Bernard Mouat Jones

Bernard Mouat Jones (27 November 1882 – 11 September 1953) was a British chemist, notable for identifying the chemical in mustard gas and the first scientist to be Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds.^[1]

Jones was born in Streatham, London, and in 1904 graduated with first class honours in chemistry, mineralogy, and crystallography from Balliol College, Oxford. From 1906 he taught chemistry at Government College, Lahore, returning to Britain in 1913 to take up the post of assistant professor at Imperial College of Science and Technology.^[1]

In the First World War he enlisted as a private, but rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and director of the chemical laboratory which had been set up in response to the German use of poison gas. His analytical skills helped to identify the composition of new gases, notably mustard gas. He was awarded the DSO.^[1]

After the war he returned to academic life, as a chemistry professor at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, then in 1921 Principal of Manchester Municipal College of Technology. From 1938 to 1948 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds. This included the Second World War, in which he also served in the Home Guard and for six months was in charge of the chemical warfare establishment at Porton Down.^[1]

He never married, and died in Farnham, Surrey on 11 September 1953.

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