John is a Physical and Colloid Chemist with complementary training in metallurgy, whose research interests embrace various aspects of interfacial science and engineering. In 1984 John was appointed Professor of Chemical Technology at the then SAIT, the precursor to the University of South Australia. He revitalized the school and then, in 1994, established the Ian Wark Research Institute and was its Director, until his retirement in 2012. In 1999, John led the successful bid for a nine-year, Australian Research Council Special Research Centre for Particle and Material Interfaces which allowed for support of the more applied areas, in mineral processing as well as bio- and medical materials. In 2006, John was the principal researcher who led the initiative to establish the Australian Mineral Science Research Institute, a virtual institute in particle science and engineering which involved collaborative research at the Universities of Queensland, Melbourne and Newcastle. His minerals research efforts with colleagues have returned over 1BAUD to national and international industry, he has actively supervised 85 PhD research students and has received numerous awards and honours over the years, including the Chemeca Medal, the ATSE Clunies Ross Lifetime Contribution Award. In 2007 John was awarded South Australian of the Year, the first scientist to be so honoured, as well as South Australian Scientist of the Year and in 2008 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. He continues to mentor research teams at UniSA, is a "roving ambassador” and has strong interactions with universities, companies & research institutes internationally, especially in Canada, China, Europe, Africa & Japan. UniSA has established the Ralston Medal for Excellence in Physical Chemistry as well as the John Ralston Chair in Minerals and Resource Engineering in recognition of John’s scientific legacy.