Biography

David B. Adams

Dr David Brinley Adams was born on 16th September 1948 in Leeds.

He attended Aireborough Grammar School and then came to Durham University to study Chemistry. He graduated in 1970 with a First Class Honours Degree.

A PhD followed in 1973. He remained in the department for another two years as a Senior Demonstrator and retained his passion for research. He was one of the pioneers of ab initio quantum chemical studies of simple molecular systems and his research is still relevant today.

He was a Chartered Chemist and a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In 1975, he joined Sunderland University as a lecturer in Pharmacy. Later he was promoted to Senior Lecturer. His interest was in the application of theoretical chemistry to organic chemistry using computers.

In 1991 he was awarded a SERC/Royal Society Industrial Fellowship to work on a molecular graphics study on the properties of polymers.

David was passionate about his subject and a committed teacher who always encouraged his students to strive for and to achieve their best. In 2001 David was awarded a Teaching Fellowship by Sunderland University to develop a suite of computerised assessments on basic and analytical chemistry using the web-based Questionmark software package. His first tests, ten years earlier, ran from 5.25 in floppy disks on Amstrad computers with 30MB hard drives.

He retired in 2009.

Beyond his subject he enjoyed woodwork, diy, gardening, good food and wine, music and photography.

David was a kind, quiet man with a quick wit, a dry sense of humour and a sense of adventure.

He drew strength from his loving partnership with Monica, whom he married in 1979.

He died on 10th July 2013.