17 Facts About Tom McLeish

Tom McLeish's work is renowned for increasing understanding of the properties of soft matter.

Tom McLeish was a professor in the Durham University Department of Physics and director of the Durham Centre for Soft Matter, a multidisciplinary team that works across physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering.

Tom McLeish was the first Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of York.

Tom McLeish was educated at Sevenoaks School in Kent and Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 and a PhD in 1987 for research on fluid dynamics.

Tom McLeish began his academic career as a lecturer in physics at the University of Sheffield.

Tom McLeish then moved to the University of Leeds, where he was Professor of Polymer Physics between 1993 and 2008.

Tom McLeish was a Professor of Physics at the University of Durham from 2008 to 2018.

Tom McLeish was additionally Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research between 2008 and 2014.

In February 2018, Tom McLeish moved to the University of York to take up the newly created Chair in Natural Philosophy.

Tom McLeish made significant advances in modelling the structure and properties of complex entangled molecules, blends of substances that don't usually mix.

Tom McLeish's other interests included historical studies of medieval science, and he was a member of the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham.

Tom McLeish died on 27 February 2023, at the age of 60.

Tom McLeish was made a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2003, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2008.

In 2007, Tom McLeish was awarded the Weissenberg medal by the European Society of Rheology.

Tom McLeish received the Society of Rheology's Bingham Medal in 2010.

In 2017, Tom McLeish received the Sam Edwards Medal and Prize for "his sustained and outstanding contributions to the fields of molecular rheology, macromolecular biophysics and self-assembly".

In 2018, Tom McLeish was awarded the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for his record as one of the most outstanding scientists of his generation, and the leading contemporary lay Anglican voice in the dialogue of science and faith".