David Phillips

Who is David Phillips?

David Phillips CBE is a British Chemist specializing in photochemistry and lasers, and President of the Royal Society of Chemistry 2010–12.

Phillips was born 3 December 1939 in Kendall, lived in South Shields and attended the Grammar School. He studied at the University of Birmingham attaining a BSc and PhD, with postdoctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin and the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

He began as a Lecturer in chemistry at the University of Southampton, rising to the status of Reader then becoming Wolfson Professor of Natural Philosophy, at the Royal Institution. In 1989 he moved to Imperial College, London as Professor of Physical Chemistry and held a number of senior posts there.

In 1987 he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on television. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1999 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to chemistry. In May 2011 he was the guest on Desert Island Discs and in June 2012 was Michael Berkeley's guest on Private Passions.