Kenneth S. Pitzer | |
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3rd President of Rice University | |
In office 1961–1968 | |
Preceded by | William Vermillion Houston |
Succeeded by | Norman Hackerman |
6th President of Stanford University | |
In office December 1, 1968[1] – June 25, 1970[2] | |
Preceded by | Wallace Sterling |
Succeeded by | Richard Wall Lyman |
Personal details | |
Born | Pomona, California, U.S. | January 6, 1914
Died | December 26, 1997 Berkeley, California, U.S. | (aged 83)
Children | Russell M. Pitzer |
Parent |
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Alma mater | California Institute of Technology (BS) University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
Awards | ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (1943) Priestley Medal (1969) National Medal of Science (1975) American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (1976) Welch Award in Chemistry (1984) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Chemistry |
Institutions | |
Thesis | Theoretical calculations and experimental determinations of entropies and related thermodynamic quantities (1937) |
Doctoral advisor | Wendell Latimer |
Doctoral students | George C. Pimentel Oktay Sinanoğlu Robert Curl Raymond Sheline |
Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer (January 6, 1914 – December 26, 1997) was an American physical and theoretical chemist, educator, and university president.[3] He was described as "one of the most influential physical chemists of his era" whose work "spanned almost all of the important fields of physical chemistry: thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, molecular structure, quantum mechanics, spectroscopy, chemical bonding, relativistic chemical effects, properties of concentrated aqueous salt solutions, kinetics, and conformational analysis."[4]