Dr Richard Whewell - 2024 Award for Exceptional Service winner

Dr Richard Whewell FRSC

Winner: 2024 Award for Exceptional Service

RSC Central Yorkshire Local Section

For outstanding service to the 萝莉社 through our member communities in Central Yorkshire and governance groups.

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Soon after starting work at the University of Strathclyde, Dr Richard Whewell could see that its success needed not only top-class chemistry research but also individual attention to its students to help them achieve the highest levels of personal development and employability. He saw this at Oxford and again over 40 years later as pupils started their education at Blenheim Primary School. Alongside departmental work, Richard was Warden of Baird Hall (1982–2004) with 313 students, most of whom were away from home for the first time.

At Strathclyde, he carried out much of the early work on industrial placements and later devised the accepted curriculum for a joint degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, meeting requirements for both CChem and CEng.

Following his experience of student mobility as a result of the European Credit Transfer System, Richard coordinated new EU-funded educational links in chemistry with America and Canada and assisted discussions on the Bologna Process in the new European Higher Education area. He spent a memorable time with the Tuning Academy in Georgia and Lithuania, developing teaching, curricula and higher education outcomes in chemistry with a team of experts in other disciplines, which, in Lithuania, he led.

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Dr Richard Whewell studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1964. Dysentery (from Syria) caused him a year’s absence, so in 1967, he had a six-month ‘internship’ at the University of Leeds with Leslie Pettit. After graduating in Natural Sciences (Chemistry), he remained in Oxford’s inorganic chemistry laboratory for a DPhil in solution chemistry with Francis Rossotti.

Richard’s postdoctoral experience began in 1971 with Sir Frederick Dainton and Arthur Salmon at the Cookridge Radiation Research Centre in Leeds. In 1973, Richard moved to the School of Chemical Engineering, University of Bradford, joining Carl Hanson’s team to understand the processing of Zambian copper oxide ore. This was vital to Zambia’s economy and demonstrated the benefits of bringing together chemistry and chemical engineering.

His career from 1979 was in the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde, where his experience in both chemistry and chemical engineering met a particular Departmental need. In 1986, he was appointed Associate Head of Department, enabling heads of department to devote their expertise more to research. Richard’s upgraded departmental office soon became a helpful hub for students.

In 1987, the Faculty of Science gave Richard responsibility for the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) following the university’s successful bid for the EU Pilot scheme. They upgraded their curricula and documents, broadened student experience, and expanded the diversity of the department. The Pilot led to extensive EU-funded implementation activity, although Richard’s discussions and assistance were in demand across Europe more than within the UK. He also undertook charitable work in the Incorporation of Weavers of Glasgow, serving as Deacon in 2009/10.

After retiring in 2011, Richard returned home to Leeds. He devotes himself to local RSC activity and serves as a governor of Blenheim Primary School, which was designated ‘Outstanding’ in 2020.

Q&A

What inspired or motivated you to volunteer with the RSC?

As co-founder of the ECTN Chemistry Network, I met well over a hundred chemistry departments across European universities and felt that ECTN had a role complementary to EuChemS in global chemistry. Some aspects of my experience could be useful to the RSC's work, so I was elected to the new Qualifications and Professional Practice Board in 2007. Following re-arrangement of the committee remit, I continued on the Admissions Committee, where the duties were fascinating and highly worthwhile. It was particularly reassuring to find that the committee was well-weighted towards industrial chemists, with whom many of our students would seek employment. We dealt not only with RSC membership but also with the award of CChem, with training for CChem and eventually with CSci. This experience stimulated me to volunteer for my local Section Committee at their 2013 AGM in Bradford soon after my retirement.

Tell us about any highlights or memorable experiences you have had as a volunteer?

A long list of memorable discussions and visits to industrial sites at home and abroad and to universities across Europe, America, Canada and elsewhere – these would be my highlights. The experience gained was fed back to my university and to many other institutions when it was relevant. Especially when changes are afoot, there is so much that we can share, and this sort of knowledge underpins important matters such as academic and professional recognition.

Do you have any advice for managing volunteering commitments alongside a busy work life?

I certainly had a busy work life, but managed it by ensuring that my employer knew what I was doing and was able to understand how the results of my volunteering fitted with and helped what I was employed to do. With a good education-based employer and outward-looking Heads of Department, this approach was successful. If the voluntary work was more peripheral and attracted negative views, I would advise carrying it out after retirement! It may then be the employer who loses out, as the personal skills of an employee are developed by volunteer activities and include much that is sought in job interviews.

What advice would you give to somebody contemplating volunteering with the RSC?

Very simple advice – go ahead! You can meet good people and learn from them, especially when you disagree. With any use of your time, see early on whether your colleagues can tell facts from factoids, and whether discussion based on evidence rather than anecdote is appreciated. Where is the discussion heading? For example, school leavers’ views of calculus often seem restricted to how to differentiate and integrate but omit completely what using calculus can do for them as physical chemists! I think that the RSC will inspire you, develop your generic competencies, and not disappoint, but others for whom you volunteer may be very different.