Kenneth Wade

Kenneth Wade, FRSC FRS (1932–2014) was a British chemist and professor emeritus at Durham University.^[1]

Kenneth Wade FRSC FRS
Born	(1932-10-13)13 October 1932 Sleaford, Lincolnshire, UK
Died	16 March 2014(2014-03-16) (aged 81) Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK
Nationality	English
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Known for	Polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory
Awards	Ludwig Mond Award (1999)
Scientific career
Fields	Electrochemistry
Institutions	Durham University
Doctoral advisor	Norman Greenwood

Early life and education

Kenneth Wade was born in Sleaford on 13 October 1932, the second son of Harry Kennington Wade and his wife, Anna Elizabeth Wade. He was educated at Carre's Grammar School,^[2] and graduated from the University of Nottingham as the first PhD student (1954–1957) of Norman Greenwood,^[3][4] and Cornell University.^[5]

Career

After spending two years as a post-doctoral student at the University of Cambridge and two further years lecturing successively at Cornell University and Derby College of Technology, in 1961 Wade became a Lecturer at Durham University. In 1971, he was appointed Senior Lecturer and was promoted to Reader in 1977. Between 1983 and 1998, he was Professor of Chemistry at the university and served, between 1986 and 1989, as chairman of its Department of Chemistry.^[2]

Wade's Rules, also known as polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory, are a set of electron counting rules to predict the shapes of borane clusters.^[6][7]

Awards

• 1982: Main Group Award, Royal Society of Chemistry.^[2]
• 1999: Tilden Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry.
• 1989: Fellow, Royal Society.^[2][8]
• 1999: Ludwig Mond Award, Royal Society of Chemistry.
• 2012: Chancellor's Medal, University of Durham.^[2]