[2] He was the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Baylor University, Texas until 2010, but his most productive period was as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Bristol University, England (1963–1990), where he published hundreds of papers over the course of 27 years.

Elected to the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1970, and to the Royal Society in 1976, he was awarded the Davy Medal "In recognition of his many distinguished contributions to organometallic chemistry, including the discovery that species containing carbon-metal of metal-metal multiple bonds are versatile reagents for synthesis of cluster compounds with bonds between different transition elements" in 1989.

[3] Among the many foci of his studies were complexes of fluorocarbon, isocyanide, polyolefin, alkylidene and alkylidyne ligands.

At Baylor, he maintained a research program on boron hydrides, a lifelong interest.

[4] In 1988 he chaired the Review Committee commissioned by the British Government (the now-dissolved University Grants Committee) to carry out a review of chemistry in UK academia ("University Chemistry — The Way Forward", "The Stone Report").