The science and chemistry education international community heard a few days ago with great sorrow of the death of Keith Stephen Taber, professor emeritus of science education, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. He died at home on 29th January 2026, at the age of 65. He studied chemistry at Nottingham University (1978-1981) and took the PGCE at Nottingham Trent University. For the first 17 years of his career, he worked as school teacher, mostly teaching science, and in particular physics and chemistry. He did a PhD at Roehampton University, supervised by Mike Watts, and joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge in 1999. For 2000-2001, he was seconded to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), when he spent the year as a Visiting Fellow at University College London, Institute of Education. In 2001, he joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, where he was appointed as a University Lecturer in Science Education, then as Senior Lecturer, Reader, and Professor. He has been Chair of the “Chemistry Education Research Group” of RSC, having served several terms on the editorial board of its education magazine, “Education in Chemistry”, and having been the editor of its open-access education journal “Chemistry Education Research and Practice” for over 7 years, the top journal in its field. Until his death, he was Editor-in-Chief of the unique RSC “Advances in Chemistry Education” book series. He has authored/co-authored/edited/co-edited many books, published a range of research reports and other academic papers, and made contributions to numerous reference works, handbooks, and chapters to many other books. He has published a large number of full-length articles and short pieces for professional journals and magazines, aimed primarily at practitioners/teachers. He also wrote review articles, book reviews, and editorials for journal issues. In 2014, he was awarded the RSC “Education Award”. After teaching in the Faculty of Education for 20 years, he retired from his Teaching Office in 2020. It is very hard to find the proper words to describe his enthusiasm about and dedication to his work. He had a passion for studying chemical concepts, students’ misconceptions, and constructivist teaching (but also many other topics, including research methods in education and the ethics of education research). During his whole career, he has been helpful to his students, influential on colleagues, and a prolific author. As Dr. Michael Seery, of the University of Bristol and visiting professor at the Open University, UK, commented in his LinkedIn page, Keith Taber was “an enormous influence on much of what the discipline (of chemistry education) is today”. In his personal life, he was married to Philippa, whose death was a big blow to him. This symposium will commemorate the great amount, breadth and importance for science and chemistry education of Keith Taber’s research and pedagogic work.
