理查德·斯莫利1943—2005

2005年，理查德·埃利特·斯莫利因白血病在休斯敦逝世。

Richard Errett Smalley (June 6, 1943 – October 28, 2005) was an American chemist who was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy at Rice University. In 1996, along with Robert Curl, also a professor of chemistry at Rice, and Harold Kroto, a professor at the University of Sussex, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of a new form of carbon, buckminsterfullerene, also known as buckyballs. He was an advocate of nanotechnology and its applications.

Early life and education

Smalley, the youngest of 4 siblings, was born in Akron, Ohio on June 6, 1943, to Frank Dudley Smalley, Jr., and Esther Virginia Rhoads. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Richard Smalley credits his father, mother and aunt as formative influences in industry, science and chemistry. His father, Frank Dudley Smalley, Jr. worked with mechanical and electrical equipment and eventually became CEO of a trade journal for farm implements called Implement and Tractor. His mother, Esther Rhoads Smalley, completed her B.A. Degree while Richard was a teenager. She was particularly inspired by mathematician Norman N. Royall Jr., who taught Foundations of Physical Science, and communicated her love of science to her son through long conversations and joint activities.

Career

In 1976, Smalley joined Rice University. In 1982, he was appointed to the Gene and Norman Hackerman Chair in Chemistry at Rice. He helped to found the Rice Quantum Institute in 1979, serving as chairman from 1986 to 1996. In 1990, he became also a professor in the department of physics. In 1990, he helped to found the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. In 1996, he was appointed its director.

He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1990, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991.

Fullerenes

Smalley's research in physical chemistry investigated the formation of inorganic and semiconductor clusters using pulsed molecular beams and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Advocacy

Starting in the late 1990s, Smalley advocated for the need for cheap, sustainable energy, which he described as the number one problem facing humanity in the 21st century. He described what he called "The Terawatt Challenge", the need to develop a new power source capable of increasing "our energy output by a minimum factor of two, the generally agreed-upon number, certainly by the middle of the century, but preferably well before that."

He also presented a list entitled "Top Ten Problems of Humanity for Next 50 Years". It can be interesting to compare his list, in order of priority, to the Ten Threats formulated by the U.N.'s High Level Threat Panel in 2004. Smalley's list, in order of priority, was:

• Energy
• Water
• Food
• Environment
• Poverty
• Terrorism & war
• Disease
• Education
• Democracy
• Population

Personal life

Smalley was married four times, to Judith Grace Sampieri (1968–1978), Mary L. Chapieski (1980–1994), JoNell M. Chauvin (1997–1998) and Deborah Sheffield (2005), and had two sons, Chad Richard Smalley (born June 8, 1969) and Preston Reed Smalley (born August 8, 1997).

In 1999, Smalley was diagnosed with cancer. Smalley died of leukemia, variously reported as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, on October 28, 2005, at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, at the age of 62.

Upon Smalley's death, the US Senate passed a resolution to honor Smalley, crediting him as the "Father of Nanotechnology."

Honors

Fellowships

• Harold W. Dodds Fellow, Princeton University, 1973
• Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1978–1980
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1987
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2003

Awards and prizes

• Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics, American Physical Society, 1991
• Popular Science Magazine Grand Award in Science & Technology, 1991
• APS International Prize for New Materials, 1992 (Joint with R. F. Curl & H. W. Kroto)
• Ernest O. Lawrence Memorial Award, U.S. Department of Energy, 1992
• Welch Award in Chemistry, Robert A. Welch Foundation, 1992
• Auburn-G.M. Kosolapoff Award, Auburn Section, American Chemical Society, 1992
• Southwest Regional Award, American Chemical Society, 1992
• William H. Nichols Medal, New York Section, American Chemical Society, 1993