Ad van der Avoird (born 19 April 1943) is a Dutch

theoretical chemist Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface ...

. He is an emeritus professor of

theoretical chemistry Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface o ...

at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

Education and career

Van der Avoird was born on 19 April 1943 in Eindhoven. He studied at

Eindhoven University of Technology The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc an ...

, obtaining his PhD under George Schuit in 1968. In 1971, he joined the faculty of

and later became professor of

. He took up emeritus status in 2008 although he kept working. In 2013 Van der Avoird provided a theory on the relation between two

benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms ...

rings and their possible motion, the discovery was published with Gerard Meijer and a German research team in a paper in ''

Angewandte Chemie ''Angewandte Chemie'' (, meaning "Applied Chemistry") is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Wiley-VCH on behalf of the German Chemical Society (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker). Publishing formats include feature-length ...

''. The model solved a decade old scientific issue.

Honors and awards

On 25 April 2014 he was made a Knight in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

, one of only fifteen appointees that year. Amongst other accomplishments he was given the honor for his model of benzene dimer. Van der Avoird became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1979. He is also member of the

International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science The International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (IAQMS) is an international scientific learned society covering all applications of quantum theory to chemistry and chemical physics. It was created in Menton in 1967. The founding members we ...

References

External links

Profile at Radboud University Nijmegen

Profile on NARCIS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avoird, Ad van der 1943 births Living people 20th-century Dutch chemists Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Eindhoven Radboud University Nijmegen faculty Theoretical chemists 21st-century Dutch chemists