New Head of Physical Chemistry announced

Professor Jacob Klein, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, has been appointed as the new Head of Physical Chemistry at the University of Oxford from October 2000. He will hold the Dr Lee's Chair of Physical Chemistry, which has previously been held by Nobel prize winners Frederick Soddy and Sir Cyril Hinshelwood. Professor Klein (pictured left) currently holds the Herman Mark Chair of Polymer Physics in the Materials and Interfaces Department at the Weizmann Institute. He has carried out extensive studies of surface and interfacial structure in soft matter, particularly polymeric systems, using nuclear reaction analysis techniques and surface force balance methods. His current research interests include molecular level studies of transport, wetting, surface interactions, and nanotribology. These have applications in areas ranging from ferrofluids and pharmaceuticals to computer hard-disk drives and artificial implants in humans. After studying for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Cambridge University, Professor Klein became a Research Fellow and then Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge (1976–80), and from 1977–80 a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Polymer Research, Weizmann Institute. From 1980 he worked jointly at the Physics Department, Cambridge, as a University Demonstrator and as a Senior Scientist at the Weizmann Institute, until his appointment as an Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute in 1984. In 1987 he was named full professor, and headed the Institute's Polymer Research Department during 1989–91. Professor Graham Richards, Chairman of Chemistry, said: `Professor Klein's appointment comes as Chemistry at Oxford is about to enter a new era, and I look forward to working with him and to the many challenges ahead.'