Professor William Harrison

Professor William Harrison
Professor William Harrison
Professor William Harrison

MA (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon), FHEA

Personal Chair

About
Email Address
w.harrison@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272897
Office Address
G30 Meston Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
Meston Walk
AB24 3UE

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School/Department
School of Natural and Computing Sciences

Biography

Bill Harrison grew up in southern England and was the first in his family to enter higher education.  He graduated with first-class Honours in Chemistry from University College, Oxford in 1982.  He stayed in Oxford to study for his DPhil (PhD) under the supervision of Prof Tony Cheetham, FRS, investigating the magnetic behaviour of transition-metal oxides. He then worked as assistant instrument scientist on the high resolution powder diffractometer (HRPD) at the ISIS spallation neutron source and a highlight of that time was the determination of the crystal structure of the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7–δ, which featured on the cover of Nature.  Following that, in 1988 he headed for sunnier climes for a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa Barbara (supervisor Galen Stucky) where he studied advanced materials by state-of-the-art diffraction techniques. A second postdoc followed at the University of Houston (Texas), where a highlight was the study of layered hybrid perovskites as potential solar cell materials (Nature cover).  His first ‘real’ academic position in 1995 was a lecturer at the University of Western Australia, where he discovered his previously unsuspected enthusiasm for teaching.  He was appointed as lecturer in chemistry at the University of Aberdeen in 1998, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2000 and to Personal Chair in 2018. He currently serves as Director of Education in the School of Natural and Computing Science and sits on a number of University committees.  He teaches at all levels of the Chemistry programme and his University awards for teaching include ‘most accessible lecturer’ (2015), ‘best lecturer’ (2017) and ‘most supportive lecturer’ (2020).   His independent research in synthetic and structural chemistry focuses on undergraduate research projects.  His interests outside the University include photography, walking the dog, objecting to planning applications, and family activities.

Internal Memberships

School Director of Education; personal tutor; member of the retention task group; positive outcomes task group; student survey working group...  

Latest Publications

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

Synthetic and structural inorganic chemistry: 632 publications, 11733 citations, Hirsch h-index 52 (data retrieved from Web of Science, 8 March 2024).

 

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

Bill Harrison is Course Coordinator for Level 1 Chemistry (CM1020, CM1021, CM1512 and CM1513) and teaches on the following courses: 

  • CM1020 Chemistry for the Life Sciences 1
  • CM1021 Chemistry for the Physical Sciences 1
  • CM1022 Elements of Chemistry 1
  • CM1512 Chemistry for the Life Sciences 2   
  • CM1513 Chemistry for the Physical Sciences 2
  • CM1522 Elements of Chemistry 2   
  • CM2519 Inorganic Chemistry
  • CM3037 Inorganic and Solid-State Chemistry 
  • CM4037 Advanced Inorganic and Physical Chemistry
  • CM4028/CM4036/CM4535 project supervision
  • CM5003 MChem Chemistry Applications
Publications

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  • (E)-1-(3-Nitrophenyl)-2-({5-[(1E)-2-(3-nitrophenyl)hydrazin-1-ylidenemethyl]-2-thienyl}methylidene)hydrazine

    de Lima, G. M., Harrison, W. T. A., Tiekink, E. R. T., Wardell, J. L., Wardell, S. M. S. V.
    Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online, vol. 66, pp. o457-o458
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Bis(cyanido-κC)bis­­(cyclo­hexyl­amine-κN)mercury(II)

    Ejaz, M., Khan, I. U., Harrison, W. T. A.
    Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online, vol. 66, pp. M238-U1409
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online: Editorial

    Harrison, W. T. A., Simpson, J., Weil, M.
    Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online, vol. 66, no. 1
    Contributions to Journals: Editorials
  • Structural diversity in non-layered hybrid perovskites of the  RMCl3 family

    Paton, L. A., Harrison, W. T. A.
    Angewandte Chemie International Edition, vol. 49, no. 42, pp. 7684-7687
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Tetrahydrothiophene-1-oxide, TMSO, complexes of tin(IV) halides: crystal structures of SnCl4(TMSO)2[two polymorphs], SnBr4(TMSO)2 and Ph2SnCl2(TMSO)n (n=1 and 2)

    Howie, R. A., Harrison, W. T. A., de Lima, G. M., Wardell, J. L., Wardell, S. M. S. V.
    Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, vol. 225, no. 10, pp. 448-455
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Two binuclear complexes containing the enrofloxacinate anion: Cd2(C19H21N3O3F)4(H2O)2 · 4H2O and Pb2(C19H21N3O3F)4 · 4H2O

    An, Z., Gao, J., Harrison, W. T. A.
    Journal of Coordination Chemistry, vol. 63, no. 22, pp. 3871-3879
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • 5-Phenyl-2-(benzalhydrazonyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazoles, potential trypanocidal agents: consistent dimer formation via N-H center dot center dot center dot N intermolecular hydrogen bonds

    Carvalho, S. A., Harrison, W. T. A., Fraga, C. A. M., da Silva, E. E., Wardell, J. L., Wardell, S. M. S. V.
    Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, vol. 224, no. 12, pp. 598-606
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • 2-Bromo-1,3-bis(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2en-1-one

    Harrison, W. T. A., Al-Arique, Q. N. M. H., Narayana, B., Yathirajan, H. S., Sarojini, B. K.
    Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online, vol. E65, no. 11, o2648
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Structures of three (2R,3S)-4-(arylmethyl)-1-(4-pheny1-3-amino-2-hydroxy- butyl)-piperazine derivatives, potential anti-malarial agents

    Cunico, W., Gomes, C. R., Harrison, W. T., Moreth, M., Wardell, J. L., Wardell, S. M.
    Zeitschrift fur Kristallographie, vol. 224, no. 9, pp. 461-470
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • (2E)-3-(3-Bromo-phen-yl)-1-(4-chloro-phen-yl)prop-2-en-1-one: A non-merohedral twin

    Li, H., Kamath, K. P., Narayana, B., Yathirajan, H. S., Harrison, W. T.
    Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online, vol. 65, no. 8, o1915
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
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