Jack Passmore obtained a BSc (hons, Bristol U.K.) in 1963 and a Postgraduate Diploma of Education in 1964 before completing his PhD (U.B.C) with Neil Bartlett in 1967. His postdoctoral work was with Ron Gillespie at McMaster. In 1969 he was appointed as assistant professor at the University of New Brunswick, promoted to full professor in 1978, and made Professor Emeritus and awarded the U.N.B. Distinguished Service award in 2007.
He was awarded the DSc by Bristol University (U.K) in 1984, elected a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.) in 1984 and 1990 respectively. Jack was guest professor at Hebrew University, Jerusalem in 1983, was a Resident University Fellow at Saint Mary’s College, Durham University in 1990 and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford University in 1996-7.
He received Humbolt Fellowships in 1977, 1989 and 2001 held at the University of Würzburg, Berlin Technical University, and the University of Karlsrühe respectively.
The overarching philosophy of Passmore’s research is the simple, quantitative preparation of counter-intuitive compounds that exhibit novel bonding and unusual physical properties. He has focused primarily on the preparation and chemistry of homopolyatomic cations of the heavier group 16-17 elements, as well as on sulphur-nitrogen radicals and multiradicals, and has published over 200 research papers.
