He developed his academic career at the college, which became the University of Hull in 1954, from 1946 to 1990. He was appointed senior lecturer in 1960, Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1974, and GF Grant Professor of Chemistry in 1984.[3] He remained an Emeritus Professor at Hull.[4]
In 1990 he joined the chemical company Merck, then became an independent consultant in 1996.[3]
Liquid crystals
In 1973, in conjunction with the Royal Radar Establishment, he showed that 4-Cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl possessed a stable nematic phase at room temperature.[5] This compound and other long-lasting cyano-biphenyls made the twisted nematic display (LCD) popular. Gray wrote the first English book covering the subject of liquid crystals, "Molecular Structure and Properties of Liquid Crystals", published in 1962.[6]
In 1953 George Gray married Marjorie Canavan, who died two weeks before her husband. They lived in Furzehill in Wimborne Minster in Dorset. They had three daughters.[3]