Robert E. Connick (July 29, 1917 – August 21, 2014) was a professor emeritus of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Life

Connick studied chemistry at Berkeley, receiving his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1939 and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1942. He was a research associate on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

from 1943 - 1946, and has been a professor, chair of the chemistry department, dean of the college of chemistry, vice chancellor, and chair of the academic senate at both Berkeley and the entire

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

system. His research led to growth and improvement in inorganic reaction kinetics and mechanisms. He is most known for development of

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 ...

methods for determining rates of water exchange reactions. During his time with the Manhattan Project, Connick contributed research to the fundamental chemical properties of plutonium, during a time when only minute amounts were accessible, and helped devise its separation techniques. Connick’s studies revealed plutonium’s complicated oxidation-reduction properties and the existence of many ions. The results showed scientific basis for the various practical separation processes developed during and since World War II. He was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1963. He was a 1968 G.N. Lewis Lecturer and Awardee. He was a two-time

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, in 1948 and 1958. Connick also served as a Counselor for the Save the Redwoods League. Connick died at the age of 97 in 2014.

References

1917 births 2014 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences UC Berkeley College of Chemistry faculty UC Berkeley College of Chemistry alumni {{US-chemist-stub