Roald Hoffmann

Roald Hoffmann (born July 18, 1937 as Roald Safran --- Hoffmann is the surname of his stepfather) is an American theoretical chemist of Polish-Jewish origin. (See his online autobiography http://nobelprize.org/chemistry/laureates/1981/hoffmann-autobio.html)

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He was born in Z?ocz?w, Poland (now Ukraine) and named in honor of the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen. His family immigrated to the United States of America in 1949, where he attended Stuyvesant High School, graduating in 1955. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Columbia University (Columbia College) in 1958, and his Master of Arts degree in 1960 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree (working under the subsequent 1976 chemistry Nobel Prize winner William N. Lipscomb, Jr.) in 1962, both from Harvard University.

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He has investigated both organic

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and inorganic substances, developing computational tools and methods such as the extended H?ckel method, which he proposed in 1963.

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He also developed, with R. B. Woodward, rules for elucidating reaction mechanisms (the Woodward-Hoffmann rules).

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He is also a writer of poetry published in two collections, "The Metamict State" (1987, ISBN 0813008697) and "Gaps and Verges" (1990, ISBN 081300943X), and of books explaining chemistry to the general public. Also, he wrote a play called "O2 Oxygen" about the discovery of oxygen, but also about what it means to be a scientist and the importance of process of discovery in science.

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He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1981, and the Priestley Medal in 1990.

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He stars in the "World of Chemistry" video series with Don Showalter.

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He currently teaches at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

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July 18: July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining....

1937: 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar)....

American: :This page disambiguates the many uses of American. For an article about those various uses, please see Use of the word American....

Roald Hoffmann related Images and Photos (experimental)

Roald Amundsen	Herrmann Hoffmann	E T W Hoffmann Also Known as E T a Hoffmann	Roald Dahl 2011 Wall Calendar
Author Roald Dahl and Daughter at Home	Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann	Roald Amundsen the First to Reach the South Pole Did So	Self Portrait of Hoffmann Depicting Himself Making a Self Portrait
Tent Left at the South Pole by Roald Amundsen	Death of Cat Murr Die Lebensansichten Des Katers Murr by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann