Professor David Cole-Hamilton
BSc PhD CChem FRSC FRSE
David Cole-Hamilton has been Irvine Professor of Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews since 1985. His main research interests are in the applications of organometallic compounds in homogeneous catalysis and materials chemistry. He has also carried out extensive studies of new techniques for the separation of products from homogeneous catalytic reactions.
He is very interested in teaching, having won two student voted awards and in the dissemination of science, having been President of the Chemistry Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and RSC Public Lecturer.
He has collaborated extensively with industry, and has been concerned with the commercialisation of research. He was involved in the early days of Epichem Ltd, now Sigma Aldrich Fine Chemicals, through whom some of his work has been commercialised. He has been the Chairman of the Catalyst Evaluation and Optimisation Service (CATS) since its inception and was heavily involved in attracting Sasol, the large South African Fuels and Chemicals Company to place their European Research Laboratories in St. Andrews. He is involved in several European collaborations and in trying to develop scientists from South Africa and from Tanzania.
