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Chemical Dynamics and the Rabinovitch Legacy:
A Symposium in Memory of B. S. Rabinovitch
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
Saturday, May 30, 2015
As you know, Professor Emeritus B. Seymour Rabinovitch passed away last year at the age of 95.
Rab, as we affectionately called him here, led a world-renowned research effort in our department
for forty years, making many seminal contributions to our understanding of the dynamics of
chemical reactions and energy transfer between and within molecules. Perhaps most notably, he
developed clever experimental methods to study reaction rates of molecules that contained a lot of
vibrational energy, thus providing the first stringent experimental proof of the broad validity of
RRKM Theory and revealing its defects. He also developed widely used algorithms that greatly
facilitate its applications and even coined the phrase “RRKM Theory.” He retired in 1986, but
continued to have a powerful influence in our department until his death. We have attached a short
summary of his life written by our chair, Professor Paul Hopkins, which gives a glimpse of his
many other contributions, talents, and dedicated service.
In order to celebrate and honor his tremendous contributions and legacy, we are organizing a oneday symposium in his memory. Our goal is to have this be a state-of-the-art symposium on chemical
dynamics, with presentations by the world’s leaders in this area, which will inform the speakers and
attendees of the latest exciting developments, stimulate discussion, and inspire future research. The
confirmed invited speaker list includes: Emily Carter, Fleming Crim, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer,
Steve Leone, David Nesbitt, John Tully, and Ahmed Zewail.
The symposium is tentatively expected to run from 9 AM to 6 PM, with a ninety-minute break for
lunch, followed by a reception. We will finalize the program schedule as soon as possible.
Please do not hesitate to contact one of us if you have any questions. We very much hope that you
can attend this symposium and help us to honor and memorialize Rab in this way. Save the date!
Organizers:
Charles T. Campbell
Professor and B. Seymour Rabinovitch Endowed Chair in Chemistry
Munira Khalil
Associate Professor of Chemistry
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EMILY A. CARTER
Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering & Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University
Professor Carter is the Founding Director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton
University. Her current research focuses entirely on enabling discovery and design of molecules and materials for
sustainable energy. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from University of California, Berkeley in 1982 and her
Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1987. After a year as a postdoctoral researcher
at the University of Colorado, Boulder, she spent the next 16 years on the faculty of University of California, Los
Angeles as Professor of Chemistry and later also of Materials Science and Engineering. She moved to Princeton
University in 2004. The author of more than 300 publications, she has delivered more than 475 invited and plenary lectures all over
the world and serves on numerous international advisory boards spanning a wide range of disciplines. Her scholarly work has been
recognized by a number of national and international awards and honors from a variety of entities, including the American Chemical
Society, the American Vacuum Society, the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. Professor Carter was elected in 2008 to
both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.
F. FLEMING CRIM
Assistant Director, National Science Foundation, Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
John E. Willard and Hilldale Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Since 2013, Professor Crim has been serving as Assistant Director at the National Science Foundation. His
research group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studies the dynamics of reaction and photodissociation
with the goal of understanding the essential features of chemistry in both gases and liquids. He received his B.S.
from Southwestern University in 1969 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1974. His research and teaching
have earned many awards throughout his career. These include the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular
Spectroscopy & Dynamics of the American Physical Society, the Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics of the American
Chemical Society, and the Centenary Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (London). He is an Honorary Fellow of the Chemical
Research Society of India and an Honorary Professor of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. Professor Crim is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences.
SHARON HAMMES-SCHIFFER
Swanlund Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor Hammes-Schiffer received her B.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University in 1988 and her Ph.D. in
Chemistry from Stanford University in 1993. After working as a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories,
she was a faculty member at the University of Notre Dame from 1995–2000 and at The Pennsylvania State
University from 2000–2012. In August 2012, Professor Hammes-Schiffer joined the faculty of the Department of
Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Hammes-Schiffer’s research centers on
the development and application of theoretical and computational methods for describing proton-coupled electron
transfer reactions and enzymatic processes in condensed phases and at interfaces. Her scholarship has been recognized by several
honors and awards. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, and the Biophysical Society. Professor Hammes-Schiffer is a member of the National Academy of
Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.
STEPHEN R. LEONE
Professor of Chemistry, John R. Thomas Endowed Chair in Physical Chemistry, Professor of Physics;
Faculty, Applied Science and Technology, University of California, Berkeley
Professor Leone received his B.A. in Chemistry at Northwestern University in 1970 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry at
the University of California, Berkeley with Professor C. Bradley Moore in 1974. He was an assistant professor at
the University of Southern California from 1974–1976. He assumed a position with NIST and the University of
Colorado in 1976 and became a full professor in 1982. In 2002, he became Professor of Chemistry and Physics,
University of California, Berkeley, and served as director of the chemical dynamics beamline at the Advanced
Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2002–2013. Professor Leone's research interests
include ultrafast laser investigations and soft x-ray probing of valence and core levels, attosecond physics and
chemistry, state-resolved collision processes and kinetics investigations, nanoparticle fluorescence intermittency, aerosol chemistry
and dynamics, probing with near field optical microscopy, and neutrals imaging. His numerous honors and awards include the
Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award, Arthur S. Flemming Award for Government Service, Bourke Medal of the Faraday
Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, National
Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship of the Department of Defense, and the Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical
Physics of the American Physical Society. Professor Leone is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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DAVID J. NESBITT
Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Professor of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder
Fellow, JILA & Physicist, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Professor Nesbitt received his B.A. in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University in 1975 and his Ph.D. from
the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1981. He was a National Research Fellow at the National Bureau of
Standards from 1981–1982. Professor Nesbitt is interested in laser spectroscopy, dynamics, and kinetics of
fundamental molecular, bio-molecular, and nanoparticle systems, studied at either the quantum state-to-state or
single molecule level. He has garnered several awards for his research including the Presidential Rank Award of
the Department of Commerce, the Bourke Medal of the Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the
William F. Meggers Award of the Optical Society of America, and the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy &
Dynamics of the American Physical Society. Professor Nesbitt is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical
Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a member the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
JOHN C. TULLY
Sterling Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Yale University
Professor Tully’s research focuses on the creation and application of theoretical methods for visualizing and
quantifying how atoms move during chemical events. His "surface hopping" method has become the standard for
tracing out molecular pathways on multiple electronic states. Professor Tully obtained his Ph.D. at the University
of Chicago in 1968, followed by postdoctoral appointments at the University of Colorado and Yale University.
From 1970–1996 he was a researcher and manager at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ. He joined the
faculty of Yale University in 1996 where he is currently Sterling Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics
and Applied Physics. Among Professor Tully’s honors are the American Chemical Society Peter Debye Award in Physical
Chemistry, the American Chemical Society Award in Theoretical Chemistry, and membership in the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, and the National Academy of Sciences.
AHMED H. ZEWAIL
Linus Pauling Chair, Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology
Professor Ahmed Zewail is the Linus Pauling Chair, Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and Director of the
Center for Physical Biology at the California Institute of Technology. He is the sole recipient of the 1999 Nobel
Prize for the development of the field of femtochemistry. In the post-Nobel era, he developed 4D Electron
Microscopy for the direct visualization of matter in space and time. Professor Zewail’s other honors include fifty
honorary degrees, orders of merits, postage stamps, and more than one hundred international awards. He has
published some 600 articles and 14 books and is known for his effective public lectures and writings, not only on
science but also in global affairs. For his leadership role in these world affairs, he received, among others, the
“Top American Leaders Award” from The Washington Post and Harvard University. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed
him to the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and in the same year he was named the first U.S. Science Envoy to the
Middle East. Subsequently, the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon invited Professor Zewail to join the UN
Scientific Advisory Board. In 2014, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi decreed his appointment to the Council of Advisors for
the State of Egypt. Following the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the government established the “Zewail City of Science and
Technology” as the national project for scientific renaissance, and Professor Zewail became its first Chairman of the Board of
Trustees.
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The letter below is about B. Seymour Rabinovitch. It was written by our department chair on
the occasion of Rab’s death.
Dear Faculty and Staff:
I write with sadness at the loss of a friend and colleague, but also to celebrate an amazing life of
contribution. A close friend of Professor Emeritus B. Seymour Rabinovitch has informed us that
Rab died peacefully this past weekend at the age of 95. In the coming days and weeks I presume we
will be able to read more complete descriptions of his life than I can provide. But I would like to
share some of what I know about this man who has meant so much to many of us.
Rab was born in 1919, the youngest of seven children, and raised in Montreal. He attended McGill
University, earning both his baccalaureate and doctoral degrees, then served during World War II
as a Captain in the Canadian Army in the European theater. After two years at Harvard as a Royal
Society of Canada Fellow and Milton Fellow, we were very lucky that he elected to move thousands
of miles to the west to join our faculty in 1948.
Rab taught and pursued research as a UW faculty member for nearly four decades. In his research
career, he was a virtuoso of experimental physical chemistry. Working with his students and
postdoctoral associates, he determined the intimate details of energy transfer within molecules in
the gas phase. His work provided the first experimental verification of important theories of
molecular dynamics. Some have said that RRKM theory was one R short of doing justice to its
major contributors. Rab received numerous highly prestigious awards for his scientific
contributions, including the Peter Debye Award of the American Chemical Society and the Polanyi
Medal of the Royal Society. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a
Fellow of the Royal Society, London. He served as an editor for the Journal of the American
Chemical Society, and was Chairman of the Division of Physical Chemistry of the American
Chemical Society. Forty-one students earned the Ph.D. under Rab’s guidance; he counted them as
life-long friends.
Rab transitioned to emeritus status in 1986. We stopped paying him, but he didn’t stop coming to
work each day. Work is not the right word though. Rab once advised in a commencement address
that the graduates should endeavor to find employment that they loved and would choose to do as a
hobby whether or not they were paid. Rab clearly had found such a calling in his life as a faculty
member. For his nearly three decades as an emeritus member, Rab could be relied upon to dispense
thoughtful advice on any of the many matters on which we consulted him.
Rab was not only among the most generous financial donors to our department, but also among the
most creative. He generally eschewed gifts intended to support traditional purposes, favoring
instead identifying unmet needs that might enhance the sense of community and reward meritorious
accomplishment. We did convince Rab (and his generous family), after much debate I might add,
that an endowed chair and an endowed graduate fellowship would be put to good use, and these
were established in his name. But Rab also leaves behind an endowment in support of the common
room he championed, and an endowment to support staff members, the first of its kind in our
department. He also established an award for outstanding faculty accomplishment.
Rab was also a patron of the arts, with a deep knowledge and even some practical skills in the area
of silversmithing. He commissioned from numerous artists across many years a large number of
silver “slices”, food serving utensils, some practical, some whimsical. These beautiful objects are
now part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. These
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spectacular slices can be viewed on line at the museum
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O137215/fish-slice-thomas-barry/).
website
(for
example,
Late in life, Rab came to yet one more form of contribution, as an author of children’s books. In his
nineties, his book, “Higgledy Piggledy: A Tale of Four Little Pigs” received five stars on Amazon
(http://www.amazon.com/Higgledy-Piggledy-Tale-Four-Little/dp/0988747405).
Perhaps a decade ago, I began referring to Rab as our “patriarch”. Through contribution,
compounded by longevity, he gently exerted a powerful and extremely positive influence over this
department. The quality of his scholarly work set a standard that each of us should aspire to match.
Perhaps just as important, his kind and thoughtful manner, and commitment to diversity,
contributed to the welcoming environment in this department that we all enjoy and benefit from to
this day.
Rab is gone now, but his contributions and influence live on.
Paul B. Hopkins, Professor and Chair
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