Leroy Cronin | |
---|---|
FRSE FRSC | |
![]() Cronin in 2015 | |
Born | 1 June 1973 |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of York |
Known for | Chemistry |
Awards | FRSE FRSC Philip Leverhulme Prize Corday–Morgan Prize; RSE BP Hutton Prize; Tilden Prize; Interdisciplinary Prize |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Chemistry, Digital Chemistry, Assembly Theory, Nanoscience, Self Assembly, Systems chemistry, Complex Chemical Systems, Inorganic Biology, Supramolecular chemistry, Self-organization, 3D printing |
Institutions | University of Glasgow University of Birmingham Research Institute for Electronic Science, University of Hokkaido University of Bielefeld University of Edinburgh |
Doctoral advisor | Paul. H. Walton |
Leroy "Lee" Cronin FRSE FRSC (born 1 June 1973) [1] is the Regius Chair of Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow. [2] [3] [4] He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and appointed to the Regius Chair of Chemistry in 2013. He was previously the Gardiner Chair, appointed April 2009.
Cronin was awarded BSc (1994) and PhD (1997) from the University of York. From 1997 to 1999, he was a Leverhulme fellow at the University of Edinburgh working with Neil Robertson. From 1999 to 2000 he worked as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow in the laboratory of Achim Mueller at the University of Bielefeld (1999–2000). In 2000, he joined the University of Birmingham as a lecturer in chemistry, and in 2002 he moved to a similar position at the University of Glasgow. In 2005, he was promoted to Reader at the University of Glasgow, EPSRC Advanced Fellow followed by promotion to Professor of Chemistry in 2006, and in 2009 became the Gardiner Professor. In 2013, he became the Regius Professor of Chemistry (Glasgow).[ citation needed ]
In 2012 Cronin was described to be designing [5] robots using 3D printed-architectures [6] to discover and design new chemicals including pharmaceuticals. [7] By making a modular system he was able to build a programming language for chemistry named XDL. [8] This was extended to ensure the "chemputer" was universal [9] and this was demonstrated by reading the chemistry synthesis literature and converting it into executable chemical code. [10] A spinoff company lead by Cronin, called Chemify, was launched in 2019 and raised £33m in 2023. [11]
In 2017 Cronin first published the concept of assembly theory [12] which aims to quantify how complex a molecule is, considering how many steps it would take to build the molecule using the minimum number of steps to add together the various parts allowing reuse. [13] [14] [15] [16]
In 2022 Cronin was suspended by the Royal Society of Chemistry for three months for breaching their code of conduct, following an investigation of a complaint made by a third party. [17] [18]
A Glasgow University spokesman said: "The university is aware that Professor Lee Cronin has had his membership of the Royal Society of Chemistry suspended for a three-month period, following a full independent investigation into a complaint made by a third party."
Lee Cronin (pictured), the University of Glasgow's Regius chair of chemistry, was suspended for three months by the society, following a complaint, the RSC announced in Update, its monthly newsletter for members.