Professor Ian G Richardson received a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1991 under GW Groves and was subsequently his assistant. He moved to the University of Leeds in 1995 where he is Professor of Civil Engineering Materials. He is a materials scientist whose main research interests concern the microstructure, chemistry and properties of cementitious materials, and the crystal chemistry of calcium silicate hydrates and various oxides, hydroxides and carbonates. He is perhaps best known for his work on the composition, morphology and nanostructure of the C-(A)-S-H in cements that contain a wide range of supplementary cementitious materials. He has given numerous invited contributions at conferences and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He is the co-author of the book Cement Chemistry, Calcium Silicates and Anhydrous Portland Cement, which is the first volume of his revision of Hal Taylor’s classic book.