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Jan Martin

Martin

Born July 29, 1964 in Hasselt, Belgium

Baroness Thatcher Professor of Chemistry,Weizmann Institute of Science

Email:gershom@weizmann.ac.il
WWW: external link

Licentiate (combined BSc/MSc degree) in Chemistry, University of Antwerp (1987); Ph.D., U. of Antwerp (1991); Aggregaat voor het Hoger Onderwijs (Habilitation), U. of Antwerp, 1994; Tenured Research Associate, NFWO/FNRS (National Science Foundation of Belgium), 1995-1999; Assistant Professor, Weizmann Institute of Science, 1996-2001; Associate Professor, ibid., 2001-2005; Full Professor, ibid., 2005-present; Distinguished University Research Professor, University of North Texas, 2010-2012; Associate Member, Quantum Theory Project, University of Florida, 2025-present

Jean-Servais Stas Prize for the best doctoral thesis in chemistry, Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Fine Arts (Belgium), 1991; Fulbright-Hays Fellow, 1992; NATO ASI Fellow, 1992;. of Antwerp Bi-Annual Research Prize, 1994; Alumni Award of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation, 1996; Golda Meir Fellow, Hebrew U. of Jerusalem, 1996; Yigal Allon Fellow, Council for Higher Education (Israel), 1996-2001; Outstanding Young Scientist Award, Israel Chemical Society, 2000; Prize of the Scientific Council, Weizmann Institute of Science, 2001; Dirac Medal, WATOC, 2004; 2nd incumbent of the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven Professorial Chair of Chemistry, 2005–present; Jack Wolgin Prize for Research Excellence, 2008; Foreign Member, Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Fine Arts (Belgium), 2012–present; IUPAC Fellow, 2014; Israel Chemical Society Prize for Excellence, 2017; Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), 2020–present; Schrödinger Medal, WATOC, 2023.

Author of:

More than 335 scientific articles.

Important Contributions:

  • Developed the Weizmann-n (Wn) family of high-accuracy computational thermochemistry methods, with W4 enabling sub-kJ/mol accuracy
  • Developed the first DFT functional (BMK) that could handle both reaction energies and barrier heights
  • Developed a family of minimally empirical double-hybrid DFT functionals (particularly revDSD-PBEP86) that yield near-CCSD(T) quality across a broad spectrum of covalent and noncovalent energetics as well as for rotation-vibration spectroscopy
  • Deepened our understanding of basis set convergence in ab initio calculations, leading to more effective basis set extrapolations
  • Took applications to organometallic reaction mechanisms (and to noncovalent interactions) to new levels of accuracy
  • With Timothy Lee (RIP) and Peter R. Taylor in the early 1990s, pioneered the accurate computation of anharmonic force fields of small polyatomic molecules
  • In a less quantitative realm, made contributions to interpretative electronic structure theory such as: making sense of the “zoo” of atomic partial charge types; the diagnosis of static correlation effects; analysis of noncovalent interaction types; and the effect of “honorary valence orbitals” on chemical bonding.