Professor R. Alan Aitken is a professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews. He earned his Bachelor of Science in 1979 and his Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Edinburgh. His research areas include synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry, including heterocyclic chemistry; the synthetic use of flash vacuum pyrolysis; asymmetric synthesis; reactive intermediates; and organophosphorus and organosulfur chemistry.