James Kendall

Who was James Kendall?

James Pickering Kendall FRS FRSE was an English chemist.

He was born in Chobham, Surrey to soldier William Henry Kendall and his second wife Rebecca. He attended the local village school and then from 1900 Farnham Grammar School. In 1907 he went up to Edinburgh University graduating both Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 1910. In 1912, with the help of a scholarship he left for the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry in Stockholm to work with Arrhenius on electrolytes.

In 1913 he accepted the position as Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University, New York. He also served in 1917 as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve, acting as Liaison Officer with Allied Services on Chemical Warfare.

His candidacy for the Royal Society of London in 1924 read: "Distinguished as an investigator in physical and general chemistry.