Dr. Lennox E. Iton
Chemist - Materials Scientist
Dr. Iton grew up on the island of St. Vincent
in the West Indies, and attended the Boys
grammar School there. He obtained a B.Sc with First Class Honours in
Chemistry from McGill University in Montreal
in 1970. He did his graduate work in the group of Professor John Turkevich at Princeton
University, receiving a
Ph. D. in Chemistry in 1976. His thesis research was on electron paramagnetic
resonance spectroscopy studies of hydrogen atoms trapped and stabilized in
solids, and of rare earth ions exchanged in nanoporous
crystalline zeolites.
He has co-authored over 80 publications. In
1990, he received the DOE-BES Materials Sciences Award for work in Materials
Chemistry with Significant Implications for Department of Energy-Related
Technologies. In 1997, he shared the first PNGV (Partnership for a New
Generation of Vehicles) Award from the Department of Commerce and The Society
of Automotive Engineers.
Dr. Iton joined Argonne National Laboratory
in 1975 where he worked initially on applications of nuclear magnetic resonance
to the study of adsorbates and catalysts. Since 1978,
his work has involved many aspects of molecular sieve materials research,
including crystallization and growth mechanisms, advanced characterizations of
structure, bonding and dynamics, adsorbate structure
and dynamics, cluster encapsulation, computer simulation and quantum chemical
theory, and intracrystalline catalysis mechanisms. He
introduced the technique of extended x-ray absorption fine structure
spectroscopy (EXAFS) to the study of cation bonding
and complexation in molecular sieve zeolites, and introduced the technique of small-angle
neutron scattering to the study of gel crystallization mechanisms in zeolite synthesis.
His current interests include the synthesis of ordered mesoporous
materials based on self-assembled templating
aggregates, the incorporation of electronic, magnetic, and photoactive
characteristics in mesoporous material frameworks,
and the formulation of nanocomposites with
encapsulated inorganics, metallic nanoparticles,
organic aggregates, and biomolecules.
At home, Dr. Lennox is very active in his community. He has two sons-- one
in high school and the other at the University of
Illinois (UIUC). For more details about his interests and community work see Lennox’s
own description below:
“I am a widower with two
sons; my wife was killed in an automobile accident with a drunk driver in
1990. My sons, Blair and Kyle, were aged
3 and 7 years old at the time, so I often characterize myself as a “single mother”. My older son is now a senior at the University
of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, studying mechanical engineering and computer science. My younger son is a high school junior
(update: 2nd year Civil engineering student). I have a keen interest in current affairs and
foreign policy, and in the discourse between science and religion. I am also interested in peace and justice
issues, and I am very active in volunteer mission work. I was a founding member of one of the Habitat
for Humanity affiliates in Chicago,
and I have worked on several Habitat projects both in the city and more
recently in Du Page County where I reside. I work regularly at an overnight shelter for
the homeless in Du Page County, and I have worked in
the Rebuilding Together program in poor neighborhoods in Chicago. I have also made two work trips to Central
America, working in rural villages in Honduras. Of the various tasks that I did there, I am
most proud of my latrine building, though my handiwork is now buried
underground. My volunteer mission work
is usually done in connection with the church in which I am an active
member. Perhaps working in
underdeveloped countries will be my calling at the end of my scientific
career. I have a love of a wide variety
of forms of music, from classical to calypso; this even includes some of the
hip-hop music that my sons enjoy. I
learned to play the violin as a youth, and later converted to playing rock
music on the violin. This has given me
very many hours of pleasure, particularly before I had a family. I play much less now, but I recently bought
an electric violin to experiment with some new sounds. Although my own playing days did not go
beyond my teens, I am a keen fan of sports, if not of Chicago’s
sports teams. My favorite sports as a
youth were cricket, soccer (football), and track and field, not the top sports
in this country; but I quickly became enamored of ice hockey while living in Montreal, and
of baseball and football when I moved to the U.S.A. Unfortunately, I am an armchair fan only”
Click here to return to Tony Oldies
Home Page