Odile Eisenstein is a

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 ...

who specializes in modelling the structure and reactivity of

transition metal In chemistry, a transition metal (or transition element) is a chemical element in the d-block of the periodic table (groups 3 to 12), though the elements of group 12 (and less often group 3) are sometimes excluded. They are the elements that can ...

s and

lanthanide The lanthanide () or lanthanoid () series of chemical elements comprises the 15 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57–71, from lanthanum through lutetium. These elements, along with the chemically similar elements scandium and yttr ...

complexes. She is currently the equivalent of an Emeritus Professor at the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, équipe CTMM at

Montpellier 2 University Montpellier 2 University (Université Montpellier 2) was a French university in the '' académie'' of Montpellier. It was one of the three universities formed in 1970 from the original University of Montpellier. Its main campus neighbors the Mon ...

and a professor at the Hylleraas Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences at the University of Oslo. She has been a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

since 2013, as the first female elect. In 2018 she was awarded the «insignes d'officier dans l’ordre de la Légion d'honneur» at the Institut de France in Paris.

Education

In 1977, Odile Eisenstein attended

University of Paris-Sud Paris-Sud University (French: ''Université Paris-Sud''), also known as University of Paris — XI (or as Université d'Orsay before 1971), was a French research university distributed among several campuses in the southern suburbs of Paris, in ...

where she earned a Ph.D in chemistry with Nguyen Trong Anh and

Lionel Salem Lionel Salem (born 5 March 1937, Paris) is a French theoretical chemist, former research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), retired since 1999. He is a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Scie ...

. She obtained postdoctoral appointments with

Jack D. Dunitz Jack David Dunitz FRS (29 March 1923 – 12 September 2021) was a British chemist and widely known chemical crystallographer. He was Professor of Chemical Crystallography at the ETH Zurich from 1957 until his official retirement in 1990. He he ...

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 ...

and

Roald Hoffmann Roald Hoffmann (born Roald Safran; July 18, 1937) is a Polish Americans, Polish-American theoretical chemistry, theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He has also published plays and poetry. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes P ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Here, she did work on the nature of transition metal-olefin bonding interactions. She began her independent career at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

in 1982.

References

French women chemists 21st-century French chemists Living people Theoretical chemists Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1949 births People from Boulogne-Billancourt University of Michigan faculty Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences 20th-century French chemists {{France-chemist-stub