John Meurig Thomas

Who is John Meurig Thomas?

Sir John Meurig Thomas FLSW FRS is a Welsh chemist and educator primarily known for his work on heterogeneous catalysis, solid-state chemistry, and surface and materials science.

He has authored over one thousand scientific articles and several books, including Principles and Practice of Heterogeneous Catalysis and Michael Faraday and the Royal Institution: The Genius of Man and Place.

In 1991 he was knighted "for services to chemistry and the popularisation of science". The mineral meurigite is named after him. Much of his research has involved creating new solid catalysts and trying to understand the structure and activity of existing ones using techniques such as X-ray absorption, NMR spectroscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. He is one of the most cited authors in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. In recent years, he has focused on designing "green" catalysts for clean technology and on developing ways of studying catalysts in situ.