Rudolf Zahradník

Born October 20, 1928 in Bratislava, former Czechoslovakia.

President, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Professor of Physical Chemistry, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

Member of the Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (1982), Fellow of WATOC (1986), Honorary Membership of the Chemical Society, GDR, (1987), Honorary Membership of the Swiss Chemical Society (1988), member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Literature (Paris, 1992), member of the European Academy of Environmental Affairs (1994), corresponding member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (1994), member of the Engineering Academy of the Czech Republic, Prague (1995), member of European Academy of Sciences and Arts (Salzburg, 1997), member of GDch (1999), member of Academia Europeae (U.K., 2000), Honorary Degrees (Dr.h.c.): TU Dresden (1993), Univ. of Fribourg (1993), TU Pardubice (1994), Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (1996), Charles University, Prague (1998), Clarkson University, Potsdam (1998), Comenius University, Bratislava (2000), President, the Czech Learned Society (1994–1997, currently member).
Awards: Medal of Slovak Institute of Technology (1989), J. Heyrovsky Gold Medal of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1990), Gold Medal (Chemistry) of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava (1994), Gold Medal of Charles University, Prague (1995), Austrian 1st Class Honorary Cross for Science and Arts (1999).

Author of:

About 350 papers and 10 books, e.g. Organic Quantum Chemistry Problems (with P. Cársky), Plenum 1973, Hirokawa 1978; Elements of Quantum Chemistry (with R. Polák), Plenum 1980, Mir 1979; Intermolecular Complexes (with P. Hobza), Elsevier 1988, Mir 1989.

Important Contributions:

Relationships between theoretical and experimental characteristics: rules how to proceed correctly. Theoretical tools: molecular quantum and statistical mechanics. Experimental characteristics: electron distribution, electronic and vibrational spectroscopy, chemical reactivity in gas phase and solutions, biological reactivity. Systems investigated: alternant and nonalternant hydrocarbons, their heteroanalogues and derivatives, highly unsaturated and strained organic molecules. Theory and experiments of open-shell systems, especially electronic spectroscopy and dismutation equilibria. Intermolecular (van der Waals) interactions with systems ranging from 3 electrons to extensive models of biopolymers: sophisticated as well as simplified quantum chemical methods and computer experiments. Systematic attempts to use quantum calculations for predicting nonconventional species and tailoring of properties.

An obituary can be found here.