Richard Catlow


Charles Richard Arthur Catlow is a British chemist and professor at University College London and Cardiff University. Previously, he was Director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory, and Wolfson Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution. Since 2016, he has served as the foreign secretary of the Royal Society.

Education

He earned a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in 1970 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1974, from St John's College, University of Oxford.

Career and research

Catlow has developed and applied computer models to solid state and materials chemistry. By combining his computational methods with experiments, Catlow has made contributions to areas as diverse as catalysis and mineralogy.
His approach has advanced understanding of how defects in the structure of solids can result in non-stoichiometric compounds. Such compounds have special electrical or chemical properties since their contributing elements are present in slightly different proportions to those predicted by chemical formulae.
Catlow’s work has offered insight into mechanisms of industrial catalysts, especially involving microporous materials and metal oxides. In structural chemistry and mineralogy, simulation methods are now routinely used to predict the structures of complex solids and silicates respectively, following Catlow’s demonstrations of their power.

Awards and honours

In December 2014, Catlow was the winner of the Gerhard Ertl Lecture at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.