TheProfessorship of Physical Chemistry is a permanently-establishedprofessorship at theUniversity of Cambridge, created in 1920. For the first six decades of its existence, the incumbent was also Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry – a separate entity from the then Department of Chemistry, albeit latterly occupying the same building in Lensfield Road. Following the merger of these two departments in the early 1980s, holders of this Chair have often served as Head of the currentunified Department of Chemistry.

Occupants of the chair to date have been:

1. Martin Lowry (1920–1936),^[1]
   proposed theBrønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
2. Ronald G. W. Norrish (1937–1965),^[2]
   Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1967), developed theNorrish reaction
3. Jack Linnett (1965-1975),^[3]
   Master of Sidney Sussex College (1970–1975)Vice-Chancellor (1973–1975), proposed theLinnett double-quartet theory
4. John Meurig Thomas (1978–1987),
   Master of Peterhouse (1993–2002),Royal Medallist (2016), a founder ofsolid-state chemistry
5. Sir David King (1988–2006),
   Master of Downing College (1995–2000),Government Chief Scientific Adviser (2000–2008), chair ofIndependent SAGE (2020–)
6. John Pyle (2007–2018),
   Davy Medallist (2018), co-chair of the scientific assessment panel for theMontreal Protocol
7. Tuomas Knowles (2023–),
   Corday-Morgan Prize recipient (awarded in 2017)

In addition to the 1920 professorship, the university established a second Professorships of Physical Chemistry for a single tenure (i.e. as personal chair) forBrian Thrush, who held the office from 1978 to 1995.

• Professors of Physical Chemistry (Cambridge)
• Professorships at the University of Cambridge
• Faculty of Physics and Chemistry, University of Cambridge
• 1920 establishments in England
• Professorships in chemistry

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata