A memorial service will be held today for Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus Gerald Oliver Aspinall, who died on Sept. 11. Prof. Aspinall taught organic chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, at York and had served as Chair of the department. He had also taught at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and at Trent University in Peterborough, where he also served as Chair of the chemistry department.
Prof. Aspinall was a noted researcher in the chemistry of carbohydrates, with collaborators around the world. He joined York’s Chemistry Department in 1972 and was Chair until 1979. He was appointed Distinguished Research Professor at York in 1988 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1991. The Gerald Aspinall Award, made possible by his donation, assists a York chemistry undergraduate each year.
He is survived by Joyce, his wife of 52 years, by sister Gwenda, daughter Jill, son John and grandson Michael, and their families.
The memorial service will be held on today at 10 am at St. Patrick’s Anglican Church, Willowdale. In lieu of flowers, Prof. Aspinall requested that donations be made to the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.