John D. Roberts

For other people named John D. Roberts, see J. D. Roberts (disambiguation)
John D. Roberts

Receiving the AIC Gold Medal, 2013
Born (1918-06-08) June 8, 1918
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Fields Chemistry
Institutions Penn State
UCLA
Harvard
MIT
Caltech
Alma mater UCLA
Doctoral students Frank J. Weigert
George M. Whitesides
Notable awards

ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (1954)
Roger Adams Award in Organic Chemistry (1967)
Tolman Award (1974)
Willard Gibbs Award (1983)
Priestley Medal (1987)
Welch Award (1990)
National Medal of Science (1990)
Glenn T. Seaborg Medal (1991)
Arthur C. Cope Award (1994)
Linus Pauling Legacy Award (2006)

American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2013)

John Dombrowski Roberts (born June 8, 1918) is an American chemist. He has made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates. Another characteristic of Roberts' work was the early use of NMR, the concept of spin-spin coupling.[1]

Career

Roberts received both a B.A. (1941) and Ph.D. (1944) from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has held several positions at the California Institute of Technology, including Division Chairman of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from 1963–68, Dean of the Faculty and Provost from 1980–83 and Institute Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus (1988- ) in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.[2] He is credited with bringing the first female graduate student, Dorothy Semenow, to Caltech when he moved from MIT.[3][4] He was a consultant for DuPont Central Research (1950-2008)[5] and for Oak Ridge.[2]

He published his autobiography in 1990, The Right Place at the Right Time.[6][7]

Awards and honors

Roberts was elected a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1952.[8] He was elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1956 at 38 years old.[9] In 1978, he was elected a Fellow of The Explorers Club. He was awarded the Priestley Medal in 1987,[10] the National Medal of Science in 1990,[11] the Glenn T. Seaborg Medal in 1991,[12] the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences in 1999,[13] the Nakanishi Prize in 2001,[14] the NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society in 2009,[15] the Linus Pauling Legacy Award in 2006[16] and the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal in 2013.[5] He has received honorary degrees from the University of Munich (1962), Temple University (1964) and the University of Notre Dame.[2] In 1998 he was named by Chemical & Engineering News as one of the 75 most influential chemists in the last 75 years.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Early Ideas in the History of Quantum Chemistry". U. Anders, Ph.D. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview with John D. Roberts, April 25, 1987 and June 14, 1987". Center for Oral History, Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 5 February 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  3. ↑ "Interview with John D. Roberts (b. 1918)" (PDF). Caltech Oral History Project, Caltech Archives, Caltech. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Bell, Brian (July 29, 2013). "Caltech’s John D. Roberts Awarded Gold Medal". Pasadena Now. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 "John D. Roberts Receives 2013 American Institute of Chemists (AIC) Gold Medal". Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "John D. Roberts (1918– )". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Right Place at the Right Time". WorldCat. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter R" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "National Academy of Sciences, Member Directory". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Prieslty Medal winners". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "John D. Roberts (1918– )". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Past Seaborg Medal Recipients". Glenn T. Seaborg Medal. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "NAS Honors 17 For Contributions To Science". The Scientist. April 26, 1999. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "Nakanishi Prize". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  15. ↑ "Academy Honors 18 for Major Contributions to Science". News from the National Academies. January 28, 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  16. ↑ ""Useful Knowledge about Magnetic Resonance Imaging," Dr. John D. Roberts (video and transcript)". Special Collections and Archives, Oregon State University. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Contributors to the Chemical Enterprise: C&EN's Top 75". Chemical & Engineering News. January 12, 1998. Retrieved 5 February 2015.

Sources

Books

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.