Robert A. Alberty

Robert Arnold Alberty
Born(1921-06-21)21 June 1921
Died18 January 2014(2014-01-18) (aged 92)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Nebraska, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Known forenzyme kinetics, biochemical thermodynamics
AwardsNational Academy of Sciences, 1965; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1968
Scientific career
FieldsBiophysical chemistry
Notable studentsGordon Hammes

Robert Arnold Alberty (1921–2014) was an American biophysical chemist, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alberty earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Nebraska in 1943 and 1944, respectively, then a doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1947. For his work in the area of biochemical thermodynamics, Alberty was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1965. In 1968 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[1] He was dean of the MIT School of Science between 1967-1982.

Alberty is also known for his textbooks on physical chemistry, which have gone through many editions. The first one, Physical Chemistry, co-authored with Farrington Daniels, was published in 1957. More recent books of the same title have been co-authored with Robert J. Silbey and Moungi G. Bawendi (2004). Other works include Thermodynamics of Biochemical Reactions (2003) and Biochemical Thermodynamics: Applications of Mathematica (Methods of Biochemical Analysis) (2006).

He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 92 on January 18, 2014.[2] Towards the end of his life he wrote a short account of his life and scientific career.[3]

  1. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  2. ^ Robert Alberty, professor emeritus of chemistry and former dean of science, dies at 92
  3. ^ Alberty, Robert A. (2010). "Brief Scientific Autobiography of Robert A. Alberty". The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 114 (49): 16047–16050. doi:10.1021/jp103554e. PMID 21141926.