Geoffrey Davies has BSc, PhD, and DSc degrees in chemistry from Birmingham University, England. He joined the faculty at Northeastern University in 1971 after postdoctoral research on the kinetics of very rapid reactions at Brandeis University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is now a Matthews Distinguished University Professor at Northeastern. His research group has explored experimental and theoretical redox chemistry, alternative fuels, transmetalation reactions, tunable metal-zeolite catalysts and, most recently, the chemistry of humic substances, the essential brown animal and plant metabolites in sediments, soils, and water. He edits a column on experiential and study-abroad education in the Journal of Chemical Education and a book series on humic substances. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was awarded Northeastern's Excellence in Teaching Award in 1981, 1993, and 1999 and its first Lifetime Achievement in Teaching Award in 2004.