Ira N. Levine (February 12, 1937 – December 17, 2015) was an American author, scientist, professor and faculty member in the chemistry department at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. He widely acknowledged for his research in the field of

microwave spectroscopy Microwave spectroscopy is the spectroscopy method that employs microwaves, i.e. electromagnetic radiation at GHz frequencies, for the study of matter. History The ammonia molecule NH3 is shaped like a pyramid 0.38 Å in height, with an equilatera ...

, and for several widely known textbooks in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

and

quantum chemistry Quantum chemistry, also called molecular quantum mechanics, is a branch of physical chemistry focused on the application of quantum mechanics to chemical systems, particularly towards the quantum-mechanical calculation of electronic contributions ...

Biography

Levine was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He was graduated from

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

. In 1952, Levine was graduated with an honorary degree in chemistry and named as top scholastic honorary graduate in the College of Engineering and Science at

Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering The Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering (formerly known as the Carnegie Institute of Technology) is the academic unit that manages engineering research and education at Carnegie Mellon University. The College can trace its origins ...

. In 1959, he went on to graduate school in the field of

and

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...

at Harvard University. In 1963, he was awarded a PhD in chemistry under the guidance of Professor

E. Bright Wilson Edgar Bright Wilson Jr. (December 18, 1908 – July 12, 1992) was an American chemist. Wilson was a prominent and accomplished chemist and teacher, recipient of the National Medal of Science in 1975, Guggenheim Fellowships in 1949 and 1970, the ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He started his academic career at Brooklyn College in 1964 where he taught first-year courses in general chemistry as well as advanced courses in physical and quantum chemistry. He became a full-time professor in 1978. Levine is recognized for several textbooks he authored and for his research in physical chemistry, quantum chemistry and microwave spectroscopy. Levine textbooks include Quantum Chemistry (7th ed.), Physical Chemistry (6th ed.), Solutions Manual to Physical Chemistry (5th ed.), and a textbook on Molecular Spectroscopy. His textbooks have been translated into many languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Spanish, and they have been used by many Chemistry departments in the US and elsewhere. He died on December 17, 2015.

References

1937 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American chemists American physical chemists Theoretical chemistry Quantum physicists Brooklyn College faculty Harvard University alumni {{US-chemist-stub Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering alumni Erasmus Hall High School alumni