Theoretical chemist wins Hirschfelder prize

Joshua Jortner, a prolific and accomplished physical chemist from Tel Aviv University, is the recipient of the Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry.

The Hirschfelder Prize is among the largest awards in the field of theoretical chemistry. It is given annually by the Theoretical Chemistry Institute and the Department of Chemistry and carries with it a stipend of $10,000.

The author of more than 600 scientific papers, Jortner has worked on core areas of theoretical chemistry including spectroscopy, relaxation, energy transfer in isolated molecules, molecular clusters, condensed phases and biological systems.

He is currently the Heinemann Professor of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

For his work, Jortner has received numerous international honors, including honorary doctorates from universities in Germany, Israel and France, and the 1988 Wolf Prize in Chemistry. He is a former president of the Israeli National Academy of Humanities and Sciences, and is a foreign member of many other scientific academies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Jortner will spend a week on the UW–Madison campus beginning Nov. 1. During his stay, he will give three lectures for students, staff and faculty:

• “On Dynamics – From Large Molecules to Biomolecules,” Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. in Room 1361 Chemistry.
• “Size Effects in Molecular Clusters,” Nov. 2 at 11 a.m. in Room B371 Chemistry.
• “Charge Transfer in Chemistry and Biophysics,” Nov. 3 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 8335 Chemistry.

The Hirschfelder Prize is named after the late Joseph O. Hirschfelder, the founder of UW–Madison’s Theoretical Chemistry Institute and a guiding force in modern theoretical chemistry.

Established in 1991, the Hirschfelder Prize was made possible by a gift from Elizabeth Hirschfelder, the chemist’s widow.