Vernon Gibson was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire and educated at The King's School, Grantham followed by the University of Sheffield where he studied Chemistry and graduated with a First Class Special Honours degree in 1980. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford in 1983 for research supervised by Malcolm LH Green FRS. He then spent two years as a NATO postdoctoral research fellow with the US chemist, John E Bercaw at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Gibson was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence from 2012 to 2016 and returned as interim MoD CSA in 2023/24. He was Chief Chemist at BP plc from 2008 to 2012. Prior to this he was The Sir Edward Frankland Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Imperial College London where his research interests extended from fundamental studies on metal complexes and their use to access new materials along with discoveries of new catalyst systems for the production of commercially relevant polymers.
Professional position
- Executive Chair, BP International Centre for Advanced Materials, University of Manchester
- Formerly Chief Scientific Adviser, Ministry of Defence
- Honorary Professor in Science and Engineering, University of Manchester
- Member, BP Technology Advisory Council
- Visiting Professor, University of Oxford
Subject groups
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Chemistry
Chemistry, materials, Chemistry, applied, Chemistry, inorganic
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Other
Science policy
