Sigrid Doris Peyerimhoff (born 12 January 1937, in Rottweil) 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 ...

and Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Education

After completing her '' abitur'', Peyerimhoff studied physics at the

University of Gießen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

, completing her degree in 1961 and receiving her doctorate under supervision of Bernhard Kockel in 1963. After researching at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, she returned to Germany and gained her habilitation at the University of Gießen in 1967. She became professor for theoretical chemistry at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

in 1970, and at the

in 1972.

Quantum chemistry

Her contributions have been to the development of ''ab initio''

quantum chemical 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 ...

methods, in particular,

multireference configuration interaction In quantum chemistry, the multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) method consists of a configuration interaction expansion of the eigenstates of the electronic molecular Hamiltonian in a set of Slater determinants which correspond to excita ...

, and to their application in many fields of physics and chemistry. Particular emphasis has been given to electronically excited states,

molecular spectra The emission spectrum of a chemical element or chemical compound is the spectrum of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation emitted due to an electron making a transition from a high energy state to a lower energy state. The photon energy of ...

and

photochemistry Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400– ...

. Many studies are on atmospheric molecules and ions, their lifetimes in excited states and decomposition due to radiative and non-radiative processes, and on stability and spectra of clusters. Some of her students became well known for their contribution to quantum chemistry, including Bernd Engels,

Stefan Grimme Stefan Grimme (born 1963), is a German physical chemist; he completed a Ph.D. thesis on photochemistry at Technical University of Braunschweig in 1991; he is a professor at the Universität Bonn since 2011 who is active in the field of computatio ...

, Bernd A. Hess, Christel Marian, Matthias Ernzerhoff and Bernd M. Nestmann.

Awards and honors

During her career, she received several awards and memberships: * 1977 Medal of the

International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science The International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (IAQMS) is an international scientific learned society covering all applications of quantum theory to chemistry and chemical physics. It was created in Menton in 1967. The founding members we ...

* 1988 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Prize * 1994

Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* 2007 Cothenius-Medaille of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

Sigrid Peyerimhoff
auf der Website der International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. * 2008

Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* 2011 Honorary doctor of the

University of Ulm Ulm University (german: Universität Ulm) is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer sci ...

She is also a member of the

Publications

She is the author of over 400 original articles in various international journals and coauthor of ''Umweltstandards: Fakten und Bewertungsprobleme am Beispiel des Strahlenrisikos''. Her history of computational chemistry in Germany is of particular note. She edited ''Interactions in Molecules''.Wiley page on ''Interactions in Molecules''
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Partial bibliography

* Peyerimhoff, Sigrid D. ''Interactions in Molecules: Electronic and Steric Effects''. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 2003.

References

External links

Her International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science web pageUniversity of Bonn web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peyerimhoff, Sigrid Doris 1937 births Living people 20th-century German chemists Theoretical chemists Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science University of Bonn faculty University of Giessen alumni Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz faculty People from Rottweil (district) German women chemists Computational chemists 20th-century German women scientists 21st-century German chemists