Professor Graham Richards CBE FRS

The Department of Chemistry is saddened to share the news that Professor Graham Richards died in his sleep on Tuesday night. He was 85. Graham made exceptional contributions to Chemistry and to the University throughout his illustrious career and will be greatly missed by his colleagues and friends here in Oxford. 

Graham was born in 1939 to a mother whose schooling finished at the age of 11. His background may not have been typical of the students who went up to Brasenose in 1958, but he thrived in academia, graduating with a first-class degree in Chemistry in 1961. He followed this with a DPhil in 1964 under the supervision of Richard Barrow, working on electronic spectroscopy of diatomic molecules. 

After a stint in France, he returned to Oxford, as Fellow and Tutor in Physical Chemistry at Brasenose College, and Lecturer (later Reader, and Professor) in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory. His work on laser spectroscopy of small molecules led him to explore computational chemistry, a novel technique which proved invaluable in predicting chemical parameters that were challenging to measure at the time. 

During his career the focus of his work shifted towards biological chemistry. Graham’s work on early computational drug discovery programmes laid the foundations for the field now known as computer-aided molecular design. A computer program that he developed asked people to donate their home computing power to scientific research, screening billions of molecules for cancer-fighting potential using idle screensaver time. The project, which finished in 2007, ran for six years and made use of a combined 450,000 years of computer time to identify molecules with potential for drug development. 

Graham served as Chairman of the newly unified Department of Chemistry from 1997 to 2006. He was instrumental in fundraising for and building the new Chemistry Research Laboratory, a world-class facility for modern chemical research that was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004. The building, which required over £60 million in fundraising, was partially funded thanks to Graham’s work in negotiating a large-scale innovative equity-sharing deal. He was also involved in founding the University’s technology transfer company, ISIS Innovation Ltd (now known as Oxford University Innovation), which he directed for 20 years. Graham’s pioneering leadership paved the way for a culture of enterprise and innovation at Oxford that continues to this day. 

Graham retired in 2007, but continued to offer help, advice and guidance to the University. He served as a member of Chemistry’s Development Board until his death and was a regular visitor to the Department, often coming to the ICL to share tea and cake with former colleagues. He will be sorely missed.  

Professor Steve Faulkner, Head of Chemistry, said: “Graham will be missed by all of us in Oxford, and particularly by those of us who’ve been inspired by him since undergraduate days. His research track record speaks for itself, but we also remember him as an indefatigable leader and innovator in scientific enterprise. He will be remembered fondly by all those who knew him, and our heartfelt condolences go to his widow, Dr Mary Phillips, and to his wider family.” 

Arrangements for the funeral and memorial service will be announced in due course.