Malcolm Harris Levitt is a British physical chemist and

nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

(NMR) spectroscopist. He is Professor in Physical Chemistry at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 2007.

Education and career

Levitt studied chemistry at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, at

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

. As an undergraduate, he enjoyed lectures by

Ray Freeman Raymond Freeman FRS (6 January 1932 – 1 May 2022) was a British chemist and professor at Jesus College, Cambridge who made important contributions to NMR spectroscopy. Education Freeman was educated at Nottingham High School where he won an ...

, who was by then already an established and prominent NMR spectroscopist. After working on an undergraduate research project with Freeman, Levitt continued to work under the supervision of Freeman for his doctorate, and since then was involved in research in the field of NMR. Levitt undertook a series of international postdoctoral research stays after completing his doctorate. In 1982, he worked with Shimon Vega at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

in Israel. In 1982–1985, he worked with Richard Ernst at

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

. He was a staff scientist at the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory at MIT in 1990–1997. He became a lecturer at

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

, Sweden in 1991 and was subsequently promoted to professor. In 2001 he moved to the School of Chemistry at the University of Southampton, UK.

Research

Levitt is best known as the inventor of the composite pulse and composite pulse decoupling sequences in solution NMR. Other contributions to NMR spectroscopy include the development of symmetry-based recoupling and decoupling sequences in

solid-state NMR Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy is a technique for characterizing atomic level structure in solid materials e.g. powders, single crystals and amorphous samples and tissues using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The anisotropic pa ...

, and the use of long-lived nuclear spin states and

singlet state In quantum mechanics, a singlet state usually refers to a system in which all electrons are paired. The term 'singlet' originally meant a linked set of particles whose net angular momentum is zero, that is, whose overall spin quantum number s=0. A ...

s in solution NMR. He is also the author of the textbook ''Spin Dynamics. Basics of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.'' He has also published extensively on the quantum mechanics and spectroscopy of endofullerenes. Techniques used include terahertz and

infrared spectroscopy Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy or vibrational spectroscopy) is the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption, emission, or reflection. It is used to study and identify chemical substances or function ...

, and

inelastic neutron scattering Neutron scattering, the irregular dispersal of free neutrons by matter, can refer to either the naturally occurring physical process itself or to the man-made experimental techniques that use the natural process for investigating materials. Th ...

, as well as NMR.

Awards and honours

Levitt was awarded the

Günther Laukien Prize The Günther Laukien Prize is a prize presented at the European Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference "to recognize recent cutting-edge experimental NMR research with a high probability of enabling beneficial new applications". The prize was establi ...

in Magnetic Resonance in 2008 for his work on "optimized pulses and pulse sequences to enhance the power of liquid and solid state NMR". He was awarded the final

Russell Varian Prize The Russell Varian Prize was an international scientific prize awarded for a single, high-impact and innovative contribution in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), that laid the foundation for the development of new technologies in the fi ...

in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in 2015 for his work on composite pulses. He was awarded the

Davy Medal The Davy Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry". Named after Humphry Davy, the medal is awarded with a monetary gift, initially of £1000 (currently £2000). H ...

of the Royal Society in 2021. As a lecturer at Stockholm University, Levitt was awarded the

Göran Gustafsson Prize The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

for Chemistry in 1996. As a postdoctoral researcher, Levitt was awarded the Latsis research prize of the

Early and personal life

Levitt was born in 1957 at Hull, England. He is married and has one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitt, Malcolm People from Kingston upon Hull Academics of the University of Southampton Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Weizmann Institute of Science alumni ETH Zurich alumni Academic staff of Stockholm University 1957 births Living people 20th-century British chemists 21st-century British chemists