Michael Spencer 1932 - 2020

Photo - Michael Spencer after retiring from the Research Department at ICI in Billingham in the North East of England started a second career as an Honorary Professor in the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University.

Michael Staines Spencer was generous in giving his time to helping others. Always kind and conscientious he had an appetite for knowledge and immensely enjoyed his scientific career. He was born in Pinner in Middlesex and later the family moved to Epsom in Surrey; he had a younger sister and brother. His parents were married in 1931 in Willesden and earlier his Father had worked for the United Africa Company as a peanut trader in The Gambia. Later in England he was a fireman and after the war an agent for the Imperial Typewriter Company. Growing up during the war was not easy and once during a night air raid there was a degree of stubbornness apparent when the young Michael refused to get out of bed to go into a neighbour’s air raid shelter. In desperation his mother insisted they sheltered under a table and this turned out to be fortunate because a direct hit killed those in the air raid shelter.

Michael attended Epsom County Grammar School for Boys from 1943 to 1951 which later evolved to the present Glyn School. His aptitude for science was cultivated by enthusiastic devoted teachers in the context of the country’s need for scientists. When seventeen he took Higher School Certificate examinations in science subjects and did very well. The next year he obtained distinctions in chemistry, pure mathematics and applied mathematics. Following applications to Cambridge and Oxford Colleges supported by letters of strong recommendation from the long serving headmaster Frank L. Clark, on 21 December 1950 there was a telegram: “Congratulations you have been awarded a major scholarship at Emmanuel College – Senior Tutor”. This was a wonderful Christmas Present, being admitted to Cambridge University with an annual scholarship of £100 - an illustration of inflation over seventy years! Michael was the first in his family to go to university.

Michael’s younger brother Richard Andrew Spencer (known as Andrew to prevent confusion at home since his Father was also called Richard) followed his older brother and went to the same Grammar School in 1957. It was then housed in new premises and called Glyn Grammar School for Boys. However, in 1960 the family moved to Leicester where Imperial Typewriters had its headquarters so Andrew completed A-level studies at the Guthalaxton Grammar School (now Wigston College) gaining entrance to London University.

Michael went up to University for the 1951 Michaelmas term, and like many undergraduates he enjoyed the freedoms Cambridge offered. He is seen playing jazz trumpet in 1952 photographs of the Emmanuel College group in the University Rag procession and he was an active member of the Thomas Young Club and at one time he was a member of the organising committee. Thomas Young was a remarkable former Emmanuel College scientist famous for outstanding contributions in the late 1700s and early 1800s including establishing the wave theory of light with an interference experiment, for the development of the theory of capillary phenomena and for Young’s Modulus.

Michael did not do well in his 1953 Part I examinations. However, he must have focused more on studying for in 1954 he got an upper second class degree in Chemistry. This enabled him to do research for a PhD supervised by Dr P. G. (Sandy) Ashmore in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory then in Free School Lane led by Professor Ronald Norrish a Fellow of Emmanuel College. In 1967 Manfred Eigen, George Porter and Ronald Norrish were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their study of extremely fast chemical reactions.

The athletic Sandy Ashmore had an Emmanuel College research studentship in 1938 to do a PhD supervised by Ronald Norrish but the War intervened and he became a Squadron Leader in the RAF. He returned to Cambridge in 1946 and an Emmanuel College Research Fellowship enabled him to complete his PhD and later he became a College Fellow and Director of Studies. During his PhD research Michael studied reactions of nasty gases like nitrosyl chloride, nitric oxide, chlorine and chloromethanes. The analysis of chloromethanes required the development of a new chromatographic method with J. H. Purnell (doing a second PhD this time supervised by Ronald Norrish) and was the basis of Michael’s first chemical publication, a 1955 article in the journal Nature. Later there were two substantial papers based on his PhD research published in the also prestigious Transactions of The Faraday Society.

It is said Michael met Patricia when struggling to take a barrel of beer up the stairs of a house in which she lived downstairs. They were married in Cambridge in July 1957 and he gave his address as Emmanuel College. Soon they moved to the North East and lived in Norton village near the ICI Billingham industrial site in County Durham where Michael had a position in the Research Department as a “Technical Officer”. In the North East they started a family that later necessitated a move to a not too far away larger house.

ICI’s products included vast amounts of fertilizer such as ammonium nitrate that can be thought of as being manufactured from air, water and energy derived first from coal and later naphtha before North Sea natural gas became abundant. Important large scale industrial processes were developed there including high pressure hydrocarbon steam reforming to produce Synthesis Gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxides) and its conversion with nitrogen derived from air to ammonia or methanol in the famous “ICI Low Pressure Methanol Process”.

Most of the primary products manufactured at the highly productive Billingham site such as ammonia, nitric acid and sulphuric acid and in turn fertilizers compounded from them as well as methanol relied on gas phase reactions catalysed by solid catalysts. Michael with other ICI scientists played a leading role in understanding how these heterogeneous catalysts worked at a fundamental surface level. He was especially involved with the copper-based methanol synthesis catalyst and the copper-based low temperature water gas shift catalyst that enables the maximum amount of hydrogen to be extracted from the reaction of carbon monoxide and water. The theme of copper catalysts continued through his career and he authored many scientific publications on them.

At ICI Michael rose up the “Scientific Ladder” to become a “Science Associate” a senior position accompanied by a company car but unlike others in a similar position he had a sporty Italian car! After retirement from ICI in 1988 he started a second career as an academic at Cardiff University where he was an Honorary Professor in the School of Chemistry. He lectured on chemical thermodynamics, chemical technology and catalysis and became deeply involved in research projects that maintained his publication of always deeply thought provoking scientific papers.

After 35 years of being together Patricia passed away in 1992 and later Michael was supported by his companion Mair Owen. He maintained his publishing activities and continued to edit a series of fundamental and applied catalysis books. In recent years he wrote extensively on general scientific topics of Welsh interest in the Friends of the National Museum of Wales Magazine.

Amongst his many general interests Michael was an avid book collector, he enjoyed opera, classical and jazz music, art and fine wines and he took great pleasure in travel. At ICI he visited many universities as a part of joint research projects, he regularly attended international scientific conferences and he gave presentations at some. Most notably he enjoyed holidays at their family house in France and in the mid-1990's he and Mair spent three months on a trip around the world.

Michael was wonderfully generous he enjoyed life and his scientific career that had its origins with inspiring teachers at school who kindled a flame of interest and fascination that continued throughout his life. He is sadly missed by his extended family including seven children and nine grandchildren as well as by his friends and his many colleagues around the world.

Obituary by kind permission of Dr Martyn V. Twigg - 20 August 2020