Professor G J Tiddy from Manchester University was nominated by his discoveries of gel, sub-gel, metastable gel and molten chain phases for nonionic as well as for cationic surfactants. In this whole field certain knowledge in binary phase diagrams is due to him, with papers still appearing in the last three years. Industry made a fortune out of this, since the knowledge of how to distinguish and promote/remove one of these phases has allowed to replace toxic cationic compounds from formulation of softeners. So this is clearly new colloid science, which leads to everyday applications. Gordon Tiddy has also quite valuable and novel contributions on determination of phase diagrams of sponge phases and measurement of hydration forces.
For this outstanding contribution Gordon J. Tiddy was awarded the Rhodia Prize 2008.
For health reasons, Prof. G J Tiddy could not participate at the ECIS 2008 conference. Professor Tiddy gave a wonderful lecture at the 2009 ECIS Conference in Antalya, after which the prize was presented.