David C. Clary

Born January 14, 1953 in Halesworth, UK.

President of Magdalen College, Oxford since 2005 and Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK.

Email:david.clary@chem.ox.ac.uk
Web: external link

Fellow of the Royal Society (1997). Foreign Honorary Member of American Academy of Arts and Science (2003), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2003), President of Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2006-9). Annual Prize of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (1989). Royal Society of Chemistry Medals: Meldola (1981), Marlow (1986), Corday-Morgan (1989), Tilden (1997), Chemical Dynamics (1998), Polanyi (2004), Liversidge (2010). Chief Scientific Adviser to UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2009-2013). Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (2016).

Author of:

Over 300 papers in journals of chemical physics and theoretical chemistry.

Important Contributions:

Development and application of quantum scattering theory to the vibrational relaxation and chemical reactions of polyatomic molecules. Quantum mechanical calculations on the lifetimes and structures of weakly-bound polyatomic clusters. Development of sudden approximations, hyperspherical coordinates, localised basis sets, rotational adiabatic theory, potential-optimised discrete variable representation, rotating bond approximation for polyatomic collisions. Applications of molecular collision theory to problems in atmospheric science, combustion and astrophysics. Application of quantum diffusion Monte Carlo and path integral methods to predictions of the structures and energies of weakly-bound clusters, biomolecules and hydrated molecules.