Professor Geoff Maitland CBE recognised for exceptional service to Royal Society

Professor Geoff Maitland CBE, Department of Chemical Engineering

Professor Maitland has received the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2021 Award for Exceptional Service.

The award is one of the RSC 2021 Volunteer Recognition Prizes awarded to those who have given their time and made a significant impact on the organisation.

"I really appreciate receiving this award from the RSC, which I have been a member of since 1965 and enjoyed close interaction with throughout my career. It is a visionary learned society, run by highly committed and exceptional people with whom it has been a great pleasure to work." Professor Geoff Maitland CBE Department of Chemical Engineering

Geoff received his award in recognition of his “outstanding service to the Royal Society of Chemistry through our publishing activities and governance groups.” He served on the RSC’s Publications Board, which oversees all RSC’s journals, books and digital publications business, for ten years, being Chair from 2016 until 2020, and also on the Board of Trustees from 2016 until 2020. Previously he had served on the Council of the RSC Faraday Division from 2011until 2014.

Commenting on his award, Professor Maitland said: “I really appreciate receiving this award from the RSC, which I have been a member of since 1965 and enjoyed close interaction with throughout my career. It is a visionary learned society, run by highly committed and exceptional people with whom it has been a great pleasure to work.

"I am particularly pleased that the links between chemistry and chemical engineering, through integrated molecular science and engineering, are now closer than ever and underpinning solutions to many of today’s engineering challenges."

Video placeholder image — A huge congratulations to all of the RSC Prizes winners. From education and research, to innovation, policy, and volunteering, each of them has contributed to making the world a better place.

Geoff has been a prominent figure in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London since he joined as a lecturer in 1974. He went on to work in industry in 1985 before returning to Imperial in 2005. He was Director of the Shell Grand Challenge on Clean Fossil Fuels (2007-11), the Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre (2008-18) and the Shell-Imperial Digital Rocks Programme (2016-21), serving as President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, 2014-15.

In 2019 Professor Maitland was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for ‘services to chemical engineering following a distinguished career where he drove connections between industry and academia.’

His advice to young people considering a career in chemistry or chemical engineering is: “If you want to change the world and have a skill set that can be used anywhere, go for it – and do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone as your career develops.”

Geoff in the Chemical Engineering Carbon Capture Pilot Plant with PhD student Lu Ai and former PhD student Dr Humera Ansari
Geoff receiving the IChemE Chemical Engineering Envoy Award in 2010 for media work explaining the engineering issues involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil-spill
Geoff at a Test Match at Lord’s with his wife Margot and eldest grandson Tom
Geoff and his wife Margot at an RSC Summer Party held every year at the Royal Academy, with a private view of the Summer Exhibition
A younger Geoff when he was with Schlumberger out in the field with a colleague demonstrating the viscoelastic (part solid-part liquid) properties of the fracturing fluid that they were field testing to pump into an oilwell to create fractures to produce more oil
Geoff's grandsons Tom and Stan at the RSC International Year of the Periodic Table event at the Royal Institution, 2019