Evert Jan Baerends (born 17 September 1945) is a Dutch theoretical chemist. He is an emeritus professor of the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

. Baerends is known for his development and application of electronic structure calculations, which over time led to the development of the

Amsterdam Density Functional Amsterdam Density Functional (ADF) is a program for first-principles electronic structure calculations that makes use of density functional theory (DFT). ADF was first developed in the early seventies by the group of E. J. Baerends from the Vrije ...

. He worked extensively on

density functional theory Density-functional theory (DFT) is a computational quantum mechanical modelling method used in physics, chemistry and materials science to investigate the electronic structure (or nuclear structure) (principally the ground state) of many-body ...

Career

Baerends was born on 17 September 1945 in

Voorst Voorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Population centres * Appen (near a wood where nice walks can be taken) * Bussloo (with a recreation centre with a small lake and beach) * De Kar (near a motorway junction (A1, ...

. He obtained his PhD at the

under professor Pieter Ros. Baerends became a professor of Theoretical chemistry at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He did extensive research on

and was involved in the development and application of electronic structure calculations, which later led to the development of the

. Baerends became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 2004. In 2010 he was awarded the

Schrödinger Medal The Schrödinger Medal is an annual award presented by the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists The World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC) is a scholarly association founded in 1982 "in order to e ...

by the

World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists The World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC) is a scholarly association founded in 1982 "in order to encourage the development and application of theoretical methods" in chemistry, particularly theoretical chemistry and c ...

, being noted for: "For his pioneering contributions to the development of computational density functional methods and his fundamental contributions to density functional theory and density matrix theory." Baerends is a 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 wer ...

. After his retirement in the Netherlands Baerends lectured at

Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) is a private research university in Pohang, South Korea. History POSTECH was established in 1986 in Pohang, Korea by POSCO, a steel company. POSTECH hosted POSCO's Research Institute of Sc ...

in South Korea. In 2019 he received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Girona The University of Girona ( ca, Universitat de Girona, UdG (); ;) is located in the city of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Its real origin dates back to its creation in 1446, but it was reestablished as a new university in 1991. As of 2021, it consists ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baerends, Evert Jan 1945 births Living people Computational chemists 20th-century Dutch chemists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Voorst Pohang University of Science and Technology faculty Schrödinger Medal recipients Theoretical chemists Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 21st-century Dutch chemists