Bob Briggs (chemist) explained

Bob Briggs
Birth Name:Lindsay Heathcote Briggs
Birth Date:3 January 1905
Birth Place:Hastings, New Zealand
Death Place:Auckland, New Zealand
Fields:Organic chemistry
Workplaces:University of Auckland
Thesis Year:1932
Doctoral Advisor:Robert Robinson
Known For:Contribution to the structure of strychnine; chemistry of New Zealand native plants
Awards:Hector Medal (1943)

Lindsay Heathcote "Bob" Briggs (3 January 1905 – 16 January 1975) was a New Zealand organic chemist. His research focused on "the nature and constitution of chemical compounds to be found in New Zealand native flora".[1]

Early life

Born in Hastings in 1905,[2] Briggs was educated at Hastings District High School and Auckland Grammar School.[3]

Academic career

After graduating from Auckland University College with a Master of Science with second-class honours in 1928,[4] he received funding to research manuka oil the following year,[5] and undertook independent research at Massey Agricultural College from 1929 to 1930. He became a Fellow of the Chemical Society in London in 1929.

He then went to the Dyson Perrins Laboratory at Oxford University for a PhD under Robert Robinson, investigating the chemical structure of strychnine.[2] He was awarded his doctorate in 1932 and returned to Auckland, where he was appointed as a lecturer in organic chemistry in 1933,[3] and remained a member of their staff until his death.

In 1941 he was awarded a DSc from Auckland University College.[4] He was a member of the Auckland Institute and Museum, and was its President from 1952 to 1955. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1942[6] and served as its president from 1956 to 1958.[7] He was a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, received the ICI Prize and Medal in 1949,[8] and became its president in 1959. He was awarded the Hector Medal by the society in 1943.[9] In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.[10] He was also president of the Auckland Science Teachers Association and the Auckland Referees Association.

He was also an active member of the Auckland University field club.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Cambie . R. C. . de la Mare . P. B. D. . 1975 . ANNOUNCEMENT: Proposed L. H. Briggs Memorial Prize: Appeal for Contributions . Tetrahedron . 31 . 11? . 1352.
  2. Book: McLintock . A.H. . An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Briggs, Lindsay Heathcote . 1966 . 20 August 2014.
  3. News: Chemistry lecturer . 27 March 1933 . New Zealand Herald . 10 . 20 August 2014.
  4. Web site: NZ university graduates 1870–1961: Bri–By . 20 August 2014.
  5. News: Scientific research . Evening Post . 5 March 1929 . 10 . 18 August 2014.
  6. Web site: The academy: A–C . Royal Society of New Zealand . 19 August 2014.
  7. Web site: Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand . Royal Society of New Zealand . 2012 . 18 August 2014.
  8. Web site: NZIC Award Winners List . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240204084748/https://nzic.org.nz/awards-winners-list . 2024-02-04 . 2024-05-01 . NZ Institute of Chemistry.
  9. Web site: Hector Medal . Royal Society of New Zealand . 20 June 2014 . 18 August 2014.
  10. News: Coronation Medal . Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette . 37 . 3 July 1953 . 17 April 2021 . 1021–1035.
  11. Millener . Laurie . 1975 . Obituary – Professor L.H. Briggs . Tane: The Journal of the Auckland University Field Club . 21 . 175–176 . 20 August 2014.