26 Facts About Martyn Poliakoff

Sir Martyn Poliakoff was born on 16 December 1947 and is a British chemist known for his work on green chemistry and for being the main presenter on the popular YouTube channel Periodic Videos.

Martyn Poliakoff is a research professor in chemistry at the University of Nottingham.

Martyn Poliakoff has a younger brother, the screenwriter and director Stephen Poliakoff.

Martyn Poliakoff's paternal grandfather, Joseph Poliakoff, was a prolific inventor of electrical devices who experienced the communist revolution in Russia first-hand, and emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1924.

Martyn Poliakoff then studied chemistry at King's College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA degree in 1969.

Martyn Poliakoff received a PhD in chemistry from Cambridge in 1973 for research supervised by JJ Turner.

In 1972, Martyn Poliakoff moved to Newcastle University and in 1979 was appointed a lecturer at the University of Nottingham, where he was promoted to professor in 1991.

Martyn Poliakoff is a global leader in the field of green chemistry with a specific interest in the applications of supercritical fluids.

Martyn Poliakoff's contributions have enabled the development of supercritical carbon dioxide and water solvent systems to replace traditional organic solvents at the industrial scale.

Martyn Poliakoff is the narrator in most of a series of over 600 short videos called The Periodic Table of Videos, a popular science project produced by Brady Haran, originally intended to familiarise the public with all 118 elements of the periodic table.

Martyn Poliakoff hit the news for calculating that the FIFA World Cup Trophy could not have been made from solid gold as it would be too heavy to raise aloft.

Martyn Poliakoff showed some videos at IUPAC's elements inauguration in the Central Club of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Martyn Poliakoff was awarded the Meldola Medal and Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1976.

Martyn Poliakoff was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2002, and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2004.

Martyn Poliakoff served on the IChemE Council between 2009 and 2013.

Martyn Poliakoff was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering since 2008.

Martyn Poliakoff took up the positions of Foreign Secretary and Vice-president of the Royal Society in November 2011, positions which are held for a fixed five-year period.

Martyn Poliakoff received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2011.

In 2012, Martyn Poliakoff was elected a Fellow of the Academia Europaea and in 2013, an Associate Fellow of TWAS, the World Academy of Science.

Martyn Poliakoff was elected an Associate Member of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences in 2014.

Martyn Poliakoff was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to the chemical sciences.

Martyn Poliakoff was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society in 2015.

Martyn Poliakoff was awarded the Lord Lewis Prize in 2016 for his work concerning the applications of supercritical fluids, and for his work in the development of science policy within the EU and globally.

In 2016, Martyn Poliakoff was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 2017 a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Martyn Poliakoff was awarded the 2019 Longstaff Prize for his "outstanding contributions to green chemistry and for participating centrally in the creation of the Periodic Table Videos".

Martyn Poliakoff produced a web eulogy of close friend Tony Judt in 2010.