Editing Dudley R. Herschbach

{{Short description|American chemist (born 1932)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Dudley R. Herschbach
| image             = Dudley_R._Herschbach_in_Lindau.jpg
| image_size        = 220px
| caption           = Herschbach in 2012
| birth_name        = Dudley Robert Herschbach
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1932|6|18}}
| birth_place       = [[San Jose, California]], U.S.
| field             = [[Chemistry]]
| work_institutions = [[University of California, Berkeley]]<br/>[[Harvard University]]<br>[[Freiburg University]]<br>[[Texas A&M University]]
| alma_mater        = [[Stanford University]] ([[B. S.|BS]], [[M. S.|MS]])<br>[[Harvard University]] ([[M. A.|MA]], [[PhD]])
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Edgar Bright Wilson]]
| doctoral_students = [[Richard N. Zare]]<br>[[Seong Keun Kim]]<br>[[Timothy Clark Germann]]
| known_for         = [[Molecular dynamics]]
| prizes            = [[ACS Award in Pure Chemistry]] <small>(1965)</small><br>[[Linus Pauling Medal]] <small>(1978)</small><br>[[Polanyi Medal|RSC Michael Polanyi Medal]] <small>(1981)</small><br>[[Irving Langmuir Award]] <small>(1983)</small><br>[[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] <small>(1986)</small><br>[[National Medal of Science]] <small>(1991)</small><br>[[American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal]] <small>(2011)</small>
}}

'''Dudley Robert Herschbach''' (born June 18, 1932) is an American chemist at [[Harvard University]]. He won the 1986 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] jointly with [[Yuan T. Lee]] and [[John C. Polanyi]] "for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes".<ref name="NobelPress"/> Herschbach and Lee specifically worked with molecular beams, performing [[crossed molecular beam]] experiments that enabled a detailed molecular-level understanding of many elementary reaction processes. Herschbach is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]''.

==Early life and education==
Herschbach was born in [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[California]] on June 18, 1932.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dudley Herschbach |url=https://dudley-herschbach.faculty.chemistry.harvard.edu/ |access-date=November 5, 2024 |website=dudley-herschbach.faculty.chemistry.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 23, 2024 |orig-date=July 23, 2024 |title=Dudley Robert Herschbach |url=https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty-research/portraits/herschbach-dudley.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723130524/https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty-research/portraits/herschbach-dudley.aspx |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |access-date=November 5, 2024 |website=www.chemistry.msu.edu |language=en}}</ref> The eldest of six children, he grew up in a rural area. He graduated from [[Campbell High School (California)|Campbell High School]], where he played [[American football|football]]. Offered both athletic and academic scholarships to [[Stanford University]], Herschbach chose the academic. His freshman advisor, [[Harold S. Johnston]], hired him as a summer research assistant, and taught him chemical kinetics in his senior year. His master's research involved calculating [[Pre-exponential factor|Arrhenius A-factors]] for gas-phase reactions.<ref name=James/> Herschbach received a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] in mathematics in 1954 and an [[Master of Science|M.S.]] in chemistry in 1955 from Stanford University.<ref name="NobelBio"/>

Herschbach then attended Harvard University, where he earned an [[Master of Arts|A.M.]] in physics in 1956 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in chemical physics in 1958 under the direction of [[Edgar Bright Wilson]]. At Harvard, Herschbach examined tunnel splitting in molecules, using microwave spectroscopy.<ref name=James/> He was awarded a three-year Junior Fellowship in the Society of Fellows at Harvard, lasting from 1957 to 1959.<ref name=Crimson2011/>

==Research==

In 1959, Herschbach joined the [[University of California at Berkeley]], where he was appointed an assistant professor of chemistry and became an associate professor in 1961.<ref name="NobelBio" /> At Berkeley, he and graduate students George Kwei and James Norris constructed a cross-beam instrument large enough for reactive scattering experiments involve [[alkali]] and various molecular partners. His interest in studying elementary chemical processes in molecular-beam reactive collisions challenged an often-accepted belief that "collisions do not occur in crossed molecular beams". The results of his studies of K + CH<sub>3</sub>I were the first to provide a detailed view of an elementary collision, demonstrating a direct rebound process in which the KI product recoiled from an incoming K atom beam. Subsequent studies of K + Br<sub>2</sub> resulted in the discovery that the hot-wire surface ionization detector they were using was potentially contaminated by previous use, and had to be pre-treated to obtain reliable results. Changes to the instrumentation yielded reliable results, including the observation that the K + Br<sub>2</sub> reaction involved a stripping reaction, in which the KBr product scattered forward from the incident K atom beam. As the research continued, it became possible to correlate the electronic structure of reactants and products with the reaction dynamics.<ref name=James/>

In 1963, Herschbach returned to Harvard University as a professor of chemistry. There he continued his work on molecular-beam reactive dynamics, working with graduate students Sanford Safron and Walter Miller on the reactions of alkali atoms with alkali [[halide]]s. In 1967, Yuan T. Lee joined the lab as a postdoctoral student, and Herschbach, Lee, and graduate students Doug MacDonald and Pierre LeBreton began to construct a "supermachine" for studying collisions such as Cl + Br<sub>2</sub> and hydrogen and halogen reactions.<ref name=James/>

His most acclaimed work, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986 with [[Yuan T. Lee]] and [[John C. Polanyi]], was his collaboration with Yuan T. Lee on crossed molecular beam experiments. Crossing collimated beams of gas-phase reactants allows partitioning of energy among translational, rotational, and vibrational modes of the product molecules—a vital aspect of understanding reaction [[Dynamics (physics)|dynamics]]. For their contributions to reaction dynamics, Herschbach and Lee are considered to have helped create a new field of research in chemistry.<ref name=NobelPress>{{cite web|title=Press Release: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1986 Dudley R. Herschbach, Yuan T. Lee, John C. Polanyi|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1986/press.html|website=Nobelprize.org|publisher=Nobel Media|access-date=April 28, 2015}}</ref> Herschbach is a pioneer in molecular stereodynamics, measuring and theoretically interpreting the role of angular momentum and its vector properties in chemical reaction dynamics.<ref name=James/><ref name=DOE>{{cite web|title=Dudley Herschbach: Chemical Reactions and Molecular Beams|url=http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/herschbach.html|website=DOE R&D Accomplishments|publisher=United States Department of Energy|access-date=April 28, 2015}}</ref>

In the course of his life's work in research, Herschbach has published over 400 scientific papers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=author:%22dr+herschbach%22+or+author:%22d+herschbach%22&hl=en&btnG=Search&as_sdt=40000001&as_sdtp=on |title=Google Scholar search |access-date=December 9, 2010}}</ref> Herschbach has applied his broad expertise in both the theory and practice of [[chemistry]] and [[physics]] to diverse problems in [[chemical physics]], including theoretical work on dimensional scaling. One of his studies demonstrated that [[methane]] is, in fact, spontaneously formed at high-pressure and high-temperature environments such as those deep in the Earth's [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]]; this finding is an exciting indication of [[Biogenic substance|abiogenic]] [[hydrocarbon]] formation, meaning that the actual amount of hydrocarbons available on Earth might be much larger than conventionally assumed under the assumption that all hydrocarbons are [[fossil fuels]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Generation of methane in the Earth's mantle: In situ high pressure–temperature measurements of carbonate reduction |doi=10.1073/pnas.0405930101 |pmid=15381767 |volume=101 |issue=39 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |pages=14023–14026|bibcode=2004PNAS..10114023S |pmc=521091 |year=2004 |last1=Scott |first1=H. P. |last2=Hemley |first2=R. J. |last3=Mao |first3=H.-k. |last4=Herschbach |first4=D. R. |last5=Fried |first5=L. E. |last6=Howard |first6=W. M. |last7=Bastea |first7=S. |doi-access=free }}</ref> His recent work also includes a collaboration with [[Steven Brams]] studying [[approval voting]].<ref name="voting">{{cite journal|first1= Steven J. |last1=Brams |last2=Herschbach<!--|first2= Dudley R. -->|first2=DR|title=The Science of Elections|doi=10.1126/science.292.5521.1449| journal=Science|volume=292|issue=5521|page=1449|year=2001|pmid=11379606|s2cid=28262658}}</ref>

==Science and education==
[[File:Dudley Herschbach HD2011 AIC Gold Medal 2.jpg|thumb|right | Herschbach with AIC Gold Medal, 2011]] 
Hershbach's teaching ranges from graduate seminars on [[chemical kinetics]] to an introductory undergraduate course in general chemistry that he taught for many years at Harvard, and described as his "most challenging assignment".<ref name=NobelBio>{{cite web |title=Dudley R. Herschbach – Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1986/herschbach-bio.html |website=Nobelprize.org |publisher=Nobel Media |access-date=April 28, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Pauling>{{cite web |last1=Herschbach |first1=Dudley R. |title=The Scientist as Educator and Public Citizen: Linus Pauling and His Era |url=http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/events/2007paulingconference/video-s2-5-herschbach.html |website=Oregon State University Libraries |access-date=October 29, 2007}}</ref>

Herschbach has been a strong proponent of science education and science among the general public, and frequently gives lectures to students of all ages, imbuing them with his infectious enthusiasm for science and his playful spirit of discovery. Herschbach has also lent his voice to the animated television show ''[[The Simpsons]]'' for the episode "[[Treehouse of Horror XIV]]", where he is seen presenting the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] to [[Professor Frink]].<ref name=Simpsons>{{cite news |last1=Friedman |first1=Claire G. |title=Chem Professor Nets "Simpsons" Cameo |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/11/3/chem-professor-nets-simpsons-cameo-nobel/ |access-date=April 28, 2015 |work=The Harvard Crimson |date=November 3, 2003}}</ref>

In October 2010, Herschbach participated in the [[USA Science and Engineering Festival]]'s Lunch with a Laureate program, where middle and high school students get to engage in an informal conversation with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist over a brown-bag lunch.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate |title=Lunch with a Laureate |publisher=Usasciencefestival.org |access-date=December 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421005023/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate |archive-date=April 21, 2010 }}</ref> He is also a member of the Festival's advisory board.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/about/advisors |title=Advisors |publisher=Usasciencefestival.org |access-date=December 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421005310/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/about/advisors/ |archive-date=April 21, 2010 }}</ref> Herschbach has participated in the Distinguished Lecture Series of the [[Research Science Institute]] (RSI), a summer research program for high school students held at [[MIT]].<ref name=CEEMIT>{{cite news|title=Research Science Institute at MIT Hosts 81 High School Students |url=https://cee.org/events/research-science-institute-mit-hosts-81-high-school-students |work=Center for Excellence in Education |date=June 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213837/https://cee.org/events/research-science-institute-mit-hosts-81-high-school-students |archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

Although still an active research professor at Harvard, he joined the [[Texas A&M University]] faculty September 1, 2005, as a professor of physics, teaching one semester per year in the chemical physics program.<ref name=Texas>{{cite news |last1=Hutchins |first1=Shana |title=Nobel Prize Winner to Join Physics Faculty |url=http://www.science.tamu.edu/news/story.php?story_ID=458 |access-date=April 28, 2015 |work=Science Texas A&M University |date=March 10, 2005}}</ref> As of 2010, he holds the title of professor emeritus at Harvard and remains well known for his involvement as a lecturer and mentor in the Harvard research community. He and his wife Georgene Herschbach also served for several years as the co-Masters of [[Currier House (Harvard College)|Currier House]], where they were highly involved in undergraduate life in addition to their full-time duties.<ref name=James/><ref name=Crimson2011>{{cite news|last1=Nguyen |first1=Eliza M. |title=Dudley Herschbach Nobel Prize Winner |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/25/herschbach-harvard-chemistry-nobel/ |access-date=April 28, 2015 |work=The Harvard Crimson |date=May 25, 2011}}</ref>

==Public service==
He is a board member of the [[Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation]] and was the chairman of the board for [[Society for Science & the Public]] from 1992 to 2010.<ref name="Lupton"/> Herschbach is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''.<ref name=Atomic>{{cite web |title=Board of Sponsors |url=http://thebulletin.org/board-sponsors-0 |website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |access-date=April 28, 2015 |archive-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509145008/http://thebulletin.org/board-sponsors-0 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2003 he was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |title=Notable Signers |publisher=American Humanist Association |work=Humanism and Its Aspirations |access-date=October 2, 2012 |archive-date=October 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005105825/http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He is also an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] and recipient of the [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] (DESA).<ref name="Lupton">{{cite web |last=Lupton |first=Neil |year=2004 |url=http://listserv.tcu.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0411&L=scouts-l&P=54227 |title=Scouts-L Youth Group List| publisher=Listerv |access-date=June 1, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lupton |first=Neil |year=2005 |url=http://listserv.tcu.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0505&L=scouts-l&D=1&P=71705 |title=Scouts-L Youth Group List |publisher=Listerv |access-date=June 1, 2006}}</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Science and Peace - Dudley R. Herschbach.webm|thumb|Dudley Robert Herschbach on science and peace, UNESCO 2011]]
Herschbach's wife, Georgene Herschbach, served as the Associate Dean of Harvard College for Undergraduate Academic Programs.<ref name=Georgene>{{cite news|title=Georgene Herschbach To Become Associate Dean of Harvard College|url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/1996/06.13/GeorgeneHerschb.html|access-date=April 28, 2015|work=Harvard University Gazette|date=June 13, 1996}}</ref> Prior to retirement in 2009, she chaired Harvard College's influential Committee on Undergraduate Education.<ref name=Dingman>{{cite news|last1=Mitchell|first1=Robert|title=Dingman, Herschbach take on new College roles|url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/02.03/15-dingman.html|work=Harvard University Gazette|date=February 3, 2005}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==

Herschbach is a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], the [[National Academy of Sciences]], the [[American Philosophical Society]] and the [[Royal Chemical Society]] of Great Britain.<ref name=James>{{cite book|chapter=1986 Nobel Laureate, Dudley R. Herschbach|last=Farrar|first=James|editor-last1=James|editor-first1=Laylin K.|title=Nobel laureates in chemistry 1901–1992|date=1993|publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEy67gEvIuMC&pg=PA691|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=978-0841226906|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780841226906/page/686 686–692]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780841226906/page/686}}</ref> In addition to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he has received a wide variety of national and international awards. These include the [[National Medal of Science]], the [[ACS Award in Pure Chemistry]], the [[Linus Pauling Medal]], the [[Irving Langmuir Award]],<ref name=Texas/> the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]],<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> and the [[American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal]].<ref>{{cite web|title=American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/american-institute-of-chemists-gold-medal|publisher=[[Science History Institute]]|date=March 22, 2018}}</ref> He endowed the Herschbach Medal, which is given by the biennial Conference on Molecular Collision Dynamics, to recognize "outstanding theoretical and experimental contributions to the field."<ref>{{Cite web |title=About – 28th Dynamics of Molecular Collisions Conference |url=https://sites.mst.edu/28th-dmc/about/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=sites.mst.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Publications==
{{library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes |viaf=12384977}}

* Herschbach, D. R. & V. W. Laurie. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4842937-anharmonic-potential-constants-dependence-upon-bond-length "Anharmonic Potential Constants and Their Dependence Upon Bond Length"], University of California, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]) (January 1961).
* Herschbach, D. R. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4734366-reactive-collisions-crossed-molecular-beams  "Reactive Collisions in Crossed Molecular Beams"], University of California, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission) (February 1962).
* Laurie, V. W. & D. R. Herschbach. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4767793-determination-molecular-structure-from-rotational-spectra "The Determination of Molecular Structure from Rotational Spectra"], Stanford University, University of California, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission) (July 1962).
* Zare, R. N. & D. R. Herschbach. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4062976-proposed-molecular-beam-determination-energy-partition-photodissociation-polyatomic-molecules "Proposed Molecular Beam Determination of Energy Partition in the Photodissociation of Polyatomic Molecules"], University of California, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission) (January 29, 1964).

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Scouting}}
* {{Nobelprize}}
* [http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/events/2007paulingconference/video-s2-5-herschbach.html Video] of a talk by Herschbach on [[Linus Pauling]]

{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1986 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|chemistry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herschback, Dudley R.}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scientists from San Jose, California]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American physical chemists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty]]
[[Category:Society for Science & the Public]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Chemical physicists]]
[[Category:Campbell High School (California) alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]