Editing Harry Kroto

{{Short description|English chemist (1939–2016)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = Sir
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}}
| image             = Harry Kroto.jpg
| caption           = Kroto in 2010
| birth_name        = Harold Walter Krotoschiner
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1939|10|7|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Wisbech]], Cambridgeshire, England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2016|4|30|1939|10|7|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Lewes]], East Sussex, England
| spouse            = {{marriage|Margaret Henrietta Hunter|1963}}
| children          = 2
| field             = [[Chemistry]]
| workplaces        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Florida State University]]
* [[University of Sussex]]
}}
| education         = [[Bolton School]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Sheffield]]
| doctoral_students = [[Perdita Barran]]<ref name=pphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Sussex|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/42707214?style=html|title=Studies of refractory clusters produced from a pulsed arc source|first=Perdita Elizabeth|last=Barran|date=1998|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.244325}}|website=jisc.ac.uk|oclc=53686642|access-date=3 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103210344/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/42707214?style=html|archive-date=3 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| thesis_title      = The spectra of unstable molecules under high resolution
| thesis_year       = 1964
| thesis_url        = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/271097164
| known_for         = [[Buckminsterfullerene]]
| awards            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1996)
* [[Knight Bachelor]] (1996)
* [[Dalton Medal]] (1997)
* [[Michael Faraday Prize]] (2001)
* [[Copley Medal]] (2004)
}}
| website           = {{URL|kroto.info}}
| module            = {{Listen |embed= yes |filename= Harry Kroto voice.flac |title= Kroto's voice |type= speech |description= recorded 2014 }}
}}

'''Sir Harold Walter Kroto''' (born '''Harold Walter Krotoschiner'''; 7 October 1939 – 30 April 2016) was an English [[chemist]]. He shared the 1996 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] with [[Robert Curl]] and [[Richard Smalley]] for their discovery of [[fullerene]]s. He was the recipient of many other honors and awards.

Kroto ended his career as the Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry at [[Florida State University]], which he joined in 2004. Prior to this, he spent approximately 40 years at the [[University of Sussex]].<ref name=HeathCurl2016>{{cite journal|last1=Heath|first1=James R.|author-link1=James R. Heath|last2=Curl|first2=Robert F.|author-link2=Robert Curl|title=Harry Kroto (1939–2016) Discoverer of new forms of carbon|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=533|issue=7604|year=2016|pages=470|doi=10.1038/533470a|pmid= 27225112|bibcode=2016Natur.533..470H|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Kroto promoted science education and was a critic of religious faith.

==Early years==
Kroto was born in [[Wisbech]], [[Isle of Ely]], Cambridgeshire, England, to Edith and Heinz Krotoschiner,<ref name="Nobel Autobiography">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1996/kroto/biographical/|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref><ref>[http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Ka-M/Kroto-Harold-Walter.html Harold Walter Kroto Biography – life, family, parents, name, wife, school, mother, young, born, college, time, year, Studied Chemistry in College]. Notablebiographies.com. Retrieved 25 December 2011.</ref> his name being of [[Silesian language|Silesian]] origin.<ref name="nobel">{{cite web|title=Harry Kroto – Autobiography|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/kroto-autobio.html|publisher=The Nobel Foundation|access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> His father's family came from [[Bojanowo]], Poland, and his mother's from Berlin. Both of his parents were born in Berlin and fled to Great Britain in the 1930s as [[refugees]] from Nazi Germany; his father was [[Jews|Jewish]]. Harry was raised in [[Bolton]] while the British authorities interned his father on the [[Isle of Man]] as an [[enemy alien]] during World War II.<ref name="Fleur, Nicholas 2016">"Harold Kroto, Chemist who helped illuminate molecules, dies at 76"], ''The New York Times'', 5 May 2016, pg. B14</ref> Kroto attended [[Bolton School]], where he was a contemporary of the actor [[Ian McKellen]]. In 1955, Harold's father shortened the family name to Kroto.<ref name="Nobel Autobiography"/>

As a child, he became fascinated by a [[Meccano]] set.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Round Peg in a Square World|url=http://vega.org.uk/video/programme/62|website=Vega Science Trust|access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref> Kroto credited Meccano, as well as his aiding his father in the latter's balloon factory after World War II – amongst other things – with developing skills useful in scientific research.<ref name="nobel"/><ref name="Fleur, Nicholas 2016"/> He developed an interest in [[chemistry]], [[physics]], and mathematics in secondary school, and because his [[sixth form]] chemistry teacher ([[Harry Heaney]] – who subsequently became a university professor) felt that the [[University of Sheffield]] had the best chemistry department in the United Kingdom, he went to Sheffield.

Although raised Jewish, Kroto stated that religion never made any sense to him.<ref name="nobel"/> He was a humanist who claimed to have three religions: Amnesty Internationalism, atheism, and humour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.skoltech.ru/tag/kroto/|title=Сколтех &#124; Сколковский институт науки и технологий|website=Сколтех &#124; Сколковский институт науки и технологий}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thesciencenetwork.org/media/videos/30/Transcript.pdf|title=The Science Studio with Sir Harold Kroto}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3096030.Harry_W_Kroto|title=Harry W. Kroto Quotes (Author of Nanotubes and Nanowires)|website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref> He was a distinguished supporter of the [[British Humanist Association]].<ref name="humanist">{{cite web|title=Distinguished supporters|url=http://www.humanism.org.uk/about/people/distinguished-supporters|publisher=British Humanist Association|access-date=21 August 2011|date=2011-04-26}}</ref> In 2003 he was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/signers|title=Humanism and Its Aspirations: Notable Signers|work=Humanism and Its Aspirations: Humanist Manifesto III, a Successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933|publisher=American Humanist Association|access-date=7 September 2017}}</ref>

In 2015, Kroto signed the [[Mainau Declaration|Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change]] on the final day of the 65th [[Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings|Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting]]. The declaration was signed by a total of 76 Nobel Laureates and handed to then-President of the French Republic, [[François Hollande]], as part of the successful [[Paris Climate Change Conference|COP21 climate summit]] in Paris.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mainaudeclaration.org/|title=Mainau Declaration|website=www.mainaudeclaration.org|access-date=2018-01-11}}</ref>

==Education and academic career==
===Education===
Kroto was educated at Bolton School and went to the University of Sheffield in 1958, where he obtained a first-class honours BSc degree in Chemistry (1961) and a PhD in Molecular Spectroscopy (1964).<ref name="Nobel Autobiography" /> During his time at Sheffield he also was the art editor of ''Arrows'' – the university student magazine, played tennis for the university team (reaching the UAU finals twice) and was President of the Student Athletics Council (1963–64). Among other things such as making the first [[phosphaalkenes]] (compounds with carbon phosphorus double bonds), his doctoral studies included unpublished research on [[carbon suboxide]], O=C=C=C=O, and this led to a general interest in [[molecule]]s containing chains of carbon atoms with numerous multiple bonds. He started his work with an interest in [[organic chemistry]], but when he learned about [[spectroscopy]] it inclined him towards [[quantum chemistry]]; he later developed an interest in [[astrochemistry]].<ref name="Nobel Autobiography" />

After obtaining his PhD, Kroto spent two-years as a postdoctoral fellow in the molecular spectroscopy group of [[Gerhard Herzberg]] at the [[National Research Council (Canada)|National Research Council]] in Ottawa, Canada, and the subsequent year (1966–1967) at [[Bell Laboratories]] in New Jersey carrying out Raman studies of liquid phase interactions and worked on quantum chemistry.<ref name="Nobel Autobiography" />

===Research at the University of Sussex===
In 1967, Kroto began teaching and research at the [[University of Sussex]] in England.  During his time at Sussex from 1967 to 1985, he carried out research mainly focused on the spectroscopic studies of new and novel unstable and semi-stable species.  This work resulted in the birth of the various fields of new chemistry involving carbon multiply bonded to second and third row elements e.g. S, Se and P. A particularly important breakthrough (with Sussex colleague John Nixon) was the creation of several new phosphorus species detected by microwave spectroscopy.  This work resulted in the birth of the field(s) of phosphaalkene and phosphaalkyne chemistry.  These species contain carbon double and triple bonded to phosphorus (C=P and C≡P) such as [[cyanophosphaethyne]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The detection of unstable molecules by microwave spectroscopy: phospha-alkenes|journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications|year=1976| doi = 10.1039/C39760000513|issue=13|pages=513–515|last1=Simmons|first1=Nigel P. C.|last2=Nixon|first2=John F.|last3=Kroto|first3=Harold W.|last4=Hopkinson|first4=Michael J.}}</ref>

In 1975, he became a full professor of Chemistry. This coincided with laboratory microwave measurements with Sussex colleague David Walton on long linear carbon chain molecules, leading to radio astronomy observations with Canadian astronomers surprisingly revealing that these unusual carbonaceous species exist in relatively large abundances in interstellar space as well as the outer atmospheres of certain stars – the carbon-rich red giants.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Detection of the Heavy Interstellar Molecule Cyanodiacetylene|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|year=1976|bibcode=1976ApJ...205L.173A |doi=10.1086/182117|volume=205|pages=L173|last1=Avery|first1=L. W.|last2=Broten|first2=N. W.|last3=MacLeod|first3=J. M.|last4=Oka|first4=T.|last5=Kroto|first5=H. W.|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Harold Kroto: University of Sussex|url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/1523|publisher=University of Sussex|access-date=2 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309212213/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/1523|archive-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>

===Discovery of buckminsterfullerene===
[[File:C60 Image for Cover cropped 3.png|thumb|Buckminsterfullerene, C60]]
In 1985, on the basis of the Sussex studies and the stellar discoveries, laboratory experiments (with co-workers [[James R. Heath]], Sean C. O'Brien, Yuan Liu, [[Robert Curl]] and [[Richard Smalley]] at Rice University) which simulated the chemical reactions in the atmospheres of the red giant stars demonstrated that stable [[Buckminsterfullerene|C<sub>60</sub> molecules]] could form spontaneously from a condensing carbon vapour.  The co-investigators directed [[laser]]s at graphite and examined the results.<ref name="C60 publication">{{cite journal|last1=Kroto|first1=H. W.|last2=Heath|first2=J. R.|last3=O'Brien|first3=S. C.|last4=Curl|first4=R. F.|last5=Smalley|first5=R. E.|title=C60: Buckminsterfullerene|journal=Nature|date=14 November 1985|volume=318|issue=6042|pages=162–163|doi=10.1038/318162a0|bibcode=1985Natur.318..162K|s2cid=4314237}}</ref><ref name="ChemLandmark"/><ref name="CHF">{{cite web|title=Richard E. Smalley, Robert F. Curl, Jr., and Harold W. Kroto|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/richard-smalley-robert-curl-harold-kroto|website=Science History Institute |access-date=21 March 2018|date=June 2016}}</ref> The C<sub>60</sub> molecule is a molecule with the same symmetry pattern as a football, consisting of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons of carbon atoms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/77|title=Architects of the Microcosmos|first=Chris|last=Dean|website=Vega Science Trust}}</ref> Kroto named the molecule buckminsterfullerene, after [[Buckminster Fuller]] who had conceived of the [[geodesic dome]]s, as the dome concept had provided a clue to the likely structure of the new species.<ref name="C60 celestial sphere">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/65|title=C60, the Celestial Sphere that Fell to Earth|first=Chris|last=Dean|website=Vega Science Trust}}</ref>

In 1985, the C<sub>60</sub> discovery caused Kroto to shift the focus of his research from spectroscopy in order to probe the consequences of the C<sub>60</sub> structural concept (and prove it correct) and to exploit the implications for chemistry and material science.<ref name=DavidIbberson1991>{{cite journal|last1=David|first1=William I. F.|author-link1=William I. F. David|last2=Ibberson|first2=Richard M.|last3=Matthewman|first3=Judy C.|last4=Prassides|first4=Kosmas|last5=Dennis|first5=T. John S.|last6=Hare|first6=Jonathan P.|last7=Kroto|first7=Harold W.|author-link7=Harry Kroto|last8=Taylor|first8=Roger|last9=Walton|first9=David R. M.|title=Crystal structure and bonding of ordered C60|journal=Nature|volume=353|issue=6340|year=1991|pages=147–149|doi=10.1038/353147a0|bibcode=1991Natur.353..147D|s2cid=4345630}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sir Harold Kroto - Biographical|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/kroto-bio.html|publisher=Nobel Prize|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref>

This research is significant for the discovery of a new [[Allotropy|allotrope]] of carbon known as a [[fullerene]].  Other [[allotropes of carbon]] include [[graphite]], diamond and [[graphene]]. Kroto's 1985 paper entitled "C60:  Buckminsterfullerene", published with colleagues J. R. Heath, S. C. O'Brien, R. F. Curl, and R. E. Smalley, was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, presented to Rice University in 2015.<ref name="Award"/><ref name="Breakthrough"/> The discovery of fullerenes was recognized in 2010 by the designation of a [[National Historic Chemical Landmarks|National Historic Chemical Landmark]] by the [[American Chemical Society]] at the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University in Houston, Texas.<ref name="ChemLandmark"/>

===Research at Florida State University===
In 2004, Kroto left the University of Sussex to take up a new position as Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry at [[Florida State University]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir Harold Kroto FSU Profile|url=http://www.fsu.edu/profiles/kroto/|access-date=29 January 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330064245/http://fsu.edu/profiles/kroto/|archive-date=30 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> At FSU he carried out fundamental research on: Carbon vapour with Professor Alan Marshall;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/tiny-buckyball-grown-around-metal-atom/5071.article|title=Tiny buckyball grown around metal atom|first=Jon|last=Cartwright|date=2012-05-30|website=Chemistry World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/buckyballs-grow-by-gobbling-up-carbon/5062.article|title=Buckyballs grow by gobbling up carbon|first=Hayley|last=Bennett|date=2012-05-28|website=Chemistry World}}</ref> Open framework condensed phase systems with strategically important electrical and magnetic behaviour with Professors Naresh Dalal (FSU) and Tony Cheetham (Cambridge);<ref>{{cite journal|title=Multiferroic Behavior Associated with an Order−Disorder Hydrogen Bonding Transition in Metal−Organic Frameworks (MOFs) with the Perovskite ABX3 Architecture|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|year=2009|doi=10.1021/ja904156s|volume=131|issue=38|pages=13625–13627|pmid=19725496 | last1 = Jain | first1 = P | last2 = Ramachandran | first2 = V | last3 = Clark | first3 = RJ | last4 = Zhou | first4 = HD | last5 = Toby | first5 = BH | last6 = Dalal | first6 = NS | last7 = Kroto | first7 = HW | last8 = Cheetham | first8 = AK}}</ref> and the mechanism of formation and properties of nano-structured systems.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Closed Network Growth of Fullerenes|journal=Nature Communications|year=2012|volume=3|issue=5|doi=10.1038/ncomms1853|pmid=22617295|page=855|bibcode=2012NatCo...3..855D|last1=Dunk|first1=Paul W.|last2=Kaiser|first2=Nathan K.|last3=Hendrickson|first3=Christopher L.|last4=Quinn|first4=John P.|last5=Ewels|first5=Christopher P.|last6=Nakanishi|first6=Yusuke|last7=Sasaki|first7=Yuki|last8=Shinohara|first8=Hisanori|last9=Marshall|first9=Alan G.|last10=Kroto|first10=Harold W.|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/boron-vapour-trail-leads-to-heterofullerenes/5749.article|title=Boron vapour trail leads to heterofullerenes|first=Caryl|last=Richards|date=2012-12-18|website=Chemistry World}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Bottom-up formation of endohedral mono-metallofullerenes is directed by charge transfer|journal=Nature Communications|volume=5|page=5844|doi=10.1038/ncomms6844|pmid=25524825 | last1 = Dunk | first1 = PW | last2 = Mulet-Gas | first2 = M | last3 = Nakanishi | first3 = Y | last4 = Kaiser | first4 = NK | last5 = Rodríguez-Fortea | first5 = A | last6 = Shinohara | first6 = H | last7 = Poblet | first7 = JM | last8 = Marshall | first8 = AG | last9 = Kroto | first9 = HW|bibcode=2014NatCo...5.5844D|date=2014-12-19| doi-access = free }}</ref> In addition, he participated in research initiatives at FSU that probed the astrochemistry of fullerenes, metallofullerenes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in stellar/circumstellar space, as well as their relevance to stardust.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Metallofullerene and Fullerene Formation from Condensing Carbon Gas under Conditions of Stellar Outflows and Implication to Stardust|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|year=2013|doi=10.1073/pnas.1315928110|volume=110|issue=45|pages=18081–18086|pmid=24145444|pmc=3831496 | last1 = Dunk | first1 = PW | last2 = Adjizian | first2 = JJ | last3 = Kaiser | first3 = NK | last4 = Quinn | first4 = JP | last5 = Blakney | first5 = GT | last6 = Ewels | first6 = CP | last7 = Marshall | first7 = AG | last8 = Kroto | first8 = HW|bibcode=2013PNAS..11018081D|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sodium aids metallofullerene formation in stellar outflows |url=http://blog.pnas.org/?p=1298|website=PNAS|publisher=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|access-date=6 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Supernova Chemistry|url=http://www.pnas.org/site/misc/paulDunkPodcast.mp3|website=PNAS Science Session Podcast|publisher=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|access-date=6 June 2015}}</ref>

===Educational outreach and public service===

In 1995, he jointly set up the [[Vega Science Trust]], a UK educational charity that created high quality science films including lectures and interviews with Nobel Laureates, discussion programmes, careers and teaching resources for TV and Internet Broadcast. Vega produced over 280 programmes, that streamed for free from the Vega website which acted as a TV science channel. The trust closed in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vega Science Trust to Close|url=http://www.vega.org.uk/news/details/8|publisher=The Vega Science Trust|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Sir Harold Kroto at CSICON 2011.JPG|thumb|upright|Sir Harold Kroto at [[CSICon]] 2011]]

In 2009, Kroto spearheaded the development of a second science education initiative, [[Geoset]].<ref name="GEOSET home">{{Cite web|url=https://geoset.fsu.edu/|title=GEOSET Studio|website=geoset.fsu.edu}}</ref> Short for the Global Educational Outreach for Science, Engineering and Technology, GEOSET is an ever-growing online cache of recorded teaching modules that are freely downloadable to educators and the public. The program aims to increase knowledge of the sciences by creating a global repository of educational videos and presentations from leading universities and institutions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geoset.fsu.edu/Productions/Opening-Minds-2013|title=5 days of opening minds (2013)}}</ref>

In 2003, prior to the Blair/Bush [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]] on the pretext that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Kroto initiated and organised the publication of a letter to be signed by a dozen UK Nobel Laureates and published in ''The Times''.  It was composed by his friend the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate the late [[Joseph Rotblat|Sir Joseph Rotblat]] and published in ''The Times'' on 15 February 2003.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nobel laureates against the war|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/nobel-laureates-against-the-war-6cxlwdpqzs3|newspaper=[[The Times]]|access-date=8 September 2014|date=2003-02-15|last1=Others|first1=From Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat}}</ref>

He wrote a set of articles, mostly opinion pieces, from 2002 to 2003 for the [[Times Higher Education Supplement]], a weekly UK publication.<ref>{{cite web|title=Harry Kroto|work=Times Higher Education|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/harry-kroto/177494.article|access-date=6 September 2014|date=2003-06-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Abstracts of Kroto's Times Higher Education Articles|url=http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/author/times-higher-education-supplement-2003/harry-kroto/|access-date=6 September 2014}}</ref>

From 2002 to 2004, Kroto served as president of the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]].<ref>[http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/History/rscpresidents/1980toPD.asp RSC Presidents 1980 to Present Day]. Rsc.org. Retrieved 25 December 2011.</ref> In 2004, he was appointed to the [[Francis Eppes]] Professorship in the chemistry department at Florida State University, carrying out research in [[nanoscience]] and [[nanotechnology]].<ref>{{cite web|title=FSU Profile|url=http://www.fsu.edu/profiles/kroto/|access-date=29 January 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330064245/http://fsu.edu/profiles/kroto/|archive-date=30 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He spoke at [[Auburn University]] on 29 April 2010, and at the [[James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy]] at [[Rice University]] with [[Robert Curl]] on 13 October 2010.<ref>[http://bakerinstitute.org/events/civic-scientist-lecture-sir-harry-w.-kroto-ph.d.-and-robert-f.-curl-jr.-ph.d James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Rice University | Events | Civic Scientist Lecture – Robert F. Curl Jr., Ph.D., and Sir Harry W. Kroto, Ph.D] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014021011/http://bakerinstitute.org/events/civic-scientist-lecture-sir-harry-w.-kroto-ph.d.-and-robert-f.-curl-jr.-ph.d |date=14 October 2010 }}. Bakerinstitute.org (13 October 2010). Retrieved 25 December 2011.</ref>

In October 2010 Kroto participated in the [[USA Science and Engineering Festival]]'s Lunch with a Laureate program where middle and high school students had the opportunity to engage in an informal conversation with a Nobel Prize–winning scientist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate |title=Lunch with a Laureate |access-date=2010-12-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421005023/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate |archive-date=21 April 2010}}. usasciencefestival.org</ref>

He spoke at [[Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala|Mahatma Gandhi University]], at [[Kottayam]], in [[Kerala]], India in January 2011, where he was an 'Erudite' special invited lecturer of the Government of Kerala, from 5 to 11 January 2011.<ref>[http://mgu.ac.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=555&Itemid=719 Erudite]. Mgu.ac.in. Retrieved 25 December 2011.</ref>

Kroto spoke at [[CSICon]] 2011,<ref>{{cite web|title=SCIcon 2011 Speakers |url=http://csiconference.org/speakers#harold_kroto |access-date=12 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414212052/http://csiconference.org/speakers |archive-date=14 April 2012 }}</ref> a convention "dedicated to scientific inquiry and critical thinking" organized by the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] in association with ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'' magazine and the [[Center for Inquiry]].<ref>{{cite web|title=CSIcon Official Site|url=http://csiconference.org/|access-date=12 April 2012}}</ref>
He also delivered the IPhO 2012 lecture at the International Physics Olympiad held in Estonia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uttv.ee/naita?id=12604|title=UTTV|website=www.uttv.ee}}</ref>

In 2014, Kroto spoke at the [[Starmus Festival]] in the Canary Islands, delivering a lecture about his life in science, chemistry, and design.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir Harold Kroto and David Eicher join Starmus Festival Board|url=http://www.starmus.com/harlod_eincher/|publisher=STARMUS Festival|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1963, Kroto married Margaret Henrietta Hunter, also a student of the University of Sheffield at the time. The couple had two sons. Throughout his life, Kroto was a lover of film, theatre, art, and music and published his own artwork.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kroto.info/Graphics/index.html |title=Welcome to Harry Kroto's Personal Website |access-date=28 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008140027/http://kroto.info/Graphics/index.html |archive-date=8 October 2013 }}</ref>

===Personal beliefs===
Kroto was a "devout atheist"<ref name="nobel"/> who thought that beliefs in immortality derive from lack of the courage to accept human mortality.<ref name="Nobel Autobiography" /> He was a patron of the [[British Humanist Association]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/patrons/professor-sir-harold-kroto-frs/|title=Professor Sir Harold Kroto FRS|access-date=2 May 2016|publisher=[[British Humanist Association]]|date=2012-05-24}}</ref> He was a supporter of [[Amnesty International]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3096030.Harry_Kroto|title=Harry W. Kroto quotes|website=Goodreads|access-date=31 August 2014}}</ref> He referred to his view that [[Dogma|religious dogma]] causes people to accept unethical or inhumane actions: "The only mistake [[Bernard Madoff|Bernie Madoff]] made was to promise returns in ''this'' life."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/01/religion-euthanasia|title=The curse of religion|author=AC Grayling|newspaper=The Guardian|date=July 2009}}</ref> He held that scientists had a responsibility to work for the benefit of the entire species.<ref>{{cite web|title=Think About It: Nobel Prize Winner Sir Harold Kroto Throws Down the Gauntlet|url=http://www.eln.slas.org/story/1/74-think-about-it-nobel-prize-winner-sir-harold-kroto-throws-down-the-gauntlet-|access-date=6 September 2014|archive-date=13 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413101352/http://www.eln.slas.org/story/1/74-think-about-it-nobel-prize-winner-sir-harold-kroto-throws-down-the-gauntlet-|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 15 September 2010, Kroto, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''[[The Guardian]]'', stating their opposition to [[Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom|Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/15/harsh-judgments-on-pope-religion|title=Letters: Harsh judgments on the pope and religion|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 September 2010 | location=London | date=15 September 2010}}</ref>

Kroto was an early Signatory of [[Asteroid Day]].<ref name="Observer">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/13/asteroid-day-anniversary-tunguska-siberia|title=Asteroid Day tries to save life as we know it|work=The Observer|date=13 June 2015|access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="Asteroid Day">{{cite web|url=http://asteroidday.org/page/harold-kroto/|title=Sir Harry Kroto Official page on Asteroid Day|publisher=Asteroid Day|access-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604140426/http://asteroidday.org/page/harold-kroto/|archive-date=4 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2008, Kroto was critical of [[Michael Reiss]] for directing the teaching of [[creationism]] alongside evolution.<ref>{{cite news |first=Harry |last=Kroto |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/sep/28/religion |title=Blinded by a divine light |work=The Guardian |date=28 September 2008 |access-date=12 May 2016 }}</ref>

Kroto praised the increase of organized online information as an "Educational Revolution" and named it as the "GooYouWiki" world referring to Google, YouTube and Wikipedia.<ref>{{cite web |first=Barry |last=Ray |url=http://news.fsu.edu/More-FSU-News/24-7-News-Archive/2012/October/Kroto-to-lead-discussion-The-GooYouWiki-World-and-the-Educational-Revolution |title=FSU professor, Nobel laureate Kroto to lead discussion, 'The GooYouWiki World and the Educational Revolution' |publisher=FSU |date=16 October 2012 |access-date=12 May 2016 }}</ref>

===Graphic design===
The discovery of buckminsterfullerene caused Kroto to postpone his dream of setting up an art and graphic design studio – he had been doing graphics semi-professionally for years. However, Kroto's graphic design work resulted in numerous posters, letterheads, logos, book/journal covers, medal design, etc. He produced artwork after receiving graphic awards in the Sunday Times Book Jacket Design<ref name="krotolab">{{cite web|title=Welcome to the Kroto Lab|url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/krotolab/|publisher=University of Sussex|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref> competition (1964) and the Moet Hennesy/Louis Vuitton Science pour l'Art Prize (1994).<ref name="krotolab" /> Other notable graphical works include the design of the Nobel UK Stamp for Chemistry<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stamp-photos.com/picture/number144.asp|title=大阳城2021集团娱乐网址-官方版首页下载|website=www.stamp-photos.com}}</ref> (2001) and features at the Royal Academy (London) Summer Exhibition (2004).

===Death and reactions===

Kroto died on 30 April 2016 in [[Lewes]], [[East Sussex]], from complications of [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] at the age of 76.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/science/harold-kroto-nobel-prize-winning-chemist-is-dead-at-76.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/science/harold-kroto-nobel-prize-winning-chemist-is-dead-at-76.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Harold Kroto, Nobel Prize Winning Chemist, Is Dead at 76|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=7 May 2016|date=4 May 2016|author=Nicholas St. Fluer}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="guardianObit">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/02/sir-harry-kroto-nobel-prize-winning-chemist-dies-carbon|title=Sir Harry Kroto, Nobel prize-winning chemist, dies at 76|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2 May 2016|author=Davis, Nicola|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref>

[[Richard Dawkins]] wrote a memorial for Kroto in which he mentioned Kroto's "passionate hatred of religion."<ref>{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |url=https://richarddawkins.net/2016/05/harry-kroto/ |title=Harry Kroto |publisher=Richard Dawkins Foundation |date=2 May 2016 |access-date=10 May 2016 }}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' described him as "(spending much of his later life) jetting around the world to extol scientific education in a world he saw as blinded by religion."<ref>{{cite news |first=James R. |last=Hagerty |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/harry-kroto-won-a-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-1939-2016-1462549608 |title=Harry Kroto Helped Spur Wave of Research in Nanotechnology: 1939–2016 |work=The Wall Street Journal|date=6 May 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016 }}</ref> Slate's [[Zack Kopplin]] related a story about how Kroto gave him advice and support to fight Louisiana's creationism law, a law that allows public school science teachers to attack evolution and how Kroto defended the scientific findings of global warming.<ref>{{cite news |first=Zack |last=Kopplin |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/05/nobel_laureate_harry_kroto_was_more_than_just_a_scientist_he_was_a_mentor.html |title=Lessons Learned From Nobel Laureate Harry Kroto |work=Slate |date=5 May 2016 |access-date=11 May 2016 }}</ref> In an obituary published in the journal ''Nature'', [[Robert Curl]] and [[James R. Heath]] described Kroto as having an "[[imp]]ish sense of humour similar to that of the British comedy group [[Monty Python]]".<ref name=HeathCurl2016/>

==Honours and awards==
Kroto won numerous awards, individually and with others:

===Major awards===
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
*[[Tilden Prize|Tilden Lecturer]] of the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]], 1981–82<ref name= Awards>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q97sFDWclTwC&pg=PA587 | title=Surface Engineered Surgical Tools and Medical Devices | publisher=Springer Science & Business Media | first1= Mark J.| last1= Jackson| first2= Waqar| last2= Ahmed | year=2007 | page=587 | isbn=9780387270289}}</ref>
*Elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1990|Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS) in 1990<ref name= frs-web>{{cite web| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150316060617/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/ |archive-date= 2015-03-16|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/ |publisher= [[Royal Society]]| location=London|title=Fellows of the Royal Society}}</ref><ref name=fellows>{{cite web| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151117013241/https://royalsociety.org/people/harold-kroto-11773/ |archive-date=2015-11-17 |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/harold-kroto-11773/ |title=Sir Harold Kroto FRS |publisher= Royal Society |location=London }}</ref>
*International Prize for New Materials American Physical Society, 1992 (with [[Robert Curl]] and [[Richard Smalley]])<ref name= Awards />
*Italgas Prize for Innovation in Chemistry, 1992<ref name= Awards />
*Royal Society of Chemistry Longstaff Medal, 1993<ref name= Awards />
*Hewlett Packard Europhysics Prize, 1994 (with Wolfgang Kraetschmer, [[Donald Huffman|Don Huffman]] and Richard Smalley)<ref name= Awards />
*[[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]], 1996 (shared with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley)
*[[Carbon Medal]], American Carbon Society Medal for Achievement in Carbon Science, 1997 (shared with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley)<ref>{{cite web|title=Medal of Achievement in Carbon Science and Technology|url=http://www.americancarbonsociety.org/node/33|publisher=The Carbon Society|access-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507170426/http://www.americancarbonsociety.org/node/33|archive-date=7 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*Blackett Lectureship (Royal Society), 1999<ref name= frs-web/>
*Faraday Award and Lecture (Royal Society), 2001<ref>{{cite web|title=Kroto wins Faraday Award|url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/archive/25jan02/article11.shtml|publisher=University of Sussex|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>
*[[Dalton Medal]] (Manchester Lit and Phil), 1998<ref>{{cite web|title=About us|url=http://www.manlitphil.ac.uk/2.html|website=The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society|access-date=2 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119172513/http://www.manlitphil.ac.uk/2.html|archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref>
*Erasmus Medal of Academia Europaea, 2002<ref>{{cite web|title=Erasmus Medal Winners|url=http://www.ae-info.org/ae/Acad_Main/Activities/Awards_and_Prizes/Erasmus_Medal|publisher=The Academia Europaea|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>
*Copley Medal of the Royal Society, 2002<ref name= frs-web />
*Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]], 2002<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
*Order of Cherubini (Torino), 2005
*Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007
*Kavli Lecturer, 2007<ref>{{cite web|title=Science Society Kavli Lecturers|url=http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-society-kavli-lecturers|publisher=The Kavli Foundation|access-date=2 May 2016|archive-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329054430/http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-society-kavli-lecturers|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[National Historic Chemical Landmarks|National Historic Chemical Landmark]], American Chemical Society, 2010.<ref name= ChemLandmark>{{cite web |title= Discovery of Fullerenes National Historic Chemical Landmark|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/fullerenes.html|website=American Chemical Society|access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref>
* Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award, Division of History of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2015<ref name= Award>{{cite web|title= 2015 Awardees|url= http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/awards/CCB-2015_Awardees.php|website= illinois.edu|publisher= School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|date= 2015|access-date= 1 July 2016|archive-date= 21 June 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160621153928/http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/awards/CCB-2015_Awardees.php|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name= Breakthrough>{{cite web|title=Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award|url=http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/awards/Citations/2015-Kroto%20plaque.pdf|website=illinois.edu|publisher=School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|date=2015|access-date=1 July 2016|archive-date=6 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506173259/http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/awards/Citations/2015-Kroto%20plaque.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{div col end}}

Kroto was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] in the [[1996 New Year Honours]] list.<ref name= NewYearHonours>{{cite news|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/54255/supplements/2|access-date=21 August 2011|newspaper=[[The London Gazette]]|title=Supplement, 30th December 1995|date=29 December 1995}}</ref>

[[The University of Sheffield]] North Campus contains two buildings named after Kroto: The [[Kroto Innovation Centre]] and the Kroto Research Institute.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kroto Research Institute|url=http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/kroto| publisher= The University of Sheffield | website= sheffield.ac.uk| access-date= 6 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title= North Campus| url= https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/northcampus| publisher= The University of Sheffield| website= sheffield.ac.uk| access-date= 6 March 2017}}</ref>

===Honorary degrees===
{{div col}}
# Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)<ref name="Awards" />
# University of Stockholm (Sweden)<ref name="Awards" />
# University of Limburg (now Hasselt University) (Belgium)<ref name="Awards" />
# University of Sheffield (UK)<ref name="Awards" />
# University of Kingston (UK)<ref name="Awards" />
# University of Sussex (UK)
# University of Helsinki (Finland)
# University of Nottingham (UK)
# Yokohama City University (Japan)
# University of Sheffield-Hallam (UK)
# University of Aberdeen (Scotland)
# University of Leicester (UK)<ref>{{cite web|title=Packed Programme of Events For University of Leicester's 80th Anniversary|url=http://www.le.ac.uk/press/press/packedprogramme.html|publisher=University of Leicester|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>
# University of Aveiro (Portugal)
# University of Bielefeld (Germany)
# University of Hull (UK)<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Graduates – F to R|url=http://www2.hull.ac.uk/theuniversity/honorarygraduates/honorarygraduates2.aspx|publisher=University of Hull|access-date=2 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219071851/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/theuniversity/honorarygraduates/honorarygraduates2.aspx|archive-date=19 December 2016}}</ref>
# Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Graduates 1991–2005|url=http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/about/honorary-graduates/1991-2005/|publisher=Manchester Metropolitan University|access-date=2 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701174602/http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/about/honorary-graduates/1991-2005/|archive-date=1 July 2016}}</ref>
# Hong Kong City University (HK China)
# Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota, US)
# University College London (UK)<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Graduates of UCL|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/who-we-are/honorary-graduates/#k|publisher=University College London|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>
# University of Patras (Greece)
# University of Dalhousie (Halifax, NovaScotia, Canada)
# University of Strathclyde (Scotland)
# University of Manchester (UK)
# AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków (Poland)
# University of Durham (UK)
# Queens University Belfast (NI)
# University of Surrey (UK)
# Polytechnico di Torino (Italy)
# University of Chemical Technology – Beijing (China)
# University of Liverpool (UK)
# Florida Southern College (US)
# Keio University (Japan)
# University of Chiba (Japan)
# University of Bolton (UK)<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Art students set to honour Sir Harry Kroto|url=http://www.bolton.ac.uk/News/News-Articles/2007/march2007-5.aspx|publisher=University of Bolton|access-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610155220/http://www.bolton.ac.uk/News/News-Articles/2007/march2007-5.aspx|archive-date=10 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# University of Hartford (US)
# University of Tel Aviv (Israel)
# University of Poitiers (France)
# Universidad Complutense de Madrid
# Naresuan University (Thailand)
# Vietnam National University (Hanoi)
# University of Edinburgh (Scotland)<ref>{{cite web|title=Professor Sir Harold Walter Kroto Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science|url=http://www.chem.ed.ac.uk/about-us/tercentenary/tercentenary-events/tercentenary-graduation-ceremony/professor-sir-harold|publisher=The University of Edinburgh|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>
# University of Primorska (Slovenia)
{{div col end}}

;Returned due to closure of Chemistry Departments
# Hertfordshire University<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/kroto-protests-cutbacks/156793.article|title=Kroto protests cutbacks|date=26 January 2001|website=Times Higher Education (THE)}}</ref>
# Exeter University<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/30/highereducation.education|title=Nobel prize winner joins Exeter closure protest|first=Staff and|last=agencies|date=30 November 2004|website=the Guardian}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|title=Richard E. Smalley, Robert F. Curl, Jr., and Harold W. Kroto|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/richard-smalley-robert-curl-harold-kroto|website=[[Science History Institute]]|date=June 2016}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Harold Kroto|Harry Kroto}}
*[http://www.kroto.info/ Harry Kroto personal website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140330064245/http://fsu.edu/profiles/kroto/ Sir Harold W. Kroto] at Florida State University
*[http://www.shef.ac.uk/kroto/about-harry-kroto/ About Harry Kroto] at University of Sheffield
*[http://www.vega.org.uk/about/internal/1 Videos] from Vega Science Trust
*{{Nobelprize|name=Sir Harold Kroto}}
*{{NPG name}}
*[http://nobel.bh.org.il/en/persona/harry-kroto/ Harry Kroto], Nobel Luminaries Project, [[The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot]]

{{FRS 1990}}
{{Copley Medallists 2001-2050}}
{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1996 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Royal Society of Chemistry}}
{{Dalton Medallists|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroto, Harold}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
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[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:English Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Jewish Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Sheffield]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Sussex]]
[[Category:English people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:English atheists]]
[[Category:English chemists]]
[[Category:English humanists]]
[[Category:English Jews]]
[[Category:Jewish atheists]]
[[Category:Jewish chemists]]
[[Category:Jewish humanists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Carbon scientists]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Florida State University faculty]]
[[Category:British nanotechnologists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]
[[Category:People educated at Bolton School]]
[[Category:People from Wisbech]]
[[Category:Scientists at Bell Labs]]
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[[Category:Spectroscopists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Society of Chemistry]]
[[Category:Deaths from motor neuron disease in England]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Dalton Medal]]