Editing Alec Todd (section)

==Career==
Todd held posts with the [[Lister Institute]], the [[University of Edinburgh]] (staff, 1934–1936) and the [[University of London]], where he was appointed [[Reader (academic rank)|Reader]] in biochemistry.

In 1938, Alexander Todd spent six months as a visiting professor at [[California Institute of Technology]], eventually declining an offer of faculty position.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1957/todd-bio.html|title=Lord Todd – Biographical|website=www.nobelprize.org|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVtMCAAAQBAJ&q=Alexander+R.+Todd+caltech&pg=PT152|title=The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology|last=Kay|first=Lily E.|date=1992-12-03|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028161-8|language=en}}</ref> 

Todd became the [[Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry]] and director of the Chemical Laboratories of the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]] in 1938, where he began working on nucleosides, compounds that form the structural units of nucleic acids ([[DNA]] and [[RNA]]). 
At 31, he was the youngest professor of chemistry since Frankland.  He was elected to membership of the [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]] on 29.11.1938

In 1944, he was appointed to the [[BP Professor of Organic Chemistry|1702 Chair of Chemistry]] in the [[University of Cambridge]], which he held until his retirement in 1971.<ref>{{citation|title=The 1702 chair of chemistry at Cambridge: transformation and change|first1=Mary D. |last1=Archer|author-link=Mary Archer|first2= Christopher D. |last2=Haley
|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-521-82873-2}}, Chapter 9: Alexander Todd, p 233</ref> In 1949, he synthesised [[adenosine triphosphate]] (ATP) and [[flavin adenine dinucleotide]] (FAD). Todd served as a visiting professor at the [[University of Chicago]] in Autumn 1948<ref>{{cite book|last1=Todd|first1=Alexander|title=A Time to Remember: The Autobiography of a Chemist|date=17 November 1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-25593-7|pages=110}}</ref> and [[University of Sydney]] in 1950.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Our Work with Cyanogenic Plants|journal=Annual Review of Plant Biology|volume=59|pages=1–19|doi=10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092924|pmid=17988213|year=2008|last1=Conn|first1=Eric E.|issue=1 |doi-access=|bibcode=2008AnRPB..59....1C }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/documents/alumni/Issue16.pdf|title=ChemNEWS (FACULTY OF SCIENCE)|website=The University of Sydney}}{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1955, he helped elucidate the structure of [[vitamin B12|vitamin B<sub>12</sub>]], although the final formula and definite structure was determined by [[Dorothy Hodgkin]] and her team, and later worked on the structure and synthesis of [[vitamin B1|vitamin B<sub>1</sub>]] and [[vitamin E]], the [[anthocyanins]] (the pigments of flowers and fruits) from insects (aphids, beetles) and studied [[alkaloids]] found in [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]]. He served as chairman of the [[Government of the United Kingdom]]'s advisory committee on [[science policy|scientific policy]] from 1952 to 1964.

He is credited as the first person to synthesize [[H4-CBD]] and [[H2-CBD]] from [[Cannabidiol]] by [[hydrogenation]] as early as 1940.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1940/jr/jr9400000649 | doi=10.1039/JR9400000649 | title=119. Cannabis indica. Part II. Isolation of cannabidiol from Egyptian hashish. Observations on the structure of cannabinol | date=1940 | last1=Jacob | first1=A. | last2=Todd | first2=A. R. | journal=Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed) | pages=649–653 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

He received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes.”

Elected a [[Fellow]] of [[Christ's College, Cambridge]] in 1944, he served as [[Christ's College, Cambridge#Masters of Christ's|Master]] from 1963 to 1978. Lord Todd became the first [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of the new [[University of Strathclyde]] in 1965, and a visiting professor at [[University of Hertfordshire|Hatfield Polytechnic]] (1978–1986). Among his many honours, including over 40 honorary degrees, he was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1942, a member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1955,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexander R. Todd of Trumpington |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/15492.html |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1957,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexander Robertus Todd |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/alexander-robertus-todd |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Lord+Todd&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> [[President of the Royal Society]] from 1975 to 1980, The Queen awarded him [[Member of the Order of Merit|the Order of Merit]] in 1977.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=47362 |date=28 October 1977 |page=13613}}</ref>

In 1981, Todd became a founding member of the [[World Cultural Council]].<ref>{{cite web | title = About Us | publisher = [[World Cultural Council]] | url = http://www.consejoculturalmundial.org/about-us/ | access-date = 8 November 2016}}</ref>