- George William Gray
George William Gray
CBE , FRS (born 4 September 1926) is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at theUniversity of Hull who was instrumental in developing the long-lasting materials which madeliquid crystal display s possible. He created and systematised theliquid crystal materials science , and established a method of practical molecular design.Born in
Scotland , Gray was educated at theUniversity of Glasgow and theUniversity of London . He developed his academic career at the University of Hull from 1946 to 1990, where he remains an Emeritus Professor. In conjunction with theRoyal Radar Establishment he was instrumental in developing cyano-biphenylliquid crystal s, which were found to possess stablenematic phases at room temperature. These long-lasting materials made the twisted nematic display (LCD) popular. Gray wrote the first English book covering the subject of liquid crystals, "Molecular Structure and Properties of Liquid Crystals", published in 1962. [http://liqcryst.chemie.uni-hamburg.de/lcionline/liqcryst/lchistory/topics/c13b12.html]Gray was recipient of the 1995
Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology and is aCommander of the British Empire (CBE). He was elected aFellow of the Royal Society in 1983, and in 1987 was awarded theLeverhulme Medal of the Royal Society . Gray has been a Director of the International Liquid Crystal Society. Members of the British Liquid Crystal Society honoured his achievements by establishing the "George W. Gray Medal" for contributions to liquid crystal research and technology. [http://www.lci.kent.edu/events.html#Gray]Hull Trains named their firstBritish Rail Class 222 'Pioneer'high-speed train "Professor George Gray" in recognition of his achievements in the modern history of Hull.References
* [http://www.inamori-f.or.jp/laureates/k11_a_george/prf_e.html George William Gray] , Kyoto Prize biography
* [http://www.inamori-f.or.jp/laureates/k11_a_george/ctn_e.html George William Gray] , Kyoto Prize citation
* [http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/article/245 George Gray - Liquid Perfection]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070417033622/http://www.hulltrains.co.uk/our_trains.html Train named 'Professor George Gray']External links
* [http://www.hull.ac.uk/chemistry/research/LCgroup/history.htm The History of Liquid Crystals at the University of Hull]
* [http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/25 Interview With George Gray] , The Vega Science Trust
* [http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/aboutus/history_center/LCD-History.pdf The history of liquid-crystal displays] , Hirohisa Kawamoto, Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 90, No. 4, April 2002
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