Dr Roger Roberts, 1938 – 2023

The funeral of Dr Roger Roberts will be held at Colchester Crematorium at 1.45pm on Thursday 25 January 2024.

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Dr Roberts was a member of the Department of Chemistry from the mid-1960s through to the 1990s.

He joined the University of Essex after completing his PhD at UCL under the supervision of the eminent organic chemist Professor Edward Hughes. At Essex, he was promoted to Reader and when the Department closed he remained in post, helping to teach the remaining honours students of chemistry and to complete research projects on which he was engaged.

Professor Michael Wilson, who worked alongside Dr Roberts in the Department of Chemistry, said: “I knew Roger as a colleague, he was a first class academic , and possessed a dry sense of humour. Roger was himself an eminent synthetic organic chemist with a particular interest in Organometallic Chemistry. He used a range of spectroscopic techniques in his research, including Mossbauer Spectroscopy for the study of Iron-containing organometallic compounds.

“He was a dedicated teacher and was famed for the extensive handouts he prepared for students attending his lectures. This was often the subject of skits in the Department's Christmas pantomime run by the students.”

Roger was a very accomplished pianist and could often be found practicing in the music room of the University. He would often play the piano at Christmas parties. He was also an excellent cricketer, a classy batsman.

Alongside his musical and sporting talents, he was also a good linguist able to deliver lectures in French and had a working knowledge of German. He was also a keen cyclist - cycling to work, come rain or shine.

Following retirement he became an avid walker and led many groups in the area, helping them discover the Essex and Suffolk countryside.