Photograph

Ronald J. Gillespie

Professor Emeritus

B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc. (London), F.R.S., F.R.S.C., F.R.S.C. (U.K.), F.C.I.C.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL VITAE

Degrees

  • B.Sc. London University, 1945
  • Ph.D. London University, 1949
  • D.Sc. London University, 1957

Faculty positions

1948 - 1950 Assistant Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University College, London, England
1950 - 1958 Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University College, London, England
1958 - 1960 Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
1960 - 1989 Professor, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
1962 - 1965 Chairman, Department of Chemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
1989 - Present Emeritus Professor, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Special Interests

  • Chemistry of the non-metals
  • Super-acid chemistry
  • Fluorine chemistry
  • Molecular geometry
  • Bonding and Electron Density Distributions
  • Chemical education

Honors
1949 Ramsay Medal, University College London
1953 Harrison Memorial Medal of the Chemical Society
1953 Elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry
1953-54 Commonwealth Fund Fellow, Brown University, Rhode Island, U.S.A.
1960 Elected Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada
1965 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
1966 Noranda Award of the Chemical Institute of Canada for Inorganic Chemistry
1967 Canadian Centennial Medal
1971 American Chemical Society North-Eastern Region Award for Physical chemistry
1971 American Chemical Society "Tour Speaker of the Year" Award
1972 Manufacturing Chemists Association College Chemistry Teacher Award
1973 American Chemical Society Award for Distinguished Service to the Advancement of
Inorganic Chemistry
1976 Union Carbide Award of the Chemical Institute of Canada for Chemical Education
1977 Silver Jubilee Medal
1977 The Chemical Institute of Canada Medal
1977 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, London
1978 Nyholm Lectureship of the Chemical Society, London
1981 American Chemical Society Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry
1983 Henry Marshall Tory Medal of the Royal Society of Canada
1983 Winner of the McMaster Students Union Award for Excellence in Teaching
1987 Izaak Walter Killam Memorial Prize of the Canada Council for Pure Science
1988 Doctor of Laws (honoris causa), Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
1988 Doctor of Laws (honoris causa), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
1989 Muetterties Visiting Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, California
1991 Doctor (honoris causa), University of Montpellier, France
1993 Doctor of Science (honoris causa), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
1993 Honorary Fellowship of the Chemical Institute of Canada

Visiting Professorships

  • University of Manchester, England, 1965-66
  • Universite des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Montpellier, France, 1972-73
  • University of Geneva, Switzerland, 1976
  • University of Gottingen, West Germany, 1978
  • Australian National University, Canberra, 1979
  • University of Melbourne, Australia, 1979
  • University of Auckland, New Zealand, 1980
  • Punjab University, Chandigarh, India, 1983
  • University of Durham, England, 1994

Professional Societies

Fellow of

  • The Royal Society, London
  • The Royal Society of Canada
  • The Royal Society of Chemistry
  • The Chemical Institute of Canada

Member of The American Chemical Society

Publications

Books:

Journal Articles:

Over 370 articles in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Inorganic Chemistry, the Canadian Journal of Chemistry, the Journal of the Chemical Society, the Journal of Chemical Education and others.

Publications since 1992

R.J. Gillespie Research Group
Chemistry Faculty
Department of Chemistry

30nov1999; rjg