Professor M J Blandamer CChem FRSC

Professor Mike Blandamer was born in Dorchester on the 19th December 1934.  He graduated from the University of Southampton with B.Sc. (1957), Ph.D. (1960) and D.Sc. (1984) degrees.  

Following post-doctoral research at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa he joined the staff of the Chemistry Department at the University of Leicester in 1961 and progressed from Assistant Lecturer via Lecturer and Reader to a Chair in Physical Chemistry in 1991.

His research was concerned with the kinetics of chemical reactions in aqueous solution, the aim being to understand factors which determine the rates of reactions in these solutions and involved drawing together kinetic information and equilibrium thermodynamic properties.  

He has had significant collaborations with Professor R. E. Robertson (University of Calgary, Canada), Professor J. M. W. Scott (Memorial University, Newfoundland) and Professor J.B.F.N. Engberts (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) as well as colleagues from within the University of Leicester including Professor M. C. R. Symons FRS, Dr. J. Burgess and Professor P. M. Cullis.  He has held appointments as Visiting Professor in the University of Calgary and Visiting Scientist at the Groningen Centre for Catalysis and Synthesis.  Some 320 scientific papers, book chapters and reviews resulted from his work.

Mike served the University of Leicester as an elected member of Senate from1970 to 1973 and again from 1980 to 1983 and had periods as a member of the Library Board, the Computer Services Board, the Departmental Maintenance Board, the Departmental Assistants Board, The General Purposes Committee, the Staff-Student Council and, notably, as a long standing Chairman of the University Safety Committee.  

He also held the positions of Secretary of the Non-Professorial Staff Association and Chairman of the Local Association of University Teachers.  In the Department of Chemistry he did sterling service as Admissions Tutor for 15 years (1972-87) and did much to assist the transition of Nene College to University status, in particular in the introduction of research and research degrees in leather technology.

Mike's enthusiasm and talent for teaching spread well beyond the boundaries of his evident chemical expertise and he was responsible for the early introduction of the teaching of communication and presentation skills and scientific word processing into the Chemistry Department to the benefit of many generations of students.
Mike leaves a wife, Anne, and children Peter, Ian and William.

Professor Paul Cullis, Department of Chemistry, 19 February 2014