Tributes paid after death of Nobel Prize winner

Tributes have been paid to a Nobel Prize-winning chemist and former University of Sheffield lecturer who has died at the age of 82.

Prof Sir James Fraser Stoddart, who taught at the university from 1970 to 1990, died on 30 December.

He was one of three people awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2016 for their work on the world's smallest "molecular machines", which are a thousand times thinner than a strand of hair, according to the university.

Prof Koen Lamberts, the University of Sheffield's president and vice-chancellor, said his "countless achievements continue to inspire the next generation of scientists in Sheffield and around the world".

"Sir Fraser will be remembered fondly, not only for his outstanding contribution to science, but as a dedicated colleague, mentor and friend to many in the University of Sheffield community throughout his career," he added.

A Sheffield University spokesperson said the professor's Nobel Prize-winning work together with his fellow scientists had "a fundamental role to play in the development of nanotechnology".

Born in Edinburgh in 1942, his career saw him awarded the Royal Medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2010, the Albert Einstein World Award of Science and the Royal Society of Chemistry Centenary Prize.

After leaving the University of Sheffield, he later worked at the University of Birmingham before moving to the USA, where he became Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Prof John Derrick, vice-president and head of faculty of science at the University of Sheffield, said: "Sir Fraser Stoddart's exceptional contribution to science is a source of great pride to us here at the University of Sheffield.

"His groundbreaking research in supramolecular chemistry has not only advanced our understanding of the molecular world, but has also inspired generations of scientists."

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