Thanks Aaron, a beautiful recognition of a great scientist. Robert Stroud str...@msg.ucsf.edu
> On Sep 14, 2021, at 10:13 AM, Aaron Finke <af...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > Dear all, > > It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Prof. Jack Dunitz at > the age of 98. Prof. Dunitz was a giant in the development of modern > crystallographic methods, most notably in the determination of the crystal > structure of ferrocene, confirming the “sandwich complex” nature of that > molecule and ushering in the field of organometallic chemistry. As a > crystallographer, mathematician, and chemist, Prof. Dunitz effectively > bridged the gap between crystallography and chemistry, inspiring chemists to > exploit the utility of the burgeoning field of crystallography. He was a > professor at ETH-Zurich for over 60 years, and even after his “retirement” in > 1990, dedicated his life to crystallographic research. > > I have many fond memories of Prof. Dunitz from my time at ETH. Even at the > age of 91, he still came into the office at least three times a week to > pursue research programs; I am told he continued to come in regularly until > Covid forced the campus closed. His wit and curiosity never dulled, and was > enamored with new technologies that enabled various new forms of > crystallographic research. He owned an iPad before I ever did! As a postdoc > doing crystallography, Prof. Dunitz enjoyed calling me into his office, > ostensibly to help him use some feature of CCDC Mercury, but in reality to > discuss some new idea he had about crystal symmetry and exploiting it to gain > some greater understanding of coordination complexes. He was the kind of > person who had forgotten more chemistry than I will ever know, and these > discussions were always enlightening and entertaining, mixing new theory with > the history of crystallography, much of which he bore witness or contributed > to. He will be sorely missed. > > If you would like to express your condolences, please use the following email > address: jack_condole...@ethz.ch <mailto:jack_condole...@ethz.ch> > > Aaron > ------------------------------------------ > Aaron Finke > Staff Scientist, MacCHESS > Cornell University > e-mail: af...@cornell.edu <mailto:af...@cornell.edu> > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > <https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1> ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
