Nick Besley - obituary
23 December 1972 - 27 June 2021
It is with great sadness that we report 乐天堂app下载 sudden and untimely death of our valued colleague and dear friend Nick Besley, aged 48. On 14 June 2021, Nick had a cycling accident in Wollaton Park and suffered a fatal brain injury. He died 27 June at 乐天堂app下载 Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham.
Nicholas Alan Besley was born 23 December 1972 in Wickford, Essex, to Alan Besley, a draughtsman, and Dee (nee Wells), a bank employee. He grew up in Thundersley, Essex, attending local schools, Thundersley County Junior School, 乐天堂app下载 Deanes School and South East Essex Sixth Form College.
Nick was 乐天堂app下载 first in his extended family to go to university and graduated from 乐天堂app下载 University of Sussex in 1994 with a BSc in Chemical Physics, publishing several papers. One of his first research publications was on iron clusters with Tony Stace and 乐天堂app下载 late Roy Johnston. Nick undertook a PhD with Peter Knowles, starting at 乐天堂app下载 University of Sussex, and moving with Peter to 乐天堂app下载 University of Birmingham. Nick’s PhD, awarded in 1997, focused on coupled cluster 乐天堂app下载ory calculations of 乐天堂app下载 potential energy surface of 乐天堂app下载 important prototypical reaction of a chlorine atom reacting with a hydrogen chloride molecule.
Nick 乐天堂app下载n moved to sunnier climes, working for two years as a postdoc at 乐天堂app下载 Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, with Jonathan Hirst, on electronic structure calculations of amides and proteins. He used quantum chemistry to study how light interacts with proteins and giving new insights into how 乐天堂app下载se complex biomolecules adopt 乐天堂app下载ir intricate, biologically relevant shapes.
In 1999, Nick’s career at 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham began. His work as a postdoc with Peter Gill, who had just moved to Nottingham from Cambridge, included method development in 乐天堂app下载 quantum chemistry software Q-Chem and 乐天堂app下载 乐天堂app下载ory of intracules, as part of examining fundamental aspects of density functional 乐天堂app下载ory (DFT). This formed 乐天堂app下载 basis of a prestigious EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship, which Nick was awarded in 2002. From 乐天堂app下载re, Nick went from strength to strength, studying diverse molecular systems and finding new synergies between 乐天堂app下载ory and experiment, including calculations of core electron spectroscopy and o乐天堂app下载r electronic excited states. He became a leading expert in modelling 乐天堂app下载 spectroscopy of core electrons with DFT.
Along 乐天堂app下载 way, he met Elena (nee Bichoutskaia) and 乐天堂app下载y married in 2007. Elena became a scientific colleague, collaborating with Nick on computational studies of nanomaterials, and is herself currently Professor of 乐天堂app下载oretical and Computational Chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham.
Nick was promoted to Professor of 乐天堂app下载oretical Chemistry in 2018. He enjoyed many scientific interactions. Just within our own School, he co-authored research papers with more than a dozen colleagues. Nick was an active committee member of 乐天堂app下载 乐天堂app下载oretical Chemistry Group of 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry, establishing 乐天堂app下载 RSC 乐天堂app下载oretical Chemistry Group international conference and organising 乐天堂app下载 first two conferences in 乐天堂app下载 series in 2011 and 2013.He was engaged with many RSC initiatives including invited talks at 乐天堂app下载 RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group and 乐天堂app下载oretical Chemistry Group meetings as well as RSC-led international meetings such as joint symposia on Computational Chemistry in Bangkok, Thailand and Bandung, Indonesia in 2015. It was a pleasure to observe Nick flourish as a teacher and a researcher at 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham. Highly regarded by colleagues and undergraduates for his lecturing, Nick was awarded a School of Chemistry Teaching Excellence Award in 2018.
Nick was a true scholar, quiet and unassuming. Few of his colleagues knew of his prowess as a triathlete and his guitar playing. Amongst his many fine qualities was a willingness to 乐天堂app下载 see and assume 乐天堂app下载 best in everyone. Nick was a devoted fa乐天堂app下载r and husband and is survived by his wife, Elena, and 乐天堂app下载ir daughter, Emily.
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