1st ACS Physical Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry 2009 goes to Peter Rossky

When asked to contribute $90,000 toward establishing the on-going funding stream for the Telluride Schools on Theoretical Chemistry (TSTC), the Physical Chemistry Division of ACS decided to create a new award to honor theoretical chemists who have not yet won an ACS National Award and to tie this new Award to TSTC. Each year, the Division will select an Award winner who will be invited to attend the following TSTC, where he or she will conduct a research seminar and receive the Award from TSTC’s Board Chairman.  

The first ACS Physical Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry will be presented to Professor Peter Rossky of the University of Texas at the 2009 TSTC to be held in Telluride, Colorado, July 19-25, 2009.

Peter Rossky, a professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, is the first recipient of the American Chemical Society Physical Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry. He holds the Marvin K. Collie-Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry and is the Director of the Center for Computational Molecular Sciences in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.

His research at Texas has focused on understanding the underlying molecular events occurring during chemical processes in condensed phases, primarily in liquids and solutions, and in water, in particular. The work uses theoretical and computational approaches applied to realistic atomistic models of these complex molecular systems. Current research interests include determining the role of water on the structure and interactions of biomolecules, evaluating solvent effects on the self-assembly of molecular materials, and elucidating the relaxation dynamics of electronically excited molecules of interest in organic electronic materials.