Professor John Langley awarded Royal Society of Chemistry Knox Medal for 2025

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Separation Science Interest Group has announced that Professor John Langley FRSC has been selected for the Knox Medal, the Group’s most prestigious honour, in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contributions to separation science. 

Emeritus Professor Langley, who retired in 2024, had been head of the University of Southampton’s chromatography–mass spectrometry facility within its School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He also served as Head of Characterisation and Analytics in the same school. During his career at Southampton, he established his own research group and addressed mass spectrometry challenges across the chemical sciences.

Alongside his pioneering research in supercritical fluid, liquid and gas chromatography and their applications in petrochemicals and renewable fuels, Professor Langley has been an advocate for open access science and a mentor to early career researchers. His leadership roles have included service as Chair of the British Mass Spectrometry Society, Chair of the RSC Separation Science Group, and President of the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation between 2018 and 2022.

Professor Langley continues to chair the RSC Separation Science Group, is a Chartered Chemist, a Chartered Scientist, and a Fellow of the RSC. Most recently Professor Langley was the chair of the scientific organising committee of the Solutions in Science (SinS 2025) conference this July in Brighton, UK.

The Knox Medal, formally known as the Knox Award, honours individuals who have made innovative or influential contributions to separation science. It is conferred at the discretion of the Separation Science Group when a candidate of sufficiently high standing is identified.

Established in 2008, the award commemorates Professor John H. Knox (1927–2018), the University of Edinburgh chemist who pioneered the field of reaction kinetics.

Past recipients include Professor Jim Jorgenson (2018), Professor Peter Myers (2017), Professor Keith Bartle (2015), Professor Peter Schoenmakers (2014), Professor Ian Wilson (2012), Professor Chang Kee Lim (2011) and Professor Pat Sandra (2009).