Keith J. Laidler
| Keith J. Laidler | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 3, 1916 Liverpool, England |
| Died | August 26, 2003 (aged 87) |
| Residence |
United States Canada United Kingdom |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Alma mater |
University of Oxford Princeton University |
| Known for | Chemical kinetics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical chemist |
| Institutions |
The Catholic University of America University of Ottawa |
| Doctoral advisor | Henry Eyring |
| Other academic advisors | Cyril Norman Hinshelwood |
| Doctoral students | Joseph Weber |
Keith James Laidler (January 3, 1916 – August 26, 2003), born in England, was notable as a pioneer in chemical kinetics and authority on the physical chemistry of enzymes.
He received his BA (1934) and MA (1938) degrees from Trinity College, Oxford University. His MA was in the area of chemical kinetics under Cyril Norman Hinshelwood. He completed his PhD in 1940 from Princeton University, with a thesis entitled: The Kinetics of Reactions in Condensed and Heterogeneous Systems, under Henry Eyring. He was a National Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow (1940–1942).
After a decade at the Catholic University of America (1946-1955), he spent the remainder of his academic career at the University of Ottawa (1955–1981), where he served as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science. He was the author of 13 books and more than 250 articles.
Laidler was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, who described him "as one of the twentieth-century pioneers in the remarkable progress made in chemical kinetics leading to the development of transition state theory which provides the modern kinetic theory. Laidler's work includes seminal contributions in several areas of the field: gas phase reactions; kinetic aspects of reactivity of electronically excited molecules and construction of potential energy surfaces for such processes; development of treatments for kinetics and mechanisms for surface reactions and solution reactions, introducing modern concepts of solvation through dielectric polarization effects in the treatment of ionic redox reactions and of reactions producing or consuming ions; gas phase free-radical reactions involving pyrolysis and other thermal decomposition processes; and … the kinetics of enzyme-catalyzed reactions."
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