Veronica Vaida

Last updated
Veronica Vaida
Born3 August 1950
Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Yale University
Brown University
University of Bucharest
Known forAtmospheric chemistry
Aerosols
Awards E. Bright Wilson Award (2011)
Website www.colorado.edu/chemistry/veronica-vaida

Veronica Vaida (born August 3, 1950) is a Romanian-American chemist and professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is an expert in environmental chemistry and aerosols.

Contents

Early life and education

Vaida was born in Bucharest. [1] [2] Her parents were from Transylvania and met after World War II. [1] Her mother survived an Auschwitz concentration camp and her father was a political prisoner. [1] She attended a Hungarian school in Cluj and moved back to Bucharest in 1963. [1] She studied chemistry at the University of Bucharest. [1] After seeing a US position advertised in 1969, she moved to Brown University, working on detectors for molecular beams. [1] She joined Yale University for her postgraduate studies in 1973, but struggled to find an academic mentor because the male academics thought organic chemistry was "unsuitable for women". [1] Her original mentor was Geraldine A. Kenney-Wallace, who left to set up the first ultrafast spectroscopy lab at the University of Toronto. [1] She eventually obtained her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1977. [3]

Career

In 1977 Vaida became a Xerox postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, working alongside Dudley R. Herschbach and Bill Reinhart on photoreaction dynamics. [4] She collaborated with Kevin Peters and Meredith Applebury at Bell Labs. She was made a member of the faculty at Harvard University in 1978. [1] In 1980 she was appointed an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus scholar in 1984. [1] [3] Vaida developed jet cooled absorption spectrometry to analyse the lifetimes of reactive systems, where excited state dynamics were complicated because of diffuse absorption and limited fluorescence. [1] She worked on an excimer laser that could allow her group to study transition metal complexes. [1] [5] She moved to the University of Colorado Boulder, where she built her own spectroscopy lab. She identified the excited state of OCIO with Susan Solomon in 1989. [6] After collaborating with Susan Solomon, Vaida recognised that her studies of model compounds could be useful in atmospheric chemistry. Her group went on to study atmospheric ozone, water clusters and polar ice. [7] She divorced Kevin Peters in 1990. [1]

In 1994 she was awarded an Erskine fellowship at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. [3] She worked on the overtones of OH vibrations using a cavity ring down spectrometer. [1] She went on to study organic fragments on aerosol particles. [8] She hypothesised that aerosol coagulation and division permitted organics to form a surfactant layer on top of the aerosol and recognised that this was similar to single cell bacteria. [1]

Her group began to study organic films at aerosol water-air interfaces, using surface reflection infrared spectroscopy to examine differences in phenylalanine ionisation in the bulk and at the water surface. [1] Vaida's Ph.D. student, Elizabeth Griffith, found that peptide bonds at the surface of water would be generated nonenzymatically. [9] [10] In 2007 she was appointed distinguished lecturer at Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer University of Colorado Boulder. [3] She studied how sunlight can abiotically provide the prebiotic reactions essential for the evolution of life. [11] [12] In 2018 the Journal of Physical Chemistry A published a tribute to Vaida and her research. [5]

Awards and fellowships

Personal life

She married Kevin Peters, a colleague in the chemistry department at Harvard University in 1978. They divorced in 1990. In 1993 she met Adrian Tuck, a chemist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Atmospheric Lab. They married in 1997. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Krylov</span> Theoretical chemist

Anna Igorevna Krylov is the USC Associates Chair in Natural Sciences and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC). Working in the field of theoretical and computational quantum chemistry, she is the inventor of the spin-flip method. Krylov is the president of Q-Chem, Inc. and an elected member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, the Academia Europaea, and the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldine L. Richmond</span> American scientist (born 1953)

Geraldine Lee Richmond is an American chemist and physical chemist who is serving as the Under Secretary of Energy for Science in the US Department of Energy. Richmond was confirmed to her DOE role by the United States Senate on November 5, 2021. Richmond is the Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon (UO). She conducts fundamental research to understand the chemistry and physics of complex surfaces and interfaces. These understandings are most relevant to energy production, atmospheric chemistry and remediation of the environment. Throughout her career she has worked to increase the number and success of women scientists in the U.S. and in many developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America. Richmond has served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she received the 2013 National Medal of Science.

Heather Cecile Allen is a research chemist and Professor of Chemistry, who leads the Allen Group at The Ohio State University. Allen's research focuses on interfacial phenomena, particularly those involving water and air. Her work has broad application ranging from medicine to climate change. She also develops nonlinear optical spectroscopy and microscopy instruments for the examination of interfacial surfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formyl cyanide</span> Organic compound (HC(O)C≡N)

Formyl cyanide is a simple organic compound with the formula HCOCN and structure HC(=O)−C≡N. It is simultaneously a nitrile and an aldehyde. Formyl cyanide is the simplest member of the acyl cyanide family. It is known to occur in space in the Sgr B2 molecular cloud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy M. Harrison</span> British environmental chemist (born 1948)

Roy Michael Harrison is a British environmental scientist. He has been Queen Elizabeth II Birmingham Centenary Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Birmingham since 1991, and is a distinguished adjunct professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicki Grassian</span> American chemist

Vicki H. Grassian is a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. She also holds the distinguished chair in physical chemistry.

Hind Al-Abadleh is a professor of chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She studies the physical chemistry of environmental interfaces, aerosols and climate change.

Suzanne A. Blum is an American professor of chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. Blum works on mechanistic chemistry, most recently focusing on borylation reactions and the development of single-molecule and single-particle fluorescence microscopy to study organic chemistry and catalysis. She received the American Chemical Society's Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award in 2023.

Kimberly A. Prather is an American atmospheric chemist. She is a distinguished chair in atmospheric chemistry and a distinguished professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and department of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego. Her work focuses on how humans are influencing the atmosphere and climate. In 2019, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for technologies that transformed understanding of aerosols and their impacts on air quality, climate, and human health. In 2020, she was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She is also an elected Fellow of the American Philosophical Society, American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqui Cole</span> Chemist

Jacqueline Manina Cole is the Head of the Molecular Engineering group in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Her research considers the design of functional materials for optoelectronic applications.

Lynn Russell is a professor of atmospheric chemistry at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography a division of the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radium fluoride</span> Chemical compound

Radium fluoride is an inorganic compound with a chemical formula of RaF2. This salt, like all radium compounds, is highly radioactive. It can be coprecipitated with lanthanide fluorides. Radium fluoride has the same crystal form as calcium fluoride (fluorite). However, calculations suggest that radium fluoride vapor consists of RaF2 molecules, with a bond angle of 118°, due to substantial covalent interaction within the molecule.

Gabriela S. Schlau-Cohen is a Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Career Development Associate Professor at MIT in the Department of Chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Majed Chergui</span> Swiss and French physicist

Majed Chergui is a Swiss and French physicist specialized in ultrafast dynamics of light-induced processes. He is a professor at EPFL, head of the Laboratory of Ultrafast Spectroscopy at EPFL's School of Basic Sciences, and founding director of the Lausanne Centre for Ultrafast Science (LACUS).

Anne Bowen McCoy is a theoretical chemist and her research interests include vibrational spectroscopy, hydrogen bonding, and charge-transfer bands.

Patricia K. Quinn is an atmospheric chemist working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's Pacific Marine Environmental Lab. She is known for her work on the impact of atmospheric aerosol particles on air quality and climate.

Vivian Faye McNeill is an American atmospheric chemist who is professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University. She leads the University's initiative Clean Air Toolbox for Cities. McNeill provided expert guidance on aerosols and ventilation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiara Giorio</span> Italian atmospheric chemist

Chiara Giorio is an Italian atmospheric chemist who is an Assistant Professor in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Christ's College and a Fellow of the Community for Analytical Measurement Science.

Margaret A. Tolbert is an American atmospheric chemist, specializing in polar stratospheric clouds.

Vibrational spectroscopic maps are a series of ab initio, semiempirical, or empirical models tailored to specific IR probes to describe vibrational solvatochromic effects on molecular spectra quantitatively.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Vaida, Veronica (2018-02-08). "Veronica Vaida: Autobiographical Notes". The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 122 (5): 1159–1166. Bibcode:2018JPCA..122.1159V. doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.7b12802. ISSN   1089-5639. OCLC   970486961. PMID   29415545.
  2. ↑ Balas, Egon (2008). Will to Freedom: A Perilous Journey Through Fascism and Communism. Syracuse University Press. ISBN   9780815609308.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Biography". University of Colorado . Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ "European Chemistry Gold Medal - Meet the International Award Committee - EuChemS". EuChemS. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  5. 1 2 Donaldson, D. James; Francisco, Joseph S.; Grassian, Vicki H.; Hemley, Russell J.; Jonas, David M.; Leopold, Kenneth R.; Levinger, Nancy E. (2018-02-08). "Tribute to Veronica Vaida". Journal of Physical Chemistry A . 122 (5): 1157–1158. Bibcode:2018JPCA..122.1157D. doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.7b11829. PMID   29415548.
  6. ↑ Vaida, Veronica; Solomon, Susan; Richard, Erik C.; Rühl, Eckart; Jefferson, Anne (1989). "Photoisomerization of OCIO: a possible mechanism for polar ozone depletion". Nature . 342 (6248): 405–408. Bibcode:1989Natur.342..405V. doi:10.1038/342405a0. ISSN   0028-0836. OCLC   1076418075. S2CID   4262245.
  7. ↑ Vaida, Veronica (2011-07-14). "Perspective: Water cluster mediated atmospheric chemistry". The Journal of Chemical Physics . 135 (2): 020901. Bibcode:2011JChPh.135b0901V. doi: 10.1063/1.3608919 . ISSN   0021-9606. OCLC   1057981142. PMID   21766916.
  8. ↑ Ellison, G. Barney; Tuck, Adrian F.; Vaida, Veronica (1999). "Atmospheric processing of organic aerosols". Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 104 (D9): 11633–11641. Bibcode:1999JGR...10411633E. doi: 10.1029/1999jd900073 . ISSN   0148-0227. OCLC   847054952.
  9. ↑ Donaldson, D. J.; Vaida, Veronica (April 2006). "The Influence of Organic Films at the Air−Aqueous Boundary on Atmospheric Processes". Chemical Reviews . 106 (4): 1445–1461. doi:10.1021/cr040367c. ISSN   0009-2665. OCLC   896847472. PMID   16608186.
  10. ↑ Griffith, Elizabeth C.; Shoemaker, Richard K.; Vaida, Veronica (2013). "Sunlight-initiated Chemistry of Aqueous Pyruvic Acid: Building Complexity in the Origin of Life". Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres . 43 (4–5): 341–352. Bibcode:2013OLEB...43..341G. doi:10.1007/s11084-013-9349-y. ISSN   0169-6149. OCLC   183275831. PMID   24362712. S2CID   3124107.
  11. ↑ Vaida, Veronica (2016-08-12). "Atmospheric radical chemistry revisited". Science . 353 (6300): 650. Bibcode:2016Sci...353..650V. doi:10.1126/science.aah4111. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   27516586. S2CID   206651763.
  12. ↑ Rapf, Rebecca J.; Vaida, Veronica (2016). "Sunlight as an energetic driver in the synthesis of molecules necessary for life". Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics . 18 (30): 20067–20084. Bibcode:2016PCCP...1820067R. doi:10.1039/C6CP00980H. ISSN   1463-9076. OCLC   442203075. PMID   27193698.
  13. ↑ "Veronica Vaida". Vaida Group. 2016-01-11. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  14. ↑ Vaida, Veronica (2018-02-08). "Curriculum Vita of Veronica Vaida". The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 122 (5): 1167. Bibcode:2018JPCA..122.1167V. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b12019 . PMID   29415546.
  15. ↑ "(Vaida, Veronica - 2004) -- Radcliffe Institute Fellowship" . Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  16. ↑ "Veronica Vaida". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  17. ↑ "E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy - American Chemical Society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  18. ↑ "Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics - American Chemical Society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  19. ↑ "2020 NAS Election". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.