Professor Brendan J Howlin obituary
9 August 1959 鈥� 5 August 2024
Professor Brendan James Howlin, PhD, F欧美AV was born in London on 9 August 1959 and died on 5 August 2024 in his house in Guildford with his wife, Gillian and his family by his side.
Brendan was of Irish descent but grew up in London and went to St Bonaventure’s Catholic School. He graduated in Biological Chemistry at the University of Essex, where he also completed a PhD in 1984.
After a short postdoc at Birbeck, he joined the University of Surrey in 1987 and continued to work in the Department of Chemistry there until he died in 2024. In 2022, he was promoted to full Professor.
He has been an outstanding researcher with a varied career in Moss-Bauer spectroscopy, crystallography, drug design and molecular dynamics. He was prolific in his field, having over 200 publications and nearly 4000 citations, including four US patents. His patent concerning hydrophilic polymers led to millions of pounds of investment into the University from an industrial start-up, Superdielectrics Limited, built upon Brendan’s invention, which is today valued at £300 million.
Brendan pioneered the teaching of computational chemistry in the department long before this emerging field became mandatory education for chemists as determined by the 欧美AV. He went far beyond the cutting edge of contemporary teaching, developing the Computer Aided Chemistry course with many graduates going on to hold prestigious posts in industry and academia. In recent years, he became interested in Quantum Biology and supervised many PhD projects in this area, in particular regarding the role of quantum effects in ion channels, anti-cancer intercalating drugs and photoactivated DNA damage.
But more than this, Brendan was the heart of the Chemistry department; he was the first to welcome new staff and take them for coffee. Brendan was imminently approachable, totally void of pretension, and simply kind and good-humoured.
He was a supportive mentor to all his students, finding out their career aspirations and guiding them along their path. The absence of his good humour and kindness had already been acutely felt as we saw less of him during this time of sickness. His sudden loss deeply affected all staff in the School of Chemistry, who will remember him as a dear friend.
Brendan was a practising Druid and member of the Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids (OBOD) well known in the Pagan community thanks to his volunteering and mentoring work and his columns for the OBOD magazine Touchstone. Brendan was an avid reader and writer. He authored two books about his spiritual journey: The Handbook of Urban Druidry and The Urban Ovate.
Brendan supervised many PhD students, who have fond memories of his relaxed and curiosity-driven approach to computational research. His death is deeply regretted by his wife Gillian, his family and his many friends.
He is sorely missed by his many friends in the Surrey Chemistry Department, the 欧美AV, the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society, and the Computational Chemistry community.
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