Professor David W. Turner

An early D.W. Turner photoelectron spectrometer, displayed in Oxford's Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry.

The Department reports with sadness that Professor David Warren Turner died on 10 October 2026. He was 99 years old.

A distinguished physical chemist, Professor Turner was known for his pioneering work in molecular photoelectron spectroscopy, a technique he developed to study the energy levels and electronic structure of molecules.

Professor Turner was elected Fellow and Tutor at Balliol College in 1967, having previously been at Imperial College London. He was Reader in Physical Chemistry, and later Electron Spectroscopy, in Oxford between 1978 and 1985, at which time he was made Professor of Electron Spectroscopy. In recognition of his achievements in chemistry, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1973.

Professor Turner's research made significant contributions to the understanding of molecular orbitals and helped establish an important new field of chemical spectroscopy. He also made valuable contributions to magnetic resonance techniques and the study of ultraviolet spectra of organic vapours.