Dr Keith Fisher has been a chemist all his working life and has lived in several countries. He was born in 1940 in Birmingham during the bombing. He grew up in Birmingham and, after passing the eleven-plus, went to grammar school in Smethwick. After leaving grammar school, he went to work in a couple of laboratories and did his degree in chemistry part-time. He then went to Canada to start his postgraduate degree, which he finished at the University of London in England. After gaining his PhD, he went to America for five years and had several teaching appointments at universities. After returning to the UK he took up a post at the University of Lagos, later followed by a post at the University of Khartoum in the Sudan. Thirteen years in Africa were followed by two years in Canada and finally, in 1989, he came to Australia.