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{{short description|British biochemist}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name = Lord Todd
| name = The Lord Todd
|birth_date = {{birth date|1907|10|02|df=yes}}
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|OM|FRS|FRSE|size=100%}}
|birth_place = [[Cathcart, Glasgow]]
| caption = Alexander Todd in 1957
|death_date = {{death date and age|1997|01|10|1907|10|02|df=yes}}
| birth_name = Alexander Robertus Todd
|death_place = [[Oakington, Cambridgeshire]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1907|10|02}}
|image = Alexander Todd Nobel.jpg
|nationality = [[Scotland|Scottish]]
| birth_place = [[Cathcart]], Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1997|01|10|1907|10|02}}
|fields = [[Chemistry]], [[Biochemistry]]
| death_place = [[Oakington]], England
|workplaces = [[Lister Institute]] <br /> [[University of Edinburgh]] <br />[[University of London]] <br />[[University of Manchester]] <br /> [[University of Cambridge]] <br /> [[University of Strathclyde]] <br /> [[Hatfield Polytechnic]]
| image = Alexander Todd Nobel.jpg
|alma_mater = [[University of Glasgow]]<br />[[University of Frankfurt am Main]] <br />[[University of Oxford]]
| fields = [[Chemistry]], [[Biochemistry]]
|doctoral_advisor = [[Walter Borsche]], [[Robert Robinson (organic chemist)|Sir Robert Robinson]]
| workplaces = [[Lister Institute]] <br /> [[University of Edinburgh]] <br />[[University of London]] <br />[[University of Manchester]] <br /> [[University of Cambridge]]<br /> [[University of Strathclyde]] <br /> [[Hatfield Polytechnic]]
|prizes = [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] 1957
| alma_mater = [[University of Glasgow]]<br />[[University of Frankfurt am Main]] <br />[[Oriel College, Oxford]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Walter Borsche]], [[Robert Robinson (organic chemist)|Sir Robert Robinson]]
| doctoral_students = [[J. Rodney Quayle]]
| prizes = {{no wrap|[[Tilden Prize]] (1940)<br>[[Davy Medal]] (1949)<br>[[Royal Medal]] (1955)<br>[[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] (1957)<br>[[Paul Karrer Gold Medal]] (1963)<br>[[Copley Medal]] (1970)<br>[[Lomonosov Gold Medal]] (1978)}}
}}
}}
'''Alexander Robertus Todd, Baron Todd''', [[Order of Merit|OM]], [[President of the Royal Society|PRS]]<ref name="frs">{{cite doi|10.1098/rsbm.1999.0099}}</ref> [[FRSE]] (2 October 1907 – 10 January 1997) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[biochemist]] whose research on the structure and synthesis of [[nucleotide]]s, [[nucleoside]]s, and nucleotide [[coenzyme]]s gained him the 1957 [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]].
'''Alexander Robertus Todd, Baron Todd''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|OM|FRS|FRSE}}<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Brown | first1 = D. M. | last2 = Kornberg | first2 = H. | author-link2 = Hans Kornberg| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1999.0099 | title = Alexander Robertus Todd, O.M., Baron Todd of Trumpington. 2 October 1907 – 10 January 1997: Elected F.R.S. 1942 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 46 | pages = 515 | year = 2000 | s2cid = 73076704 }}</ref> (2 October 1907 – 10 January 1997), was a British [[biochemist]] whose research on the structure and [[biosynthesis|synthesis]] of [[nucleotide]]s, [[nucleoside]]s, and nucleotide [[coenzyme]]s gained him the [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] in 1957.


==Early life and education==
Todd was born near [[Glasgow]], attended [[Allan Glen's School]] and graduated from the [[University of Glasgow]] with a [[bachelor's degree|B.Sc.]] in 1928. He received a [[doctorate|Ph.D (Dr.phil.nat.)]] from [[Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main]] in 1931 for his thesis on the chemistry of the [[bile]] acids. After studying at [[Oriel College, Oxford]] he gained another doctorate in (1933) and held posts with the [[Lister Institute]], the [[University of Edinburgh]] (staff, 1934-1936) and the [[University of London]], where he was appointed [[Reader (academic rank)|Reader]] in [[Biochemistry]].
Todd was born at [[Cathcart]] in outer [[Glasgow]], the son of Alexander Todd, JP, a clerk with the Glasgow Subway, and his wife, Jane Lowry.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 770414|title = Alexander Robertus Todd, O. M., Baron Todd of Trumpington. 2 October 1907–10 January 1997|journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume = 46|pages = 517–532|last1 = Brown|first1 = Daniel M.|last2 = Kornberg|first2 = Hans|year = 2000| issue=–1|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1999.0130}}</ref>


He attended [[Allan Glen's School]] and graduated from the [[University of Glasgow]] with a bachelor's degree (BSc) in 1928. He received a doctorate (Dr Phil.nat.) from [[Goethe University Frankfurt]] in 1931 for his thesis on the chemistry of the [[bile]] acids.
Todd became the Sir Samuel Hall [[Professor]] of [[Organic chemistry|Chemistry]] and Director of the Chemical Laboratories of the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]] in 1938, where he began working on nucleosides, compounds that form the structural units of nucleic acids ([[DNA]] and [[RNA]]). In 1944 he was appointed to the [[BP Professor of Organic Chemistry|1702 Chair of Chemistry]] in the [[University of Cambridge]], which he held until his retirement in 1971, after a heart attack.<ref>{{citation|title=The 1702 chair of chemistry at Cambridge: transformation and change
|first=Mary D. |last=Archer|authorlink=Mary Archer|first2= Christopher D. |last2=Haley
|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-521-82873-2}}, Chapter 9: Alexander Todd, p 233</ref> In 1949 he synthesized [[adenosine triphosphate]] (ATP) and [[FAD|flavin adenine dinucleotide]] (FAD).


Todd was awarded an [[1851 Research Fellowship]] from the [[Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851]],<ref>1851 Royal Commission Archives</ref> and, after studying at [[Oriel College, Oxford]], he gained another doctorate (DPhil) in 1933.
In 1955 he elucidated the structure of [[vitamin B12|vitamin B<sub>12</sub>]], later working on the structure and synthesis of [[vitamin B1|vitamin B<sub>1</sub>]] and [[vitamin E]], the [[anthocyanins]] (the pigments of flowers and fruits) from insects (aphids, beetles) and studied [[alkaloids]] found in [[hashish]] and [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]]. He served as chairman of the [[British government]]'s advisory committee on [[science policy|scientific policy]] from 1952 to 1964.


==Career==
He was elected a [[Fellow]] of [[Christ's College, Cambridge]] in 1944 and was [[Christ's College, Cambridge#Masters of Christ's|Master]] from 1963 to 1978. He became [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of the [[University of Strathclyde]] in 1975, and a visiting professor at [[University of Hertfordshire|Hatfield Polytechnic]] (1978–1986). Among his many honours, including over 40 honorary degrees, he was elected as a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1942, was [[President of the Royal Society]] from 1975 to 1980 and became a member of the [[Order of Merit|Royal Order of Merit]] in 1977.
Todd held posts with the [[Lister Institute]], the [[University of Edinburgh]] (staff, 1934–1936) and the [[University of London]], where he was appointed [[Reader (academic rank)|Reader]] in biochemistry.


In 1938, Alexander Todd spent six months as a visiting professor at [[California Institute of Technology]], eventually declining an offer of faculty position.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1957/todd-bio.html|title=Lord Todd – Biographical|website=www.nobelprize.org|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVtMCAAAQBAJ&q=Alexander+R.+Todd+caltech&pg=PT152|title=The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology|last=Kay|first=Lily E.|date=1992-12-03|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028161-8|language=en}}</ref> Todd became the [[Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry]] and director of the Chemical Laboratories of the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]] in 1938, where he began working on nucleosides, compounds that form the structural units of nucleic acids ([[DNA]] and [[RNA]]).
He was [[knight]]ed as Sir Alexander Todd in 1954 and elevated to the [[peerage]] as '''Baron Todd''' of [[Trumpington, Cambridgeshire|Trumpington]] in the County of Cambridgeshire in 1962.


In 1944, he was appointed to the [[BP Professor of Organic Chemistry|1702 Chair of Chemistry]] in the [[University of Cambridge]], which he held until his retirement in 1971.<ref>{{citation|title=The 1702 chair of chemistry at Cambridge: transformation and change|first1=Mary D. |last1=Archer|author-link=Mary Archer|first2= Christopher D. |last2=Haley
Lord Todd was married to Alison Sarah, daughter of Nobel Prize winner Sir [[Henry Hallett Dale|Henry Dale]], and had a son, Alexander Henry, and two daughters, Helen Jean and Hilary Alison.
|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-521-82873-2}}, Chapter 9: Alexander Todd, p 233</ref> In 1949, he synthesised [[adenosine triphosphate]] (ATP) and [[flavin adenine dinucleotide]] (FAD). Todd served as a visiting professor at the [[University of Chicago]] in Autumn 1948<ref>{{cite book|last1=Todd|first1=Alexander|title=A Time to Remember: The Autobiography of a Chemist|date=17 November 1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-25593-7|pages=110}}</ref> and [[University of Sydney]] in 1950.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Our Work with Cyanogenic Plants|journal=Annual Review of Plant Biology|volume=59|pages=1–19|doi=10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092924|pmid=17988213|year=2008|last1=Conn|first1=Eric E.|doi-access=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/documents/alumni/Issue16.pdf|title=ChemNEWS (FACULTY OF SCIENCE)|website=The University of Sydney}}{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>


In 1955, he helped elucidate the structure of [[vitamin B12|vitamin B<sub>12</sub>]], although the final formula and definite structure was determined by [[Dorothy Hodgkin]] and her team, and later worked on the structure and synthesis of [[vitamin B1|vitamin B<sub>1</sub>]] and [[vitamin E]], the [[anthocyanins]] (the pigments of flowers and fruits) from insects (aphids, beetles) and studied [[alkaloids]] found in [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]]. He served as chairman of the [[Government of the United Kingdom]]'s advisory committee on [[science policy|scientific policy]] from 1952 to 1964.
==References==

{{reflist}}
He is credited as the first person to synthesize [[H4-CBD]] and [[H2-CBD]] from [[Cannabidiol]] by [[hydrogenation]] as early as 1940.<ref>https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1940/jr/jr9400000649</ref>

Elected a [[Fellow]] of [[Christ's College, Cambridge]] in 1944, he served as [[Christ's College, Cambridge#Masters of Christ's|Master]] from 1963 to 1978. Lord Todd became the first [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of the new [[University of Strathclyde]] in 1965, and a visiting professor at [[University of Hertfordshire|Hatfield Polytechnic]] (1978–1986). Among his many honours, including over 40 honorary degrees, he was elected as a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1942, a member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1955,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexander R. Todd of Trumpington |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/15492.html |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1957,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexander Robertus Todd |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/alexander-robertus-todd |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Lord+Todd&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was [[President of the Royal Society]] from 1975 to 1980 and was appointed a [[member of the Order of Merit]] in 1977.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=47362 |date=28 October 1977 |page=13613}}</ref>

In 1981, Todd became a founding member of the [[World Cultural Council]].<ref>{{cite web | title = About Us | publisher = [[World Cultural Council]] | url = http://www.consejoculturalmundial.org/about-us/ | access-date = 8 November 2016}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==

In 1937, Todd married Alison Sarah Dale (d.1987), daughter of Nobel Prize winner [[Henry Hallett Dale|Sir Henry Dale]], who, as Todd did, served as President of the [[Royal Society of London]].

Lord and Lady Todd had a son and two daughters:

* The Hon. Dr Alexander Henry Todd (b. 1939), m. 1967 Joan Margaret Koester;
* The Hon. Helen Jean (b. 1941), m. 1963 Professor Philip Edgar Brown, DPhil (Oxon)<ref>[https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/people/profile/philipbrown2.html www.ncl.ac.uk]</ref>, and has two children;
* The Hon. Hilary Alison Todd (b. 1946).<ref>[https://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com]</ref>

Lord Todd died in Cambridge on 10 January 1997 at the age of 89 following a heart attack.

==Honours==
Todd was honoured as a Nieuwland Lecturer at the [[University of Notre Dame]] in 1948,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Vitamins, coenzymes and nucleotides; a series of lectures presented at the University of Notre Dame on October 22, 25 and 27, 1948.|last=Todd|first=Alexander R|date=1949|publisher=University of Notre Dame|location=Notre Dame, Ind.|language=en|oclc = 6142088}}</ref> an Arthur D. Little Visiting Professor at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in 1954,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chemistry.mit.edu/giving-alumni/donor-profiles/postdoc-ty-shen-honors-his-wife|title=Postdoc T.Y. Shen Honors his Wife {{!}} MIT Department of Chemistry|website=chemistry.mit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915130515/http://chemistry.mit.edu/giving-alumni/donor-profiles/postdoc-ty-shen-honors-his-wife|archive-date=15 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a Hitchcock Lecturer at [[University of California, Berkeley]], in 1957.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gradlectures.berkeley.edu/lecture/nucleotide-co-enzymes/|title=Nucleotide Co-Enzymes: A Study in Synthesis {{!}} Berkeley Graduate Lectures|website=gradlectures.berkeley.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref>

[[Knight Bachelor|Knighted]] as Sir Alexander Todd in 1954<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40227 |date=9 July 1954 |page=4026}}</ref> he was elevated as a [[Life Peer]] on 16 April 1962, being created '''Baron Todd''' of [[Trumpington, Cambridgeshire|Trumpington]] in the [[County of Cambridge]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=42651 |date=17 April 1962 |page=3185}}</ref>

Lord Todd, Master of the [[Worshipful Company of Salters]] (1961/62) and then [[List of masters of Christ's College, Cambridge|Master of Christ's College]] (1963–78), is commemorated by a [[blue plaque]] erected by the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]] at the Department of Chemistry in the University of Cambridge.<ref>[https://alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk/lord-todd www.alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk]</ref>

{{Infobox COA wide
|escutcheon = Gules a Chevron between in chief two Foxes' Masks and in base a Serpent embowed biting the tail Or.
|coronet = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|35px]] [[Coronet|Coronet of a Baron]]
|crest = In front of an Open Book Proper bound Or a Fox passant guardant Gules.
|supporters = [[Dexter and sinister|Dexter]] an Ounce and [[Dexter and sinister|Sinister]] a Fox each Sable bezanty and gorged with a Ducal Coronet with chain reflexed over the back Or pendant from the coronet by a like chain an Escutcheon Blue celeste.
|motto = ''Faire Sans Dire''
|orders = Suspended below the [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|Shield]] by its [[Phaleristics|ribbon]], the [[insignia]] of the [[Member of the Order of Merit|Order of Merit]]: <br/>[[File:Medal of the Order of Merit (United Kingdom).svg|75px]]
|other_elements = As [[Master craftsman|Master Salter]] and then as [[List of masters of Christ's College, Cambridge|Master of Christ's College, Cambridge]], Lord Todd [[Impalement (heraldry)|impale]]d his arms of office (''dexter'') with his family [[coat of arms|arms]] (''sinister''):<br>[[File:SaltersCompany Arms.svg|35px]],[[File:Christ's College, Cambridge arms.svg|35px]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=1973}}</ref>}}


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last=Todd | first=Alexander | title=A Time to Remember | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=3 December 2009 | isbn=978-0-521-12673-1}}
*{{citation|title=Christ's: A Cambridge College Over Five Centuries|first=David|last= Reynolds|authorlink=David Reynolds (English historian)
|publisher=Macmillan|year= 2005|isbn=0-333-98988-0}}: "The Era of Todd, Plumb and Snow", by Sir [[David Cannadine]].
*{{citation|first=Alexander|last=Todd|title=A time to remember: the autobiography of a chemist|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1983}}
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-lord-todd-1283405.html Obituary] in [[the Independent]]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/15/world/lord-todd-89-a-nobelist-for-work-on-nucleic-acids.html Obituary] in the [[New York Times]]


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Atherton–Todd reaction]]
* [[History of RNA biology]]
* [[History of RNA biology]]
* [[List of RNA biologists]]
* [[List of RNA biologists]]
* [[List of presidents of the Royal Society]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation|title=Christ's: A Cambridge College Over Five Centuries|first=David|last= Reynolds|author-link=David Reynolds (English historian)
|publisher=Macmillan|year= 2005|isbn=0-333-98988-0}}: "The Era of Todd, Plumb and Snow", by Sir [[David Cannadine]].


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
* [http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1957/todd-bio.html Nobel Foundation biography]
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-lord-todd-1283405.html Obituary] in [[the Independent]]
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1957/todd-lecture.html Synthesis in the Study of Nucleotides], Todd's Nobel lecture
* [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/15/world/lord-todd-89-a-nobelist-for-work-on-nucleic-acids.html Obituary] in ''[[The New York Times]]''
* {{citation | title=Interviews with Nobel Prize winning scientists: Lord Alexander Todd | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/scientists/10601.shtml | year=c. 1985 | publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation }}. Video of an interviewed with [[Lewis Wolpert]]. Duration 37 minutes.
*{{Nobelprize|name=Lord Todd}} including the Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1957 ''Synthesis in the Study of Nucleotides''
*{{NPG name}}
*{{citation | title=Interviews with Nobel Prize winning scientists: Lord Alexander Todd | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/scientists/10601.shtml | year=c. 1985 | publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation }}. Video of an interviewed with [[Lewis Wolpert]]. Duration 37 minutes.
*[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1874 The Papers of Lord Todd] held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]]


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{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{1957 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Royal Society presidents 1900s}}
{{Royal Society presidents 1900s}}
{{Copley Medallists 1951–2000}}
{{1702 Chairs of Chemistry (University of Cambridge)}}
{{Founding members of the World Cultural Council}}
{{Authority control}}


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| NAME = Todd, Alexander R.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Scottish biochemist
| DATE OF BIRTH = 2 October 1907
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Cathcart, Glasgow]]
| DATE OF DEATH = 10 January 1997
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Oakington, Cambridgeshire]]
}}
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Revision as of 02:14, 10 July 2024

The Right Honourable
The Lord Todd
OM FRS FRSE
Alexander Todd in 1957
Born
Alexander Robertus Todd

(1907-10-02)2 October 1907
Cathcart, Scotland
Died10 January 1997(1997-01-10) (aged 89)
Oakington, England
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
University of Frankfurt am Main
Oriel College, Oxford
AwardsTilden Prize (1940)
Davy Medal (1949)
Royal Medal (1955)
Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1957)
Paul Karrer Gold Medal (1963)
Copley Medal (1970)
Lomonosov Gold Medal (1978)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, Biochemistry
InstitutionsLister Institute
University of Edinburgh
University of London
University of Manchester
University of Cambridge
University of Strathclyde
Hatfield Polytechnic
Doctoral advisorWalter Borsche, Sir Robert Robinson
Doctoral studentsJ. Rodney Quayle

Alexander Robertus Todd, Baron Todd OM FRS FRSE[1] (2 October 1907 – 10 January 1997), was a British biochemist whose research on the structure and synthesis of nucleotides, nucleosides, and nucleotide coenzymes gained him the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1957.

Early life and education

Todd was born at Cathcart in outer Glasgow, the son of Alexander Todd, JP, a clerk with the Glasgow Subway, and his wife, Jane Lowry.[2]

He attended Allan Glen's School and graduated from the University of Glasgow with a bachelor's degree (BSc) in 1928. He received a doctorate (Dr Phil.nat.) from Goethe University Frankfurt in 1931 for his thesis on the chemistry of the bile acids.

Todd was awarded an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851,[3] and, after studying at Oriel College, Oxford, he gained another doctorate (DPhil) in 1933.

Career

Todd held posts with the Lister Institute, the University of Edinburgh (staff, 1934–1936) and the University of London, where he was appointed Reader in biochemistry.

In 1938, Alexander Todd spent six months as a visiting professor at California Institute of Technology, eventually declining an offer of faculty position.[4][5] Todd became the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry and director of the Chemical Laboratories of the University of Manchester in 1938, where he began working on nucleosides, compounds that form the structural units of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).

In 1944, he was appointed to the 1702 Chair of Chemistry in the University of Cambridge, which he held until his retirement in 1971.[6] In 1949, he synthesised adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). Todd served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago in Autumn 1948[7] and University of Sydney in 1950.[4][8][9]

In 1955, he helped elucidate the structure of vitamin B12, although the final formula and definite structure was determined by Dorothy Hodgkin and her team, and later worked on the structure and synthesis of vitamin B1 and vitamin E, the anthocyanins (the pigments of flowers and fruits) from insects (aphids, beetles) and studied alkaloids found in cannabis. He served as chairman of the Government of the United Kingdom's advisory committee on scientific policy from 1952 to 1964.

He is credited as the first person to synthesize H4-CBD and H2-CBD from Cannabidiol by hydrogenation as early as 1940.[10]

Elected a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge in 1944, he served as Master from 1963 to 1978. Lord Todd became the first Chancellor of the new University of Strathclyde in 1965, and a visiting professor at Hatfield Polytechnic (1978–1986). Among his many honours, including over 40 honorary degrees, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1942, a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1955,[11] a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957,[12] and the American Philosophical Society in 1965.[13] He was President of the Royal Society from 1975 to 1980 and was appointed a member of the Order of Merit in 1977.[14]

In 1981, Todd became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.[15]

Personal life and death

In 1937, Todd married Alison Sarah Dale (d.1987), daughter of Nobel Prize winner Sir Henry Dale, who, as Todd did, served as President of the Royal Society of London.

Lord and Lady Todd had a son and two daughters:

  • The Hon. Dr Alexander Henry Todd (b. 1939), m. 1967 Joan Margaret Koester;
  • The Hon. Helen Jean (b. 1941), m. 1963 Professor Philip Edgar Brown, DPhil (Oxon)[16], and has two children;
  • The Hon. Hilary Alison Todd (b. 1946).[17]

Lord Todd died in Cambridge on 10 January 1997 at the age of 89 following a heart attack.

Honours

Todd was honoured as a Nieuwland Lecturer at the University of Notre Dame in 1948,[18] an Arthur D. Little Visiting Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954,[4][19] and a Hitchcock Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley, in 1957.[4][20]

Knighted as Sir Alexander Todd in 1954[21] he was elevated as a Life Peer on 16 April 1962, being created Baron Todd of Trumpington in the County of Cambridge.[22]

Lord Todd, Master of the Worshipful Company of Salters (1961/62) and then Master of Christ's College (1963–78), is commemorated by a blue plaque erected by the Royal Society of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry in the University of Cambridge.[23]

Coat of arms of Alexander R. Todd
Coronet
Coronet of a Baron
Crest
In front of an Open Book Proper bound Or a Fox passant guardant Gules.
Escutcheon
Gules a Chevron between in chief two Foxes' Masks and in base a Serpent embowed biting the tail Or.
Supporters
Dexter an Ounce and Sinister a Fox each Sable bezanty and gorged with a Ducal Coronet with chain reflexed over the back Or pendant from the coronet by a like chain an Escutcheon Blue celeste.
Motto
Faire Sans Dire
Orders
Suspended below the Shield by its ribbon, the insignia of the Order of Merit:
Other elements
As Master Salter and then as Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, Lord Todd impaled his arms of office (dexter) with his family arms (sinister):
,[24]

Bibliography

  • Todd, Alexander (3 December 2009). A Time to Remember. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-12673-1.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brown, D. M.; Kornberg, H. (2000). "Alexander Robertus Todd, O.M., Baron Todd of Trumpington. 2 October 1907 – 10 January 1997: Elected F.R.S. 1942". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 46: 515. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1999.0099. S2CID 73076704.
  2. ^ Brown, Daniel M.; Kornberg, Hans (2000). "Alexander Robertus Todd, O. M., Baron Todd of Trumpington. 2 October 1907–10 January 1997". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 46 (–1): 517–532. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1999.0130. JSTOR 770414.
  3. ^ 1851 Royal Commission Archives
  4. ^ a b c d "Lord Todd – Biographical". www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. ^ Kay, Lily E. (3 December 1992). The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-028161-8.
  6. ^ Archer, Mary D.; Haley, Christopher D. (2005), The 1702 chair of chemistry at Cambridge: transformation and change, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-82873-2, Chapter 9: Alexander Todd, p 233
  7. ^ Todd, Alexander (17 November 1983). A Time to Remember: The Autobiography of a Chemist. Cambridge University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-521-25593-7.
  8. ^ Conn, Eric E. (2008). "Our Work with Cyanogenic Plants". Annual Review of Plant Biology. 59: 1–19. doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092924. PMID 17988213.
  9. ^ "ChemNEWS (FACULTY OF SCIENCE)" (PDF). The University of Sydney.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1940/jr/jr9400000649
  11. ^ "Alexander R. Todd of Trumpington". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Alexander Robertus Todd". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  13. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  14. ^ "No. 47362". The London Gazette. 28 October 1977. p. 13613.
  15. ^ "About Us". World Cultural Council. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  16. ^ www.ncl.ac.uk
  17. ^ www.burkespeerage.com
  18. ^ Todd, Alexander R (1949). Vitamins, coenzymes and nucleotides; a series of lectures presented at the University of Notre Dame on October 22, 25 and 27, 1948. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame. OCLC 6142088.
  19. ^ "Postdoc T.Y. Shen Honors his Wife | MIT Department of Chemistry". chemistry.mit.edu. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Nucleotide Co-Enzymes: A Study in Synthesis | Berkeley Graduate Lectures". gradlectures.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  21. ^ "No. 40227". The London Gazette. 9 July 1954. p. 4026.
  22. ^ "No. 42651". The London Gazette. 17 April 1962. p. 3185.
  23. ^ www.alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk
  24. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1973.

Further reading

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Academic offices
Preceded by Professor of Organic Chemistry, Cambridge University
1944–1972 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 32nd Master of Christ's College, Cambridge
1963–1978 		Succeeded by
Professional and academic associations
Preceded by 54th President of the Royal Society
1975–1980 		Succeeded by
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