After having gained his BSc and PhD degrees from Imperial College and post-doctoral research at the University of Texas Austin, he spent 8 years as Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University before moving to Rice University in 1995 as the Welch Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Nanoengineering and Materials Science. In 2014 he was appointed the Sêr Cymru Chair of Low Carbon Energy and Environment at Swansea University, and founded the Energy Safety Research Institute. He is a visiting professor at the University of Arizona and Universiti Technology Brunei. He is the author of over 550 publications, 40 Patents, 15 books. His current research involves the application of chemistry, nanotechnology and materials science to fundamental problems in energy, the environment and decarbonization, as well as changing how academia needs to work to ensure real-world impact. Prof. Barron is the recipient of several awards, including: Star of Asia International Award, the Hümboldt Senior Scientist Research Award, the Welch Norman Hackerman Award, and the Prince of Wales Visiting Innovator. In 2011 he won the World Technology Award (in Materials). Barron is the co-founder of several companies over a diverse range of industries. His 2 latest commercialization ventures are technologies for water purification of produced water and an anti-viral mask for the COVID crisis. He created the first educational programs at Rice to span Science, Engineering and Management.