Rudolph A. Marcus
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Rudolph Marcus begins the interview with a discussion of his family background and early education. Though he spent some of his early years in Detroit, Michigan, he primarily grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Montreal, Canada. Marcus was encouraged to continue his education by his parents and his uncles. He enrolled in the twelfth grade, the equivalent of the first year of college, to save money for the university. Marcus then attended McGill University, majoring in chemistry. He graduated with a B.Sc. in 1943. Due to the war, he was able to take his fourth year in the course of a summer. Marcus went directly to graduate school, also at McGill, and studied physical chemistry with Carl Winkler. His research, RDX, was determined by war needs, and he received his PhD in 1946. He spent an additional two and a half years on a National Research Council of Canada post-doc with Edward W. R. Steacie. In 1949, Marcus moved to the University of North Carolina, accepting a position with Oscar Rice, who had received an Office of Naval Research contract. It was there that Marcus began to focus on theory, particularly unimolecular and transition state theory. The result of this work was the development of the RRKM theory. In 1951, Marcus moved again, this time to Brooklyn Polytechnic University, where he became an assistant professor in the chemistry department. Marcus discusses his colleagues, including Herman Mark, Herbert Morawetz, and Charles Overberger, as well as the atmosphere of the institution. He became interested in electrostatics and polyelectrolytes. He also began some polymer research, and pursued work on electron transfer. In 1964, Marcus left Brooklyn Polytechnic for the University of Illinois. During his time there, he spent a few semesters at Oxford University as a visiting professor. In 1978, Marcus accepted a position at Caltech, where he began collaborating with Ahmed Zewail. His desire to pursue his research led him to decline administrative work. At Caltech, Marcus continued his electron transfer research. He concludes the interview with a discussion of his family, the challenges of research, and thoughts on his electron transfer work.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1943 | McGill University | BSc | Chemistry |
1946 | McGill University | PhD | Chemistry |
Professional Experience
National Research Council Canada
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute
University of Illinois at Chicago
California Institute of Technology
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1943 | Anne Molson Prize, McGill University |
1972 | Senior Fulbright-Hayes Scholar, Fulbright Program |
1976 | Senior U. S. Scientist Award, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Foundation |
1978 | Irving Langmuir Award in Chemistry and Physics, American Chemical Society |
1979 | The Electrochemical Society Lecture Award |
1982 | Robinson Medal, Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry |
1983 | Chandler Medal, Columbia University |
1983 | DSc, honorary, University of Chicago |
1985 | Wolf Prize in Chemistry |
1986 | DSc, honorary, Polytechnic University |
1987 | DSc, honorary, University of Göteborg, Sweden |
1988 | Centenary Medal, Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry |
1988 | DSc, honorary, McGill University, Canada |
1988 | Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
1988 | Willard Gibbs Medal, Chicago Section, American Chemical Society |
1989 | National Medal of Science |
1990 | Evans Award, Ohio State University |
1990 | Theodore William Richards Medal, Northeastern Section, American |
1991 | Edgar Fahs Smith Award, Philadelphia Section, American Chemical Society |
1991 | Ira Remsen Memorial Award, Maryland Section, American Chemical Society |
1991 | Pauling Medal, Portland, Oregon and Puget Sound Section, American Chemical Society |
1992 | Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
1993 | Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry, University of Wisconsin |
1993 | DSc, honorary, University of New Brunswick, Canada |
1993 | DSc, honorary, Queen's University, Canada |
1993 | American Academy of Achievement Gold Plate Award |
1994 | Lavoisier Medal, Sociéte Française de Chimie |
1995 | DSc, honorary, University of Oxford, England |
1996 | DSc, honorary, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
1996 | DSc, honorary, Yokohama National University, Japan |
1996 | Auburn-Kosolapoff Award, Auburn Section, American Chemical Society |
1997 | DSc, honorary, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
1997 | Award in Theoretical Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
1997 | Oesper Award, Cincinnati Section, American Chemical Society |
1998 | DSc, honorary, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel |
1998 | Top 75 Award, Chemical and Engineering News, American Chemical Society |
Table of Contents
Family background. Influence of uncles. Growing up in Canada. Interest in education.
Attending McGill. Influence of mother. Financing higher education. Research with Carl Winkler. Interest in kinetics. Decision to attend graduate school. Work on RDX.
Working with Edward W. R. Steacie. Growing fascination with theory. Working with Oscar Rice at the University of North Carolina. Office of Naval Research contract. Development of RRKM theory. Colleagues.
Office of Naval Research contract. Electrostatics. Colleagues. Atmosphere in department. Polymer work. Interest in polyelectrolytes. Experimental work on electron transfer. Ion exchange resins. Flash photolysis. Boron hydrides. Unimolecular processes. NSF senior postdoctoral fellowship. Relationship between experiment and theory.
Decision to leave Brooklyn Poly. Teaching graduate courses. Visiting professor at Oxford University.
Work with Ahmed Zewail. Declining administrative work. Desire to continue research. Electron transfer research. Two-site behavior in photosynthesis. Long range electron transfer. Collaborators.
Children. Interest in history. Electrochemical hydrogen evolution. Transition state theory. Challenges of research. Thoughts on electron transfer research. Awards.
About the Interviewer
James J. Bohning was professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he had been a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was CHF’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. Bohning passed away in September 2011.