Catalogue description CATALOGUE OF THE PAPERS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ANDREW KELLER FRS (1925-1999)

Keller, Andrew, 1925-1999, physicist

• Physics

Andras (anglicised as Andrew) Keller was born in Budapest, Hungary on 22 August 1925. He attended the University of Budapest, graduating B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1947, despite interruptions to his studies during the war. He went on to research under F. Körösy the volitilization of copper connected wth formation of volatile and unstable cuprous formate. He had completed his Ph.D. thesis and was awaiting his oral examination when in 1948 he left Hungary, largely prompted by the deteriorating political situation. Keller came to Britain and was appointed a Technical Officer in the Polymer Division of the Research Department ICI Dyestuffs Division. He served here to 1955, working on polymer characterisation, before joining the Department of Physics of the University of Bristol as a Research Assistant, supported by the Ministry of Supply (later Ministry of Aviation). Keller was subsequently appointed Lecturer in 1963, Reader 1965 and Research Professor in Polymers in 1969 (Emeritus 1991). Keller was W.W. Clyde Visiting Professor at the University of Utah 1982-1983 and in the late 1990s was Professor Associate in the Department of Materials Engineering at Brunel University. At Bristol Keller made significant contributions to polymer crystallisation and built up a large and successful research group. Perhaps Keller's most important scientific discovery followed his 1957 hypothesis that polymer crystals were formed by long molecules folding back on themselves in a process of 'chain folding'. This work was developed using polyethylene but later extended to other polymers. The concept of chain folding was valuable in understanding the physical and chemical properties of crystalline polymers. Keller was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1972 (Rumford Medal 1994). Among the honours he received were the High Polymer Prize of the American Physical Society (1964), the Swinburne Medal of the Plastics and Rubber Institute (1975), and the Max Born Medal of the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society. In 1998 Keller was elected an 'External Member of the Hungarian Academy of Science. He died on 7 February 1999. For further information on the life and work of Keller see 'Andrew Keller (1925-1999)', by A.H. Windle, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society vol 47 (2001) pp 293-310.