Moss , Gerry , fl 1966-2018 , Professor of Chemistry

Gerry Moss graduated from Imperial College, London and studied for his PhD at the University of Cambridge. After postdoctoral work at Colombia University, New York and Imperial College he was appointed a lecturer in Organic Chemistry at Queen Mary College in 1966. His research work focussed on the chemistry of carotenoids, vitamin A and related compounds. He later became Senior Lecturer, and is now an Associate Academic in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences.

His specialism is in chemical nomenclature, especially organic and biochemical nomenclature. He is a consultant for the World Health Organisation which names all new International Non-Proprietary Names (all new drugs), Chairman of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. He is a former chairman of the IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry and was President of IUPAC Division VIII.

Moss worked on the official pictorial history of the college, ‘From Palace to College’, with Mike Saville in the mid-1980s for the College’s one hundredth anniversary. Moss’s interest in the history of the college, particularly the chemistry department, dates back to the late 1960s and creating pictorial displays for visitors to the college. He also acted as the Chemistry department’s archivist, acquiring information particularly in relation to former staff and students.