Biography
Professor Steven Ley is currently a Voluntary Research Associate at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge having been the BP (1702) Professor of Chemistry for 21 years. He is also a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Steve obtained his PhD from Loughborough University with Professor Harry Heaney and afterwards carried out postdoctoral research with Professor Leo Paquette (Ohio State University) then Professor Derek Barton (Imperial College). He was appointed as a lecturer at Imperial College in 1975, promoted to Professor in 1983, and then to Head of Department in 1989. In 1990 he was elected to the Royal Society (London) and was President of The Royal Society of Chemistry from 2000-2002.
Research
Our research focusses on organic chemistry, the science that explores all aspects of organic compounds such as molecular structure, composition, the synthesis and properties of carbon-containing compounds and the methods and strategies that we use to achieve this.
The heart of our research interests lies in the discovery and development of new chemical methodologies, in the broadest sense. A main focus for us is tackling the challenges facing chemical manufacturing in the future and addressing strategic needs for more sustainable processes in chemical synthesis.
