Alumnus and Nobel prize winner Sir Fraser Stoddart dies at 82

Tributes have been shared from around the scientific community to Sir Fraser and his pioneering work in nanoscience and organic chemistry.

Sir Fraser was born in Edinburgh and raised in a small farming community near the city. He completed a BSc in Chemistry in 1964 and was awarded a PhD two years later. During his time at the University of Edinburgh, he met his future wife, biochemist Norma Scholan (1944 – 2004), who became a key part of the Stoddart research group. After graduating, Sir Fraser went on to start his academic career at Queen’s University, Ontario.

Over the course of his career, Sir Fraser made extensive contributions to organic chemistry research, but he is best known for his work in the field of supramolecular chemistry and in particular, the concept of the mechanical bond. He became renowned as a leading expert in nanotechnology, the area for which he received a prestigious Nobel Prize in 2016. The Nobel Prize, shared with Sir Fraser’s colleagues Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Bernard Feringa, was awarded for the design and production of molecular machines. In work that has spanned over 30 years, the trio developed molecules with controllable movements which can perform a task when energy is added.

Throughout his career, Sir Fraser maintained a lifelong connection to his former Edinburgh home and place of study at the University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry. In 2013, Sir Fraser supported the establishment of the Fraser and Norma Stoddart PhD Prize. This prestigious prize has honoured PhD students who demonstrated outstanding research accomplishments and contributed widely to the life of students within the School of Chemistry. Prize winners have gone on to make a difference in a wide variety of areas after graduation, such as crystallography, sustainable technologies, regulatory affairs, pharmaceutical manufacturing, heritage science and teaching.