University of Reading’s long-serving and influential scientist who redefined the kilogram dies at 92

One of the University of Reading’s 'longest-serving and most influential scientists', Emeritus Professor Ian Mills OBE FRS, whose work led to a redefinition of the international standard units of measurement, has died, aged 92.Professor Mills chaired the international scientific committee for standard units and his work led to a redefinition of the kilogram, 'from a definition based on the weight of a platinum alloy prototype to one based on a mathematically-defined constant.'Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading, said: “I was saddened to hear that Ian Mills had died and I offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends.“Professor Mills was something of a Reading institution, a local boy who first studied here in the 1940s and whose life and career was almost as long the University of Reading itself.

"His example shows us that through excellent scholarship, a practical approach to solving problems and a kind and thoughtful manner it is possible to make a significant difference to the world around us."He was firmly rooted in Reading, but his achievements continue to bear fruit in every corner of the globe.”Ian Mills was born in 1930 in Reading and was one of the first recipients of a personal professorship at Reading in 1966.

Although he was one of the first to bring computers to Reading in general, it was his later work on the standardisation of metric units that led to his appointment to OBE in 2015.

Ian died peacefully on 23 December 2022 due to heart failure, after a short illness.