Father of Nanotechnology:Richard Errett Smalley

Father of Nanotechnology:Richard Errett Smalley

Richard Errett Smalley (June 6, 1943 – October 28, 2005) was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas. In 1996, along with Robert Curl, also a professor of chemistry at Rice, and Harold Kroto, a professor at the University of Sussex, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of a new form of carbon, buckminsterfullerene, also known as buckyballs. He was an advocate of nanotechnology and its applications.

Personal life[edit] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Smalley

Smalley was married four times, to Judith Grace Sampieri (1968-1978), Mary L. Chapieski (1980-1994), JoNell M. Chauvin (1997-1998) and Deborah Sheffield (2005), and had two sons, Chad Richard Smalley (born June 8, 1969) and Preston Reed Smalley (born August 8, 1997).^[2][31]

In 1999, Smalley was diagnosed with cancer. Smalley died of leukemia,^[32] variously reported as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma^[33] and chronic lymphocytic leukemia,^[2] on October 28, 2005, at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, at the age of 62.^[2][34]

Upon Smalley's death, the US Senate passed a resolution to honor Smalley, crediting him as the "Father of Nanotechnology."^[35]

Christianity during final years[edit]

Smalley, who had taken classes in religion as well as science at Hope College, rediscovered his Christian foundation in later life, particularly during his final years while battling cancer.^[36] During the final year of his life, Smalley wrote: "Although I suspect I will never fully understand, I now think the answer is very simple: it's true. God did create the universe about 13.7 billion years ago, and of necessity has involved Himself with His creation ever since."^[36]

At the Tuskegee University's 79th Annual Scholarship Convocation/Parents' Recognition Program he was quoted making the following statement regarding the subject of evolution while urging his audience to take seriously their role as the higher species on this planet. "'Genesis' was right, and there was a creation, and that Creator is still involved... We are the only species that can destroy the Earth or take care of it and nurture all that live on this very special planet. I'm urging you to look on these things. For whatever reason, this planet was built specifically for us. Working on this planet is an absolute moral code. ... Let's go out and do what we were put on Earth to do."^[37] Old Earth creationist and astronomer Hugh Ross spoke at Smalley's funeral, November 2, 2005.^[38]

Publications[edit]

• Smalley, R.E. "Supersonic bare metal cluster beams. Final report", Rice University, United States Department of Energy—Office of Energy Research, (Oct. 14, 1997).
• Smalley, R.E. "Supersonic Bare Metal Cluster Beams. Technical Progress Report, March 16, 1984 - April 1, 1985", Rice University, United States Department of Energy—Office of Basic Energy Sciences, (Jan. 1, 1985).

Honors[edit]

Fellowships[edit]

• Harold W. Dodds Fellow, Princeton University, 1973
• Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1978–1980
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1987
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2003

Awards and prizes[edit]

• Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics, American Physical Society, 1991
• Popular Science Magazine Grand Award in Science & Technology, 1991
• APS International Prize for New Materials, 1992 (Joint with R. F. Curl & H. W. Kroto)
• Ernest O. Lawrence Memorial Award, U.S. Department of Energy, 1992
• Welch Award in Chemistry, Robert A. Welch Foundation, 1992
• Auburn-G.M. Kosolapoff Award, Auburn Section, American Chemical Society, 1992
• Southwest Regional Award, American Chemical Society, 1992
• William H. Nichols Medal, New York Section, American Chemical Society, 1993
• The John Scott Award, City of Philadelphia, 1993
• Hewlett-Packard Europhysics Prize, European Physical Society, 1994 (with Wolfgang Kraetschmer, Don Huffman and Harold Kroto)
• Harrison Howe Award, Rochester Section, American Chemical Society, 1994
• Madison Marshall Award, North Alabama Section, American Chemical Society, 1995
• Franklin Medal, The Franklin Institute, 1996^[6]
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1996
• Rice University Homecoming Queen, Rice University Undergraduates, 1996^[31][35]
• Distinguished Civilian Public Service Award, Department of the Navy, 1997
• American Carbon Society Medal, 1997
• Top 75 Distinguished Contributors, Chemical & Engineering News, 1998
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Small Times Magazine, 2003
• Glenn T. Seaborg Medal, University of California at Los Angeles, 2002
• Distinguished Alumni Award, Hope College, 2005
• 50th Anniversary Visionary Award, SPIE – International Society for Optical Engineering, 2005
• National Historic Chemical Landmark, American Chemical Society, 2010^[14]
• Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award, Division of History of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2015^[12][13]

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ "Dr. Richard Errett Smalley". Legacy.com. Retrieved 18 July 2016.