# Robert Howson Pickard > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Howson_Pickard > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Howson_Pickard.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Howson_Pickard > Source revision: 1352610588 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) '''Sir Robert Howson Pickard''' [FRS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society) (27 September 1874 – 18 October 1949) was a chemist who did pioneering work in [stereochemistry](/source/stereochemistry) and also for the cotton industry in [Lancashire](/source/Lancashire). He was also involved in educational administration and was [Vice Chancellor](/source/Vice_Chancellor) of the [University of London](/source/University_of_London) from 1937-1939.[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35524 Joseph Kenyon: ''Pickard, Sir Robert Howson (1874–1949)'' (revd K D Watson) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 25 Aug 2012] He was Principal of [Battersea Polytechnic](/source/Battersea_Polytechnic) (which later became the [University of Surrey](/source/University_of_Surrey)) from 1920 to 1927.{{Cite web |url=http://www.surrey.ac.uk/files/pdf/CHAPTER%204.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-02-16 |archive-date=2015-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216052455/http://www.surrey.ac.uk/files/pdf/CHAPTER%204.PDF |url-status=dead }} ==Early life== [[Image:Mason Science College.png|thumb|right|[Mason Science College, now the University of Birmingham](/source/Mason_Science_College)]] He was born in [Balsall Heath](/source/Balsall_Heath), [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham), [Warwickshire](/source/Warwickshire), (now the [West Midlands](/source/West_Midlands_(county))), England, the son of Joseph Henry Pickard, a toolmaker, and Alice his wife, the daughter of Robert Howson of Birmingham.[https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/768791?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101173480877 JSTOR - ''Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society'', 1950, accessed 27 August 2012] From 1883 to 1891, he attended [King Edward VI's Grammar School](/source/King_Edward's_School%2C_Birmingham). In 1891, he studied chemistry at [Mason Science College](/source/Mason_Science_College) (which later became the [University of Birmingham](/source/University_of_Birmingham)), under [Percy F. Frankland](/source/Percy_F._Frankland) and obtained a first class [B.Sc.](/source/Bachelor_of_Science), then awarded by the [University of London](/source/University_of_London). In 1896, he attended the [Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München](/source/Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit%C3%A4t_M%C3%BCnchen) as an [1851 Exhibitioner](/source/1851_Research_Fellowship) being awarded a [PhD](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) ''[summa cum laude](/source/summa_cum_laude)'' in 1898. ==Career== After a year in Birmingham doing chemical research, he was appointed head of the chemistry at [Blackburn Technical School](/source/Blackburn_College_(Blackburn_with_Darwen)) in [Blackburn](/source/Blackburn), [Lancashire](/source/Lancashire) and was principal from 1908-1920. While at Blackburn was involved in publication of 35 papers in the [Journal of the Chemical Society](/source/Journal_of_the_Chemical_Society). He did original work on chemical structure and [optical isomerism](/source/optical_isomerism) and as a result became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1917. Pickard was Principal of [Battersea Polytechnic](/source/Battersea_Polytechnic) (which later became the [University of Surrey](/source/University_of_Surrey)) from 1920 to 1927. He was also consulted by the cotton industry and later became director of the [British Cotton Industry Research Association](/source/British_Cotton_Industry_Research_Association) (then the Shirley Institute) in [Manchester](/source/Manchester) from 1927 to 1943, and expanded the technical facilities extensively in 1936. He had considerable organisational skills and was active in several scientific organisations including the Royal Society (council); [Society of Chemical Industry](/source/Society_of_Chemical_Industry) (president 1932-33); the [Royal Institute of Chemistry](/source/Royal_Institute_of_Chemistry)[http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/History/rscpresidents/RIC1877to1939.asp RIC presidents list]. Accessed 27 August 2012. (now the [Royal Society of Chemistry](/source/Royal_Society_of_Chemistry)) (president 1936-1939); the [Chemical Society](/source/Chemical_Society) (vice-president); the now defunct [http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/RemovedCharityMain.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=214247&SubsidiaryNumber=0 Chemical Council] (chairman) and various positions over a long period with the [University of London](/source/University_of_London) including [Vice-Chancellor](/source/Vice-Chancellor), 1937-1939. ==Personal life== He married Ethel Marian Wood in 1901. She died in 1944. They had a daughter, who predeceased her father, and a son. He died at his son's home in [Headley](/source/Headley%2C_Surrey), [Surrey](/source/Surrey). ==See also== * [List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of London](/source/List_of_Vice-Chancellors_of_the_University_of_London) * [List of British university chancellors and vice-chancellors](/source/List_of_British_university_chancellors_and_vice-chancellors) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{start box}} {{s-aca}} {{Succession box | before = [Sir Herbert Lightfoot Eason CMG CB](/source/Sir_Herbert_Lightfoot_Eason_CMG_CB) | title = [Vice-Chancellor of the
University of London](/source/List_of_Vice-Chancellors_of_the_University_of_London) | years = 1937-1939 | after = [Professor Frank Horton FRS](/source/Frank_Horton_(physicist)) }} {{end box}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickard, Sir Robert Howson}} Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of London Category:English chemists Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide Category:Alumni of the University of London Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:LMU Munich alumni Category:People associated with the University of Surrey Category:People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham Category:Scientists from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:1874 births Category:1949 deaths Category:Stereochemists Category:British fellows of the Royal Society --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Howson Pickard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Howson_Pickard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Howson_Pickard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.