Chemistry at Birmingham

Abstract

A SECOND chair has been established in the Department of Chemistry in the University of Birmingham and Dr. Maurice Stacey, at present reader in biological chemistry, has been appointed to it. Dr. Stacey graduated at Birmingham in 1929 and engaged in carbohydrate research work under Prof. W. N. Haworth. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1932 and in the following year was awarded the Meldola Medal mainly for his work with Haworth and Hirst on the synthesis of vitamin C. In the same year he gained a Beit Memorial fellowship for medical research, which he held at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine under Prof. H. Raistrick. Here he worked on the structure of complex carbohydrates produced by moulds and on the immunochemistry of bacteria in the typhoid group. In 1936 he rejoined Prof. W. N. Haworth's staff at Birmingham as lecturer and in 1937 spent some time with Prof. M. Heidelberger at Columbia University Medical School, New York. He was awarded his D.Sc. in 1939. For some years Dr. Stacey has directed a team of research workers engaged in studying the chemistry of micro-organisms and recently has made important advances in this field. Since 1940 he has been leader of Prof. W. K. Haworth's large group engaged in problems connected with the chemical side of the atomic energy project. Dr. Stacey was a member of the Tube Alloys Chemical and other Panels and is a member of council of the Chemical Society and a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry.