The Department of Chemistry, UWI-Mona
As you pass the front gates onto
campus, the Laboratories of the
Chemistry Department are the first buildings you see on your
left.
Forties and Fifties
The University admitted its first students in 1948, as a College
of the University of London (UK). The first lecture given on
campus, was in the Department of Chemistry by Professor Cedric Hassall, a New
Zealander, to a group of thirty-three premedical students.
Professor Hassall had been handpicked by Professor Alexander Todd
of Cambridge University (UK). The
original temporary wooden building in which this lecture was
given was almost totally destroyed by hurricane Gilbert in
1988.
Cedric Hassall spent nine years at the University College of the
West Indies (as it then was). During that time he was vigorous in
building a research school and founding a Department that would
set the seal on its pursuit of excellence. He made Natural
Products Chemistry his specialty. The postdoctoral fellows in his
group included Frank Curtis, Karl Reyle and Bernard Smith. The
school of postgraduate studies in that area has continued as one
of the major areas of emphasis in the Department.
His work is most notable for investigations which led to the
discovery of hypoglycin in
ackees, thereby explaining the previous mysterious, vomiting
sickness, but he also investigated yams, sisal and the toxic
constiuents of higher plants. In addition he studied
microorganisms for substances of possible pharmaceutical use. The
studies on the Panama disease of bananas led to an anitbiotic
(Monamycin) which was found to be active against human pathogens.
He was early in the field of flavour constituents and examined
those which gave rum its characteristics.
He was responsible for a subdepartment of Chemical Technology
which offered a postgraduate diploma and which carried out pilot
plant developments in salt manufacture, charcoal production and
its byproducts, as well as on clays. The work on clays was done
in cooperation with Royal Worcester, UK. and led to the
establishment of a factory in Jamaica, just outside Spanish Town.
The patterns were labelled Island
Worcester.
The present
The Department is host to an International Conference on Natural
Products and Medicinal Chemistry (The Mona Symposium) every two
years. The twentieth was held in
January 2004 and the next is scheduled
for January 2006.
Research has always been a major thrust within the Department
and staff have published several hundred papers on their work
through which the Department has gained international
recognition, particularly in the fields of Natural Products
Chemistry and Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms.
The Academic Staff of the Department
over the years have supervised the work of more than 70
M.Phil. and 50 Ph.D. theses and currently have over 45
Postgraduate students in the M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes. A description of current staff interests and
brief cv's is available.
Research in the Department is funded by the University and by
research grants from local and international agencies.
Return to Chemistry, UWI-Mona,
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Copyright © 2004 by Robert John
Lancashire, all rights reserved.
Created and maintained by Prof. Robert J.
Lancashire,
The Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies,
Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
Created Sept 1994. Links checked and/or last modified
4th June, 2004.
URL
http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm/chembg.html