Raphael David Levine (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: רפאל לוין, born March 29, 1938) is an Israeli
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
who is a professor at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Department of
Chemistry and
Biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
,
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
and the
Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging of the
David Geffen School of Medicine
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine—known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM)—is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was renamed in 2001 in h ...
at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
.
Birth and academic career
Raphael David Levine was born on March 29, 1938 in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. He is the Max Born professor of
Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science.
From the ancient wo ...
at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a distinguished professor at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
.
Research
Raphael D. Levine is known for his contributions in the modern theory of chemically reactive collisions and
unimolecular reactions. He has played a major role in the application of the principles of quantum mechanics to the description of physical change in a reaction from a microscopic point of view, introducing many new concepts and terms which became standard to this area. His major works include the quantum theory of absolute rates, the first quantal treatment of molecular photodissociation, elucidation of the role of resonances in reactive molecular collisions, the theory of collision- induced dissociation, and the foundations of dynamical stereochemistry.
Awards and honours
Raphael David Levine has received several awards and honours in his life.
* In 1968, he was also awarded the Annual Prize of the Academy.
* In 1974, he was awarded the
Israel Prize, in exact science.
* In 1988, he was awarded the
Wolf Prize in Chemistry
The Wolf Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics and Arts
...
along with
Joshua Jortner
Joshua Jortner (Hebrew: יהושע יורטנר) (March 14, 1933) is an Israeli physical chemist. He is a professor emeritus at the School of Chemistry, The Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Birth and e ...
of
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
"for their incisive theoretical studies elucidating energy acquisition and disposal in molecular systems and mechanisms for dynamical selectivity and specificity".
* In 1992, he received the Rothschild Prize.
* In 1996, he was awarded the Max Planck Prize for International Cooperation.
* In 2001, he was awarded the EMET Prize.
He is a member of
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was established in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between Israeli scholars in the sciences and humanities and create a think tank for advising the government on re ...
, the
Max Planck Society,
Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...
,
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
,
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
,
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
{{Infobox organization
, name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
, full_name =
, native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab
, native_name_lang =
, logo = Royal ...
, and
National Academy of Sciences of the United States.
He has honorary doctorates from Liege University, 1991 and the Technical University of Munich 1996.
His 2005 book, "Molecular Reaction Dynamics", Cambridge University Press, has been selected by Choice as 'Outstanding Academic Title 2006'.
References
See also
*
List of Israel Prize recipients
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Raphael D.
1938 births
Living people
Israeli chemists
Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty
Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates
Members of Academia Europaea
Israel Prize in exact science recipients
Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were chemists
EMET Prize recipients in the Exact Sciences
Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Egyptian Jews
Israeli Jews
Jewish chemists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Members of the American Philosophical Society