Professor Vernon Gibson

Winner: 2020 Lord Lewis Prize

University of Manchester, University of Oxford and Imperial College London

For seminal contributions to fundamental and applied inorganic chemistry, and for critical work in policy setting at the interface of academia with industry and government.

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What ‘gets me out of bed in a morning’ is the motivation to make a tangible difference to the world, whether through science or through scientific policy or a combination of the two.
Professor Vernon Gibson

Professor Gibson’s work began a NATO postdoctoral fellowship with John Bercaw at Caltech after his studies at the University of Sheffield and University of Oxford. He then pursued a ‘new blood’ lectureship at Durham where his work on fundamental aspects of inorganic and organometallic chemistry laid the foundations for his later work on catalyst design. Throughout his career he worked closely with industry, developing a partnership with BP which, on moving to a Professorship at Imperial College London in 1995, led to the setting up of a pioneering joint discovery project resulting in several industrially relevant catalyst systems.

When BP committed to developing its Alternative Energy businesses, he joined the company as a Chief Scientist, where he played an instrumental role in establishing BP’s International Centre for Advanced Materials, a 10-year cooperative agreement with and between four universities – Manchester, Cambridge, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Imperial College London. In 2012, Professor Gibson joined the Ministry of Defence as Chief Scientific Adviser, and then spent time as a Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, before returning to the UK as Executive Director of BP’s International Centre for Advanced Materials. He is currently a special adviser to senior leaders in a number of Universities, and works with Government Defence and Security to identify opportunities to enhance capability.

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Professor Gibson studied chemistry at the University of Sheffield followed by a doctorate at Oxford with Malcolm Green. After a NATO postdoctoral fellowship with John Bercaw at Caltech he returned to a ‘new blood’ lectureship at Durham where his work on fundamental aspects of inorganic and organometallic chemistry laid the foundations for his later work on catalyst design.

Throughout his career he worked closely with industry; he developed a deep and flexible partnership with BP which, on moving to a Professorship at Imperial College London in 1995, led to the setting up of a pioneering joint discovery project resulting in several industrially relevant catalyst systems.

When BP committed to developing its Alternative Energy businesses he accepted an offer to join the company as a Chief Scientist. While there he played an instrumental role in establishing BP’s International Centre for Advanced Materials, a 10-year, $100M cooperative agreement with, and between, four Universities – Manchester, Cambridge, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Imperial College London.

In 2012 he joined the Ministry of Defence as Chief Scientific Adviser where, in addition to overseeing MoD’s technology investments, he was able to apply his chemistry expertise to the challenge of eliminating the chemical weapons stockpile held in Syria. On completing government service he spent a short period as a Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, before returning to the UK as Executive Director of BP’s International Centre for Advanced Materials. He is currently a special adviser to senior leaders in a number of Universities, and works with Government Defence and Security to identify opportunities to enhance capability.

Q+A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

I first became seriously interested in chemistry as an A level student when it became clear there remained many unanswered questions about how and why chemical reactions proceed the way they do – it developed into a life-long fascination with structure, bonding, reactivity and mechanism and how an understanding of those can be used to develop new catalyst systems of relevance to industry.

Who or what has inspired you?

Looking back over my career I can say I’ve been inspired by many great scientific teachers and collaborators (many subsequently friends): Professors Peter Maitlis (Sheffield), Malcolm Green (Oxford), John Bercaw, Harry Gray and Bob Grubbs (Caltech); Ken Wade, Jim Feast (Durham), Dick Schrock (MIT), Geoff Wilkinson (Imperial College)… to name but a few.

What motivates you?

What ‘gets me out of bed in a morning’ is the motivation to make a tangible difference to the world, whether through science or through scientific policy or a combination of the two.

What has been your biggest challenge?

One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered is moving across sectors, whether from academia to industry or from industry to government. You become very familiar with how things work in one, then those foundations are displaced by new foundations – it can initially feel like starting out all over again though that in itself is exciting – you just have to keep reminding yourself that you’re bringing your knowledge to the new environment and learning so much in return.

What has been a highlight for you?

One particular highlight as I’ve journeyed from academia to industry and then to government has been the transformational power of partnerships between scientists and engineers and the amazing things that can be achieved when they come together on a common mission.

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

What I would say is “don’t hesitate for a second before choosing a career in chemistry”. Global challenges, such as climate change, antimicrobial resistance, health more generally or environmental sustainability all have enormous need for chemical knowledge and practice.

What is an exciting scientific development on the horizon?

There are too many to list in the available space...especially in health, energy and sustainable living.

What is your favourite element?

This is a difficult one because I’ve worked with many and they all have their own fascinating characters. However, the one I’d say gave me the most joy as a young researcher was tantalum in the third row of the transition series. I adored the unpredictability of its reaction products – everyday was a journey of discovery. Later in my career I really started to embrace iron and the subtlety and versatility of its chemistry – there are good reasons why nature harnesses its chemistry in so many life-sustaining processes.

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