Frederick G. Donnan

Life Donnan was born in Colombo, Ceylon, the son of William Donnan, a Belfast merchant, and his wife, Jane Ross Turnley Liggate. He spent his early life in Ulster. He was blind in one eye as the result of a childhood accident, and is often shown in profile. He studied at Queen's College, Belfast gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894, then at the University of Leipzig with Wilhelm Ostwald, resulting in a PhD in 1896, followed by research with J. H. van't Hoff.

Work During the First World War, Donnan was a consultant to the Ministry of Munitions, and worked with chemical engineer K. B. Quinan on plants for the fixation of nitrogen, for compounds essential for the manufacture of munitions. It was for this work that Donnan received the CBE in 1920. He was said to have been "an early enthusiast for the new discipline of chemical engineering", and following the war was closely involved with the company Brunner Mond in the development of a major chemical works at Billingham. on membrane equilibrium was important for leather and gelatin technology, but even more so for understanding the transport of materials between living cells and their surroundings. It was on this so-called Donnan equilibrium that he frequently was asked to lecture across Europe and America, The collection contains correspondence, subject files, copies of reports and speeches, and photographic material.