INVITED SPEAKERS (2023)
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The Robert J. Le Roy Lecturer Robert J. Le Roy (1943-2018)
Robert J. LeRoy, one of Canada’s foremost theoretical chemists, followed his father into academia and became a learned giant within a highly specialized field. His work focused on the behaviour of molecules and atoms, particularly the forces occurring among them. When asked to explain the complexities of his profession to laypeople he was known to say: “I study the sex life of molecules.”
Mischievously good humoured, the University of Waterloo professor inspired and mentored thousands of young scientists. His work on predictive computer modelling resulted in many honours and awards including the Rutherford Memorial Medal in Chemistry by the Royal Society of Canada (1984) and the J. Heyrovsky Honorary Medal for Merit in the Chemical Sciences by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (1995). He always said, “Don’t choose something because it’s easy – choose it because it’s challenging and worthwhile.”
In his 40s, Mr. LeRoy was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a relatively rare cancer in someone so young. When chemotherapy caused his hair to fall out, he decided to adopt a new look – shaving his head and piercing his ear. University of Waterloo colleagues and students got together to present him with an earring made out of a bolt. He wore it with pride.
Bob was a truly inspiring person and scientist. To celebrate his life and accomplishments, and to honour his memory, we established the "Robert J. Le Roy Lectureship" for the Symposium on Chemical Physics.
Pierre-Nicholas Roy
Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Canada -
In memory of Josef Paldus Josef Paldus (1935-2023)
This presentation will be dedicated to the memory of Prof. Josef Paldus, who passed away on January 15, 2023. Prof. Paldus joined the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Waterloo in 1968 and was a highly regarded participant in our symposium for many years. Known as a pioneer in Coupled Cluster theory and its generalizations to multi-reference problems and excited states, Joe made seminal contributions to the Unitary Group approach to spin-adaptation, a method now used in many program packages. Prof. Piotr Piecuch, who was a research associate with Prof. Paldus and remained a close friend over the years, will give a presentation commemorating the life and work of Prof. Joe Paldus.
Piotr Piecuch
Department of Chemistry,
Michigan State University, USA -
Leanne D. Chen
Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, Canada
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Brian Clowers
Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, USA -
Daniel Kuroda
Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, USA