Rate My Professor Graham Hutchings

Professor Graham J. Hutchings is the Regius Professor of Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University. He obtained his BSc in Chemistry with First Class Honours in 1972 and PhD in Biological Chemistry in 1975 from University College London, followed by a DSc from the University of London in 2002. His career began in industry at ICI Petrochemicals Division from 1975 to 1984, where he held roles including Technical Officer, Plant Manager, and Chief Research Officer during a secondment to AECI in South Africa. He then progressed to academia at the University of the Witwatersrand (1984-1987) as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Professor, followed by positions at the University of Liverpool (1987-1997) as Assistant and Deputy Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Innovative Catalysis and Professor. Since joining Cardiff University in 1997, he served as Head of the School of Chemistry (1997-2006), Distinguished Research Professor (2006-2019), Director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute (2008-2019), Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research (2010-2012), and Regius Professor of Chemistry since 2016.

Hutchings specializes in heterogeneous catalysis, particularly the design and application of gold, gold-palladium, and other metal nanoparticle catalysts for selective oxidation, hydrogenation, direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide, and acetylene hydrochlorination. His pioneering discovery of gold catalysis in the 1980s has led to its commercialization by Johnson Matthey, replacing mercury catalysts in vinyl chloride monomer production and significantly reducing environmental pollution. He has authored over 900 publications, including highly cited works such as 'Role of gold cations in the oxidation of carbon monoxide catalyzed by iron oxide-supported gold' (J. Catal., 2006), 'Identification of active gold nanoclusters on iron oxide supports for CO oxidation' (Science, 2008), and 'Solvent-Free Oxidation of Primary Carbon–Hydrogen Bonds in Toluene Using Au–Pd Alloy Nanoparticles' (Science, 2011), with an h-index exceeding 97 and tens of thousands of citations. His contributions have earned prestigious awards including election as Fellow of the Royal Society (2009), CBE (2018), Royal Society Davy Medal (2013), ENI Award for Advanced Environmental Solutions (2017), RSC Faraday Lectureship Prize (2018), Michel Boudart Award (2021), Gerhard Ertl Lecture Award (2024), and the Royal Academy of Engineering's Armourers and Brasiers Company Prize (2025). Hutchings has held editorial roles for journals like Journal of Catalysis and influenced the field through leadership in catalysis societies and institutes.