Michael O’Keeffe (born April 3, 1934) is a British-American chemist. He is currently Regents’ Professor Emeritus in the School of Molecular Sciences at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

. As a scientist, he is particularly known for his contributions to the field of

reticular chemistry Omar M. Yaghi ( ar, عمر مونّس ياغي; born February 9, 1965) is the James and Neeltje Tretter Chair Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, the Founding Director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute, and an ...

. In 2019, he received the

Gregori Aminoff Prize The Gregori Aminoff Prize is an international prize awarded since 1979 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the field of crystallography, rewarding "a documented, individual contribution in the field of crystallography, including areas conc ...

Crystallography Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wo ...

from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Early life and education

Michael O’Keeffe was born in Bury St Edmunds,

Suffolk, England Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

, on the 3rd April, 1934. He was one of four children born to Dr. E. Joseph O’Keeffe, an immigrant from Ireland, and his mother Marjorie G. O’Keeffe (née Marten). From 1942 to 1951 he attended

Prior Park College Prior Park College is a mixed Roman Catholic public school for both day and boarding students. Situated on a hill overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, in southwest England, Prior Park has been designated by Historic England as a Grade I l ...

(Bath) and then from 1951 to 1957 the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

: B.Sc. in chemistry (1954), Ph.D. (1958, mentor

Frank S. Stone Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

). He spent 1958-1959 at

Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium The Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium (English translation: ''Philips Physics Laboratory'') or NatLab was the Dutch section of the Philips research department, which did research for the product divisions of that company. Originally located in th ...

(group of

Evert W. Gorter Evert is a Dutch and Swedish short form of the Germanic masculine name "Everhard" (alternative Eberhard).Evert
at the

) then did postdoctoral research at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

(mentor

Walter J. Moore Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

). 1960-62. He subsequently became a U. S. citizen.

Career

In 1963, he joined

where he is now Regents’ Professor of Chemistry. Early research work was devoted to the study of defects,

conductivity Conductivity may refer to: *Electrical conductivity, a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current **Conductivity (electrolytic), the electrical conductivity of an electrolyte in solution ** Ionic conductivity (solid state), ele ...

and

diffusion Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical p ...

in solids, particularly solid electrolytes. His more recent research is devoted to the theory of periodic structures (nets (

periodic graph (crystallography) In crystallography, a periodic graph or crystal net is a three-dimensional periodic graph, i.e., a three-dimensional Euclidean graph whose vertices or nodes are points in three-dimensional Euclidean space, and whose edges (or bonds or spacers) ...

), tilings (periodic

tessellations A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of ge ...

, and weavings (a higher dimensional version of

Braid theory A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...

)) relevant to development of a

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of such structures and its application to materials design and description. In collaboration with Omar Yaghi, O’Keeffe developed

, a new branch of chemistry that links molecular fragments of well-defined shapes with strong bonds to build symmetrical open structures such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs),

zeolitic imidazolate frameworks Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a class of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are topologically isomorphic with zeolites. ZIF glasses can be synthesized by the melt-quench method, and the first melt-quenched ZIF glass was firstly mad ...

(ZIFs), and

covalent organic frameworks Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of materials that form two- or three-dimensional structures through reactions between organic precursors resulting in strong, covalent bonds to afford porous, stable, and crystalline materials. COFs em ...

(COFs) Together with

Olaf Delgado-Friedrichs Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" ...

, he has developed the

Reticular Chemistry Structure Resource In chemistry and biology a cross-link is a bond or a short sequence of bonds that links one polymer chain to another. These links may take the form of covalent bonds or ionic bonds and the polymers can be either synthetic polymers or natural ...

(RCSR) a compendium of structures relevant to design of materials on the molecular level. O'Keeffe has published three books, including one of the standard monographs on periodic structures, and more than 300 refereed papers. His work is highly cited (over 100,000 citations and h index over 100), and he was third in the Clarivate#Highly Cited Researchers list of Top 100 Chemists, 2000-2010

Honors and awards

Among his honors are: the 2019

(

Royal Swedish Academy The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

); the Bernal Distinguished Lecturer,

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

, 2017; the World Class Professorship,

KAIST The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the nation's first public, resear ...

, Korea, 2013;

Newcomb Cleveland Prize The Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is annually awarded to author(s) of outstanding scientific paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of ''Science''. Established in 192 ...

from the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

in 2007;

Regents' Professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" informally refers collectively to the academic ranks of assistant professor, a ...

, Arizona State University 1994; and D. Sc. “for excellence in published research”

, 1976.

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKeefe, Michael 1934 births Living people Arizona State University faculty Alumni of the University of Bristol English people of Irish descent People from Bury St Edmunds English emigrants to the United States 21st-century American chemists People educated at Prior Park College 20th-century American chemists Inorganic chemists American crystallographers Solid state chemists British crystallographers

Early life and education

Career

Honors and awards

Bibliography

See also

References