George Porter
British chemist
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“George Porter.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/george-porter/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
George Porter. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/george-porter/
“George Porter.” thisDay. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/george-porter/.
Who was George Porter?
George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, (6 December 1920 – 31 August 2002) was a British chemist. Porter was born in Stainforth, near Thorne, in the then West Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated at Thorne Grammar School, then won a scholarship to the University of Leeds and gained his first degree in chemistry. He was awarded a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1949 for research investigating free radicals produced by photochemical means. He later became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He then went on to do research supervised by Ronald George Wreyford Norrish at the University of Cambridge, where he began the work that ultimately led to them becoming Nobel laureates. During his degree, Porter was taught by Meredith Gwynne Evans, who he said was the most brilliant chemist he had ever met. During the Second World War Porter served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Historical significance
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967. His original research in developing the technique of flash photolysis to obtain information on short-lived molecular species provided the first evidence of free radicals.
Cite this page
“George Porter.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/george-porter/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
George Porter. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/george-porter/
“George Porter.” thisDay. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/george-porter/.