Dudley R. Herschbach Biography, Age, Weight, Height, Friend, Like, Affairs, Favourite, Birthdate & Other

Irving Langmuir Award (1983) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1986) National Medal of Science (1991) ASCR Jaroslav Heyrovsky Medal (1992) Sierra Nevada Distinguished Chemist Award (1993) ACS Gennady Michael Kosolapoff Award (1994) AICE William H. Walker Award (1994) Council of Scientific Society President’s Award (1999) American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2011)

Dudley Robert Herschbach is an American chemist and educator who, together with Yuan T. Lee and John C. Polanyi, won the prestigious Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986 for their contributions towards the dynamics of chemical elementary processes. Born in San Jose, California, he grew up in a rural setup, milking cows and feeding livestock. None of his family members had ever been to a university; however, noticing his interest in Science, his teachers arranged scholarships for him.

He studied Mathematics (B.S.) and Chemistry (M.S.) at Stanford University, followed by Physics (A.M.) and Chemical Physics (PhD) at Harvard University. After receiving his doctorate degree, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley for five years. Later, he joined the faculty of Harvard, and eventually became Baird Professor of Science. To this day, he teaches graduate courses in quantum mechanics, chemical kinetics, molecular spectroscopy, and collision theory and undergraduate courses in physical chemistry and general chemistry.

He and Lee invented what is popularly known as the crossed molecular beam technique in an endeavour to find out the changes that take place in chemical reactions. A prolific scientist, he has published over 400 scholarly papers. He is also a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.