Professor Martyn Ford died on the 7th of June after a
long and typically determined battle with cancer. Martyn was known to
many scientists around the world through his extensive collaborations
and attendances at conferences. He will be remembered for his exciting
presentations, persistent yet kindly questions and enthusiastic
participation in social events. He will also be remembered, by those who
knew him well, for his strongly held political beliefs. However, what is
probably less well known are Martyn’s achievements in other areas of
life, particularly in music.
As a young man Martyn was a keen sportsman, playing football for a
number of local teams and representing his school and the Isle of Wight
at cross country running. While at Sandown grammar school he formed a
rock and roll band “Les Paysans” and during the early 1960’s he played
bass in an Island band called the Cherokees. As a rhythm guitarist he
played in a band called “Five Alive” and in the late 70’s teamed up with
a former member of Five Alive to form the “Odd Couple”. From 1984 to
1992 Martyn played in “Blue Moon” with his old school friend Brian
Sharpe. For a sample of Martyn singing “High School Confidential”, click
here*.
Following a degree in applied biology and a Ph.D. at Rothamsted
agricultural research centre, Martyn joined Portsmouth Polytechnic,
which became Portsmouth University, where he was to work for the rest of
his life. Martyn was not only a keen and active researcher but was also
an enthusiastic collaborator with industry. Companies that he and his
colleagues worked with include Shell, Unilever, Wellcome, Glaxo,
SmithKline Beecham, AstraZeneca, Dow Elanco and many others. As a direct
result of one of these industrial collaborations, the Centre for
Molecular Design was formed in 1993 to
provide a central facility for research into molecular design.
The Centre has been a great success for the university, producing a
number of keen and able young researchers and attracting over £1.25
million of direct funding over the last five years. It played an
important part in the last HEFCE Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
where the unit “Subjects Allied to Medicine” gained a grade 5 for
international excellence.
In recent years Martyn has been working with Tim Clark, Jon Essex and
Dave Ritchie of the universities of Erlangen, Southampton and Aberdeen
to develop Parashift, a powerful new approach to molecular modelling and
QSAR. This has led to the establishment of a company, Cepos InSilico
Ltd., to make this available commercially.
Martyn lived life to the full. He was almost invariably cheerful and was
an eternal optimist and will be sadly missed by his many friends and
colleagues.
* Taken from the CD “Earthshine” by Blue Moon. The CD is available from Brian Sharpe. Profits from the sale of the CD
will be donated to the Earl Mountbatten hospice.
Dave Livingstone
Last Updated: August 6, 2007
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