 |
Dr. John O'M. Bockris was a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University (1982-1997). His research interests are in the areas of quantum electrochemistry, photo-electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, bio-electrochemistry, corrosion, the splitting of water, and low temperature nuclear reactions.
|
|
Bockris was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1923. He received the B.Sc Degree in Chemistry with first class honors from the University of London in 1943, the degree of Ph.D. in 1945, and the degree of D.Sc. in 1952. Upon receiving his Ph.D., Bockris was appointed to the faculty in Chemistry at the Imperial College and by 1948 had a team of ten graduate students. He is a founder of the International Society for Electrochemistry, started in 1949.
Bockris organized a significant research group in electrochemistry at the Imperial College, working particularly on the basic techniques of measurement at electrodes, and also in the field of high temperature liquids. He emigrated to the United States in 1953 and in 1954 was appointed as a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. During the 1960's, Bockris led the largest electrochemical group in the western hemisphere. His best known book, Modern Electrochemistry, was written with A.K. Reddy during that time and published in 1970.
In 1979, Professor Bockris was made a member of the Swedish Academy of Engineers. Also in 1979, he became the first recipient of the Faraday Medal Award made by the Faraday division of the Chemical Society. He was given the Chemical Lecture Award of the Swedish Academy in the same year and was the recipient of the Medaille dhonneur from the University of Louvain. In 1986, he was given an honorary doctorate of the National University of La Plata, Argentina.
In 1982, Bockris was appointed a Distinguished Professor at the Texas A&M University and in 1983, became the Director of the National Science Foundations Hydrogen Research Center. In 1988, he received the ACS Award for Contributions to the Chemistry of Contemporary Problems, and in 1989, the German Augustin-Mouchot Prize for Contributions to the Solar-Hydrogen Economy (shared with Professor Justi).
Among other more recent awards, he has been given the membership of the Serbian Academy of Science; the Honoris Causa Award of the University of Hokkaido; and the Jules Verne Award of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, 1998.
The most recent award was the Lauria given by the University of Pavia, Italy, on the bicentenary of the birth of Volta (March 2000). |