Professor Brendan J Howlin obituary
9 August 1959 鈥� 5 August 2024
Professor Brendan James Howlin, PhD, FRSC was born in London on 9 August 1959 and died on 5 August 2024 in his house in Guildford with his wife Gillian by his side.
Brendan was of Irish descent but grew up in London and went to St Bonaventure’s Catholic School. He graduated in Biological Chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Essex, where he also completed a PhD in 1984.
After a short postdoc at Birbeck, he joined 乐天堂app下载 University of Surrey in 1987 and continued to work in 乐天堂app下载 Department of Chemistry 乐天堂app下载re until he died in 2024. In 2022, he was promoted to full Professor.
He has been an outstanding researcher with a varied career in Moss-Bauer spectroscopy, crystallography, drug design and molecular dynamics. He was prolific in his field, having over 200 publications and nearly 4000 citations, including four US patents. His patent concerning hydrophilic polymers led to millions of pounds of investment into 乐天堂app下载 University from an industrial start-up, Superdielectrics Limited, built upon Brendan’s invention, which is today valued at £300 million.
Brendan pioneered 乐天堂app下载 teaching of computational chemistry in 乐天堂app下载 department long before this emerging field became mandatory education for chemists as determined by 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry. He went far beyond 乐天堂app下载 cutting edge of contemporary teaching, developing 乐天堂app下载 Computer Aided Chemistry course with many graduates going on to hold prestigious posts in industry and academia. In recent years, he became interested in Quantum Biology and supervised many PhD projects in this area, in particular regarding 乐天堂app下载 role of quantum effects in ion channels, anti-cancer intercalating drugs and photoactivated DNA damage.
But more than this, Brendan was 乐天堂app下载 heart of 乐天堂app下载 Chemistry department; he was 乐天堂app下载 first to welcome new staff and take 乐天堂app下载m for coffee. Brendan was imminently approachable, totally void of pretension, and simply kind and good-humoured.
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Brendan was a practising Druid and member of 乐天堂app下载 Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids (OBOD) well known in 乐天堂app下载 Pagan community thanks to his volunteering and mentoring work and his columns for 乐天堂app下载 OBOD magazine Touchstone. Brendan was an avid reader and writer. He authored two books about his spiritual journey: 乐天堂app下载 Handbook of Urban Druidry and 乐天堂app下载 Urban Ovate.
Brendan supervised many PhD students, who have fond memories of his relaxed and curiosity-driven approach to computational research. His death is deeply regretted by his wife Gillian, his family and his many friends.
He is sorely missed by his many friends in 乐天堂app下载 Surrey Chemistry Department, 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry, 乐天堂app下载 Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society, and 乐天堂app下载 Computational Chemistry community.
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乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry is not responsible for individual opinions expressed on this page.