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Mathematics and the Isle of Man

 Railway photos

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J.N.L. CONNOR: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

 

Jonathan Connor was born in the Isle of Man. He graduated with a 1st class honours degree in Chemistry from Oxford University, where he stayed to carry out research with P.W. Atkins (on magnetic relaxation) and with M.S. Child (for a D.Phil. on molecular collision theory). He then spent two post-doctoral years at the University of Illinois working with R.A. Marcus (Nobel Laureate) on the theory of inelastic and reactive scattering. A paper he wrote on semiclassical collision theory during his stay in Illinois became a "citation classic." In 1971, Connor joined the University of Manchester as a Lecturer, and was promoted to Reader in 1978 and to Professor of Theoretical Chemistry in 1991.

Connor's research interests are the prediction and interpretation of experimental results for gas phase elastic, inelastic and reactive molecular collisions using classical, semiclassical, quantum and statistical theories. The research techniques used range from purely analytical work to extensive computational studies on state-of-the-art super-computers. The emphasis is on the development of new theories of long term value which provide physical insight, together with their application to realistic problems. Connor's theories and results are widely used in the research literature, as well as being described in advanced monographs. He particularly enjoys the interdisciplinary challenge of combining abstract mathematics with numerical analysis for practical applications to problems involving the dynamics of atoms and molecules. An example is his pioneering research on molecular applications of complex angular momentum theory where his work has changed a situation of almost complete ignorance into a well established theory.

For his research, Connor has been awarded the RSC's Meldola Medal, Marlow Medal and Award in Theoretical Chemistry. In 1999/00 he was a RSC Tilden lecturer. He is a past Chairman of the RSC Theoretical Chemistry Group and of the EPSRC Collaborative Computational Project No. 6 on Heavy Particle Dynamics. He has served on the Editorial Boards of Molecular Physics, Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Journal of the Chemical Society Faraday Transactions and Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. For 2013-2015, he is a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow.

Publications list (as a downloadable pdf file)