research Excellence Award (1999)
Alcan Lecture Award, Canadian Society of Chemistry (1999)
Royal Society Corday-Morgan Medal (1997) (Royal Society, UK)
NSERC E. W.R. Steacie Fellow (1997-99)
Canadian Society of Chemistry Award in Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry (1997)
University of Toronto, McLean Award (1997)
Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada (1997)
Rutherford Memorial Medal in Chemistry (1996)
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1994-98) (Sloan Foundation, USA)
Faculty of Arts & Science Outstanding Teaching Award (1993-94)
University of Toronto Senior Alumni Award for Distinctive Contributions to Teaching (1993)
Canadian Society of Chemistry IUPAC Travel Award (1993)
Royal Society of Chemistry (England) European Fellowship (1986-87) for Postdoctoral Work at Aachen

Editorships and Memberships of Editorial and Editorial Advisory Boards of Journals

Macrolett. (2019-)
Chem. Soc. Rev. (2011 - )
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (2010 - 2016)
Polymer Chemistry (2010 - )
New Monomers and Polymers (2001 - )
Macromolecules (1997-2000)
Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers (2000 - )
New Journal of Chemistry (1998-2001)
Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics (2000 - 2008)
Macromolecular Rapid Communications (2000 - 2008)
Organometallics (2001 - 2004)
J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans (2001 - 2008)
Advances in Polymer Science (2003 - 2008)
Polyhedron (2006 -2009)
Journal of Organometallic Chemistry (Associate Editor, 2006-2018)
Dalton Trans. (Editorial Advisory Board)