William F. Reynolds
William F. Reynolds attended the University of Manitoba where he
obtained a B.Sc. Honours degree in Chemistry (1959), an M.Sc. in
Physical Chemistry (1960) and a Ph.D. in NMR Spectroscopy (1963).
As the Sir William Ramsey Fellow for Canada he completed a
postdoctoral fellowship at University College London (1963-1965).
In 1965 he returned to Canada where he joined the staff of the
University of Toronto as Assistant Professor in the Department of
Chemistry. He was promoted to Associate Professor, then to Full
Professor and, finally, to Lifetime Emeritus Professor in
1997.
Professor Reynolds was a Fellow of the French National Centre for
Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1973 and has been a Member of the
Mexican Academy of Sciences since 1998. He was awarded the
Herzberg Prize from the Spectroscopy Society of Canada in 1998
and was given a special award from the Department of Chemistry,
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine in 1999. He
served as Visiting Professor at Universidad Nacional Autonoma
Mexico in 1980 and Editor of Magnetic Resonance in
Chemistry (1993-2005). He was featured in a special issue of
Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry in honour of his 65th birthday
(2003).
During his first 18 years at University of Toronto (1965-1983),
his primary research interest centred on the investigations of
transmission of electronic effects in molecules by NMR as well as
theoretical calculations. Over the next 26 years his attention
was directed to the use of 2D NMR for organic structure
determination, particularly in the natural product area
(1983-present).
His collaboration with Caribbean Chemists began in 1983. He has
accommodated more than 40 students, from universities in the
region, in his laboratory to carry out part of their thesis
research and has taught seven short courses on NMR in Mexico and
at The University of the West Indies (Cave Hill, St. Augustine
and Mona campuses). To date he has 292 refereed publications,
including at least 186 with more than 125 scientists and students
from the Caribbean and Mexico. He first attended the Mona
Symposia in 1996 and has not missed a session since then.
The 23rd Mona Symposium salutes Professor Reynolds for his
enormous contribution to the discipline for over 50 years. We at
the three campuses of The University of the West Indies thank him
for his support, and wish him the best in future endeavours.
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