Roger Taylor, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, died on 1 February, aged 70. He published 350 scientific papers and six books and made a significant contribution to the high international reputation of chemistry at Sussex.
Roger was appointed in 1963, and through a meticulous series of studies became a leading authority on electrophilic aromatic substitution. His painstaking work on chromatography made possible the separation of the fullerenes C60 and C70, a crucial step in the wider studies for which Professor Harry Kroto was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1997. In the later part of his career Roger combined these two areas and became a major contributor to the rapidly developing physical organic chemistry of the fullerenes.
He was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Loschmidt Prize in 2002 and another as a most highly cited researcher. Roger collaborated widely with institutes throughout the world, contributed frequently to international symposia, and in his last year or two was appointed to a senior position in a research institute in China.
He was a DIY enthusiast, a serious gardener, a talented tennis player and a pianist and drummer in the University jazz group the Sussex Trugs. He was a formidable organiser with an amazing ability to attend to the smallest details, as those who remember his organisation of the British Association of Science meeting at Sussex will testify, and always a reliable source of advice about practical matters.
One of his books was a history of Kingston, the village where he lived for over 40 years and where he worked tirelessly to improve the amenities and promote community activities.