Obituary: Professor Cliff Addison

Cyril Clifford Addison, chemist: born Plumpton, Cumberland 28 November 1913; Scientific Officer, British Launderers' Research Association 1936-38; Lecturer in Chemistry Harris Institute, Preston 1939-39; Member of the Chemical Inspection Department, Ministry of Supply 1939-45; Lecturer, Reader and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Nottingham University 1946-78; Leverhulme Emeritus Professor 1978-94; FRS 1970; President of the Royal Society of Chemistry 1976-77; married 1939 Marjorie Thompson (one son, one daughter); died Hale, Cheshire 1 April 1994.

CLIFF ADDISON played an important role in the post-war development of inorganic chemistry in Britain. He built up a department at Nottingham University that was internationally renowned both for the excellence of its undergraduate teaching and for its substantial contributions to research. Many of the leading inorganic chemists in the country today passed through this invigorating environment in the vintage years from 1948 to 1978.

Addison was born in the village of Plumpton, near Penrith, in 1913, the son of Edward Thomas Addison, a member of the Cumberland and Westmorland Constabulary. The family moved several times during his youth because of his father's work and he attended both Workington and Millom Grammar Schools in Cumberland before entering Hatfield College, Durham University, in 1931. After graduating with honours in chemistry in 1934 he stayed on to do research in physical chemistry for his PhD degree which was awarded in 1937.

At this stage there was little sign of the dramatic excursions into inorganic chemistry which were to follow 10 years later. He was successively a Scientific Officer at the British Launderers' Research Association (1936-38) and then a lecturer (1938-39) at the Harris Institute Technical College, Preston (now the University of Central Lancashire). During the Second World War he was a member of the Ministry of Supply Chemical Inspection Department, first at Runcorn and then at Springfields, near Preston. After a brief spell at the Chemical Defence Research Establishment in 1945-46 he joined the Chemistry Department at Nottingham University as a lecturer in inorganic chemistry in 1946.

This was the turning-point of Addison's career. He threw himself into the task of creating from scratch a distinguished school of inorganic chemistry, demanding from his more senior colleagues an equal share of the time (alongside physical and organic chemistry) for his undergraduate teaching programmes. It was probably the first time that this balance had been achieved in the UK and was a model which was to be emulated subsequently by most other chemistry departments. He recruited equally enthusiastic members of staff and was generous in allowing them to follow their own research interests. The result was a great resurgence of interest in inorganic chemistry and the emergence of a school of international renown.

Addison's own group concentrated on the perhaps initially surprising choice of the extremely reactive liquid compound dinitrogen tetroxide as a solvent medium for chemical reactions. Under his skilled guidance an astonishing range of anhydrous metal nitrates and their derivatives was prepared. Some of these had unusual properties such as the unexpected volatility of the beautiful blue-green crystals of anhydrous copper nitrate. He also initiated work in an even more demanding field, the chemistry of liquid alkali metals such as sodium and potassium. This was a veritable tour de force of technical virtuosity. He was promoted to Reader in 1952 and Professor in 1960.

Addison adopted a very down-to- earth approach to his research and he was always interested in potential applications for his fundamental studies. Thus, his academic surface-chemistry studies at Durham translated into formulations for sheep dips, his imaginative research on non-aqueous solvents like dinitrogen tetroxide developed into advice on rocket-fuel technology for the US space programme, and his innovative work on the chemistry of liquid metals led to his appointment as a consultant to the Atomic Energy Authority for their fast breeder reactor at Dounreay.

Addison's progressive views on chemical education, his forthright north countryman's way of expressing himself and his skill in committees were soon noted and he was increasingly called upon to play a wider role. He was Dean of the Faculty of Pure Science at Nottingham (1968-71), and a Member of Council of both the Royal Institute of Chemistry (Vice-President 1965-67) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (President 1976-77). Honours included the Award for Main Group Element Chemistry (1972) and the Liversidge Lectureship (1976), all of the RSC. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1970 and was awarded an Honorary DSc by Durham University and by Warwick University.

The bedrock of Cliff Addison's life was his enduring and happy marriage to Marjorie (Thompson), his school classmate in Millom. Their delight in each other's company radiated a warmth that was infectious. For many years they were associated with Wortley Hall of Residence at Nottingham and their home on campus was always open to undergraduates. The annual reunions of Cliff's own research group were also notable events: the last one, which took place only three months ago, celebrated his 80th birthday and was attended by almost 100 people. Marjorie knew them all by name, including their spouses and children, and was always interested in their progress. They were a delightful couple, as much at ease in international scientific circles as in their local village community in Cumbria.

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