Andrew Keller

Who was Andrew Keller?

Andrew Keller FRS was a British polymer scientist. He was Research Professor in Polymer Science, Department of Physics, University of Bristol, 1969-91, then Professor Emeritus.

He was born Andras Keller in Budapest in 1925, the only child of Jewish parents. His scientific education began in 1943 when he entered the University of Budapest, earning his BSc in chemistry cum laude in 1947. He began his PhD studies at the same university but his path to world recognition in the field of polymer science was interrupted by the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Hungary in 1948, which caused him to abruptly depart that country. He moved to United Kingdom and took position with Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd in Manchester, as technical officer in the Polymers Division. He became a naturalised citizen of the UK in 1954. In 1955, he moved to the University of Bristol Physics Department as Research Assistant heading a team financed by the Ministry of Supply. At Bristol, he began to further develop his ideas on crystallisation, and obtained his PhD there in 1958. With the encouragement of the head of the Physics Department, Professor Frederick Charles Frank, Keller stayed on at Bristol, being appointed Lecturer in Physics in 1963, Reader in 1965, and Research Professor in Polymer Science in 1969.