Dr William Robert Nigel Williamson
Obituary
Dr William Robert Nigel Williamson, (1925-2023) has passed away at the age of 98. He was born in Gorey, and spent much of his younger life living in rural Ireland as his father worked for the Bank of Ireland the family was posted around the country. He had a difficult early life, his mother died when he was still young. He went to boarding school where he contracted TB, spent four years in bed in Dublin and eventually recovered; however the TB put paid to his continuing to play rugby as a scrum half, at which he had represented Connacht as a school boy when they pulled off a rare victory against Munster. He never complained and always found positives in any situation, probably as a result of these formative experiencs.
Nigel graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1948 in Experimental Science (Chemistry), having obtained a scholarship in the 1940s. He recalled hearing about the scholarship and being absolutely flabbergasted to be chosen as an elite scholar. He was at Trinity contemporaneously with Prof Emeritus Brian McMurry, and indeed they kept up a life-long friendship and communication which only ended with Prof McMurry's passing in 2023.
Nigel went on to doctoral and post-doc work at Liverpool University, where he met his wife Kay, moving to the south of England to take jobs in the pharmaceutical industry, eventually working for Eli Lilly for many years as a research chemist specialising in anti-inflammatory compounds. He published many scientific journal articles, co-authored and edited a seminal textbook, and obtained numerous patents for medicinal compounds. His life was spent investigating complex problems in organic chemistry, which demanded scientific team work and collaboration to which he was temperamentally well-suited, and he moved in rarefied academic and professional circles.
In retirement he maintained his professional interests in medicinal chemistry, regularly attending conferences and scientific meetings at his own expense. He was a lifelong member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and completed 70 years of membership in 2023. He loved his garden, played squash into his 70s, enjoyed travelling and a drink in moderation.
Always a stoical, kind and loving man, Nigel bore the loss of his wife Kay three years ago with quiet dignity. He will be mourned and missed greatly by his children Neil, Graham and their wives Sara and Linda, and by grandchildren Tom, Alex and Matthew.