Ad van der Avoird (born 19 April 1943) is a Dutch theoretical chemist. He was professor of theoretical chemistry at the Radboud University Nijmegen.
Van der Avoird was born on 19 April 1943 in Eindhoven. [1] He studied at Eindhoven University of Technology, obtaining his PhD under George Schuit in 1968 with a thesis titled: "Perturbation theory for intermolecular forces : application to some adsorption models". [2] He was professor of theoretical chemistry at the Radboud University Nijmegen and took up emeritus status in 2008 although he kept working. [3] In 2013 Van der Avoird provided a theory on the relation between two benzene rings and their possible motion, the discovery was published with Gerard Meijer and a German research team in a paper in Angewandte Chemie . [4] [5] The model solved a decade old scientific issue. [6]
On 25 April 2014 he was made a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of only fifteen appointees that year. Amongst other accomplishments he was given the honor for his model of benzene dimer. [6]
Van der Avoird became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1979. [7] He is also member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. [1]
An intermolecular force (IMF) is the force that mediates interaction between molecules, including the electromagnetic forces of attraction or repulsion which act between atoms and other types of neighbouring particles, e.g. atoms or ions. Intermolecular forces are weak relative to intramolecular forces – the forces which hold a molecule together. For example, the covalent bond, involving sharing electron pairs between atoms, is much stronger than the forces present between neighboring molecules. Both sets of forces are essential parts of force fields frequently used in molecular mechanics.
Johannes Diderik van der Waals was a Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist famous for his pioneering work on the equation of state for gases and liquids. Van der Waals started his career as a schoolteacher. He became the first physics professor of the University of Amsterdam when in 1877 the old Athenaeum was upgraded to Municipal University. Van der Waals won the 1910 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids.
London dispersion forces are a type of intermolecular force acting between atoms and molecules that are normally electrically symmetric; that is, the electrons are symmetrically distributed with respect to the nucleus. They are part of the van der Waals forces. The LDF is named after the German physicist Fritz London. They are the weakest intermolecular force.
Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, Dutch: Radboud Universiteit, formerly Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen) is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th-century Dutch bishop who was known for his intellect and support of the underprivileged.
Clemens C. J. Roothaan was a Dutch physicist and chemist known for his development of the self-consistent field theory of molecular structure.
Dirk Polder was a Dutch physicist working on solid-state physics, magnetism, molecular physics and nanoscale physics.
Leonard Salomon Ornstein was a Dutch physicist.
Constantinus Albertus Josephus Maria "Constantijn" Kortmann was a Dutch professor of constitutional law.
Włodzimierz Kołos was a Polish chemist and physicist who was one of the founders of modern quantum chemistry, and pioneered accurate calculations on the electronic structure of molecules.
Martin Vinzenz Baldur Paul Maria (Martin) van Hees is a Dutch philosopher.
Jeroen van de Weijer is a Dutch linguist who teaches phonology, morphology, phonetics, psycholinguistics, historical linguistics and other courses at Shenzhen University, where he is Distinguished Professor of English linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages. Before, he was Full Professor of English Linguistics at Shanghai International Studies University, in the School of English Studies.
Willem Johannes Maria (Pim) Levelt is a Dutch psycholinguist. He is a researcher of human language acquisition and speech production. He developed a comprehensive theory of the cognitive processes involved in the act of speaking, including the significance of the "mental lexicon". Levelt was the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. He also served as president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences between 2002 and 2005, of which he has been a member since 1978.
Piotr Piecuch is a Polish-born American physical chemist. He holds the title of university distinguished professor in the department of chemistry at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States. He supervises a group, whose research focuses on theoretical and computational chemistry as well as theoretical and computational physics, particularly on the development and applications of many-body methods for accurate quantum calculations for molecular systems and atomic nuclei, including methods based on coupled cluster theory, mathematical methods of chemistry and physics, and theory of intermolecular forces. His group is also responsible for the development of the coupled-cluster computer codes incorporated in the widely used GAMESS (US) package.
Heino Falcke is a German professor of radio astronomy and astroparticle physics at the Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands). His main field of study is black holes, and he is the originator of the concept of the 'black hole shadow'. In 2019, Falcke announced the first Event Horizon Telescope results at the EHT Press Conference in Brussels.
Theodorus "Theo" Henricus Maria Rasing is a Dutch professor of experimental physics at Radboud University Nijmegen. His expertise lies in the field of magneto-optics. He was a winner of the 2008 Spinoza Prize.
Ton Bisseling is a Dutch molecular biologist. He is a professor at Wageningen University and Research Centre.
Antal P.J. van den Bosch is a Dutch-language researcher. He has been director of the Meertens Institute since January 2017. He previously was a professor at Tilburg University and Radboud University Nijmegen.
Frank den Hollander is a Dutch mathematician.
Jan Cornelis Maria van Hest is a Dutch scientist of organic chemistry, best known for his research regarding polymersomes and nanoreactors. He currently holds the position of professor of bioorganic chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology and is scientific director at the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems. Among the awards he has received, he was one of the recipients of the 2020 Spinoza Prize.
Johannes Ernest Everard "Jan" Keunen is a Dutch ophthalmologist, professor, and politician. After studying medicine at Radboud University Nijmegen and receiving his doctorate in 1988, he worked at academic hospitals in Utrecht, Leiden, and Nijmegen. He served as a member of the Senate between 2020 and 2023. Keunen is a member of the conservative–liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and has supported banning the sale of consumer fireworks.