Russell Mosher Pitzer (born May 10, 1938) is an American

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

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. He was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

and attended public schools in this and the Washington, D.C. area. He received his B.S. in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

in 1959 from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, his A.M. in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1963, and his Ph.D. in

chemical physics Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical process ...

from

in 1963.

At Harvard, Pitzer worked with William N. Lipscomb, Jr. in cooperation with the research group of

John C. Slater John Clarke Slater (December 22, 1900 – July 25, 1976) was a noted American physicist who made major contributions to the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and solids. He also made major contributions to microwave electroni ...

at M.I.T. to develop computer programs to use Slater orbitals to produce self-consistent field (SCF)

molecular orbital In chemistry, a molecular orbital is a mathematical function describing the location and wave-like behavior of an electron in a molecule. This function can be used to calculate chemical and physical properties such as the probability of find ...

s. The

ethane Ethane ( , ) is an organic chemical compound with chemical formula . At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas. Like many hydrocarbons, ethane is isolated on an industrial scale from natural gas and as a petroc ...

barrier (see diagram at right) was first calculated accurately by Pitzer and Lipscomb using Hartree Fock Self-Consistent Field (SCF) theory. Ethane gives a classic, simple example of such a

rotational barrier In chemistry, conformational isomerism is a form of stereoisomerism in which the isomers can be interconverted just by rotations about formally single bonds (refer to figure on single bond rotation). While any two arrangements of atoms in a mo ...

, the minimum energy to produce a 360-degree bond rotation of a molecular substructure. The three hydrogens at each end are free to pinwheel about the central carbon-carbon bond, provided that there is sufficient energy to overcome the barrier of the carbon-hydrogen bonds at each end of the molecule bumping into each other by way of overlap (exchange) repulsion. Also at Harvard, Pitzer also helped formulate the perturbed Hartree–Fock equations in a form for calculating the effects of external electric and magnetic fields on molecules. He was a

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

fellow at M.I.T. and a faculty member at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

before joining the Chemistry Department at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

in 1968. He was promoted to Professor in 1979 and served as Department Chair from 1989 to 1994. His group wrote computer software to enable calculation of molecular energies and other properties. In 1979, with John Yates, he published the first Jahn-Teller-Effect study (on cobalt trifluoride, CoF₃) to use a computed energy surface. Relativistic effects could be included. An early application with A. Chang was the first assignment of the visible spectrum of

uranocene Uranocene, U(C8H8)2, is an organouranium compound composed of a uranium atom sandwiched between two cyclooctatetraenide rings. It was one of the first organoactinide compounds to be synthesized. It is a green air-sensitive solid that dissolves in ...

. During 1986–87 he served as Acting Associate Director of the

Ohio Supercomputer Center The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is a supercomputer facility located on the western end of the Ohio State University campus, just north of Columbus. Established in 1987, the OSC partners with Ohio universities, labs and industries, providing st ...

, cofounding the center and the Ohio Academic Resources Network. During 2001–03 he served as Interim Director of the Ohio Supercomputer Center. In 2004 he received the Faculty Award For Distinguished University Service. He retired in 2008.Pitzer bio on OSUChem website
/ref> His father was former Stanford University president

Kenneth Pitzer Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer (January 6, 1914 – December 26, 1997) was an American physical and theoretical chemist, educator, and university president. He was described as "one of the most influential physical chemists of his era" whose work "s ...

and his grandfather, Russell K. Pitzer, founded

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. One of the Claremont Colleges, the college has a curricular emphasis on the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. Pitzer is k ...

, one of the seven

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)— Pomona College, Sc ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Russell M. Pitzer served as a trustee of Pitzer College from 1988 to 2012, and in 2003 received a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree in recognition of this service. In 2018 the Ohio Supercomputer Center named their newly purchased supercomputer Pitzer in honor of his role in founding the center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitzer, Russell M. Living people Harvard University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology fellows Ohio State University faculty 21st-century American chemists Theoretical chemists California Institute of Technology alumni 1938 births 20th-century American chemists People from Berkeley, California Scientists from California