Arthur Campbell (chemist)
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27 May 1925
Arthur Campbell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Arthur Derek Campbell 27 May 1925 Waimate, New Zealand |
| Died | 20 December 2020 (aged 95) Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Otago |
| Spouse |
Ruth Florence Smith
(m. 1950; died 2019) |
| Children | 3 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Organic microanalysis |
| Institutions | University of Otago |
| Thesis | Some applications of acrylonitrile (1952) |
Arthur Derek Campbell OBE (27 May 1925 – 20 December 2020) was a New Zealand analytical chemist. He was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Otago from 1948 to 1988, becoming a professor emeritus on his retirement.
Campbell was born in Waimate on 27 May 1925, the son of Mona Sevicke Campbell (née Jones) and David Brown Campbell.[1] He was educated at Waimate High School, and then proceeded to study chemistry at the University of Otago, graduating Master of Science with second-class honours in 1948, and PhD in 1953.[1][2] His doctoral thesis was titled Some applications of acrylonitrile.
In 1950, Campbell married Ruth Florence Smith, and the couple went on to have three children.[1][3]
Academic and research career
Campbell was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Otago from 1948 to 1988.[4] He was appointed as an assistant lecturer in 1948, rising to become a professor in 1971, and the Mellor Professor of Chemistry in 1983.[1] He served as a member of the University Council from 1963 to 1971, dean of the Faculty of Science from 1980 to 1982, and head of the Department of Chemistry from 1983 to 1988.[1] When he retired in 1988, he was conferred the title of professor emeritus.[4]
Campbell's early research centred on carboxylic acid derivatives.[5] However, he became interested in organic microanalysis, and developed many analytical procedures, and improved techniques for analysing perfluorinated organic compounds.[5] Campbell served as chair of the Chemical Testing Registration Advisory Committee of the Testing Laboratory Registration Council of New Zealand from 1973 to 1985.[1] Internationally, he was a Bureau Member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry from 1981 to 1989.[1] The University of Otago's Campbell Microanalytical Laboratory is named in his honour.[5]
Between 1979 and 1980, Campbell was president of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry.[1]